It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas — oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it — overspending... the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma — the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”

Mike loved kids — all kids — and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent the anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.

For each Christmas, I followed the tradition — one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.

As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn’t end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.

Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

55.　 Why did Mike get so bored with Christmas at first?

A.　 People would pour into stores to blindly purchase gifts over Christmas.

B.　 He wasn’t satisfied with the Christmas presents he had ever received.

C.　 People couldn’t come up with any fantastic ideas for Christmas gifts.

D.　 The true meaning of Christmas remained unchanged in people’s minds.

56．The writer mentions what the two teams wore in Paragraph 4 in order to _______.

A.　 show her pride in her children’s present living conditions

B.　 explain the reason why her son’s team won the match

C.　 reflect the financial difficulty of the inner-city church

D.　 express the shock those lower-class teenagers brought her

57. What did Mike mean by saying “losing like this could take the heart right out of them”

(Paragraph 6)?

A．They didn’t care whether they could win the match or not.

B．They didn’t acknowledge the defeat because of the unfairness.

C．Being defeated in this way could make them lose confidence.

D．Being defeated in this way could inspire them to train harder.

58．Mike’s bright smile at the note suggests.
A．what his wife had done as against the Christmas spirit.
B．he thought the very Christmas gift had real significance
C．what was written on the note was easy to understand
D．he was amused by the Christmas tradition of his family.
59．What happened at the first Christmas after Mike’s death?
A．The writer asked her children to follow their family tradition.
B．All the children stood around the Christmas tree with expectation.
C．The writer removed the Christmas tree to avoid thinking of Mike.
D．The children each put an envelope on the Christmas tree for their dad.
60．In the writer’s eyes, the white envelope is a symbol of　　　　 .
A．Mike’s spirit　　　　　 B．children’s love　　　　 C．unusual ideas　　　　　 D．special gifts