It was still a long way, especially when a wind was blowing in. Trint reached for his jacket and 1  when he saw the box on the passenger seat. His mother had been 2  him spending Christmas on the road  3 and had given him a box filled with 4. His mum still 5 him like a kid, though he was a driver now. He reached into the stocking and 6 a toy truck that looked a lot like his truck. He wondered how many stores his mother had to go before she found such a close match.   7 filled his eyes.

He climbed out of his cab(驾驶室) and ran into the all­night cafe,  8  which many truckers were eating and talking. And a family of three were huddled(挤在一起) in a corner, tired and 9.

Trint  10  the boy. No kid should have to spend Christmas Eve in a truck stop.

Trint missed his family. His mum raised four kids by herself,  11 no matter how 12  life was, she'd always make sure they had a good Christmas. Then he 13  his box in the truck.

He looked at the kid again and knew what he had to do. He forced himself into the 14outside to open his truck. He took the 15 out of the cab and hurried back to the warmth of the cafe. He walked to the family. “I think  16  left this for you，” Trint said and handed the red stocking to the boy. “Tell Santa…well, tell him 17 ， ” the boy's father said and shook Trint's hand long and hard. The mother smiled gratefully. The boy  18  reached out and caught the stocking and dug inside.

Trint felt good. He had a job he loved, clear weather and miles of open roads ahead. He wasn't  19  any more, or lonely. He loved this life and he wouldn't 20 a thing.

       I prefer Lynne Truss's phraseology: I am a grammar “sticker”. And, like Truss—author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves—I have a “zero tolerance” approach to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid.

       Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have “zero tolerance”. She thinks that people who mix up basic grammar “deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked (砍) up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave”， while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job—even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.

       Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a compulsory grammar test. If job hopefuls can't distinguish between “to” and “too”， their applications go into the bin.

       Of course, we write for a living. iFixit. com is the world's largest online repair manual (指南), and Dozuki helps companies write their own technical documentation, like paperless work instructions and step­by­step user manuals. So, it makes sense that we've made a strong strike against grammar errors.

        But grammar is relevant for all companies. Yes, language is constantly changing, but that doesn't make grammar unimportant. Good grammar is credibility, especially on the Internet. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can't tell the difference between “their” “there” and “they're”．

       Good grammar makes good business sense—and not just when it comes to hiring writers. Writing isn't in the official job description of most people in our office. Still, we give our grammar test to everybody, including our salespeople, our operations staff, and our programmers.

       Grammar signifies more than just a person's ability to remember high school English. I've found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing—like stocking shelves or labeling parts. It is the same with programmers. Applicants who don't think writing is important are likely to think lots of other things also aren't important.