A 90yearold has been awarded “Woman Of The Year” for __1__ (be) Britain's oldest fulltime employee—still working 40 hours a week. Now Irene Astbury works from 9 am to 5 pm daily at the pet shop in Macclesfield, __2__ she opened with her late husband Les. Her years of hard work have __3__ (final) been acknowledged after a customer nominated(提名) her to be Cheshire's Woman Of The Year.
Picking up her “Lifetime Achievement” award, proud Irene __4__ (declare) she had no plans __5__ (retire) from her 36yearold business. Irene said, “I don't see any reason to give up work. I love coming here and seeing my family and all the friends I __6__ (make) over the years. I work not because I have to, __7__ because I want to.”
Granddaughter Gayle Parks, 31—who works alongside her in the family business—said it remained unknown as to who nominated Irene for the award. She said, “We don't have any idea who put grandma forward. When we got a call __8__ (say) she was shortlisted, we thought it was __9__ joke. But then we got an official letter and we were blown away. We are so proud of her. It's __10__ (wonder).”