圣誕團(tuán)聚

Situation: Paul has invited his friend Lin Zhi to stay with his family in the UK over Christmas.

情景：保羅邀請他的朋友林芝去英國和家人一起過圣誕節(jié)。

Lin Zhi: I'm a bit nervous about staying with your family over Christmas.

Paul: Why's that? You've met my parents before.

Lin Zhi: Yes， but I don't really know what to do. I mean， never mind being in a foreign country， my family doesn't even really celebrate Christmas! It's only really a commercial event here， you know.

Paul: Hey， calm down. It's not like anyone's going to test you on your Christmas knowledge.Besides， lots of people are going to be there. My aunts and my cousins， Howard and his boyfriend， my great-aunt… it'll be a crowded house anyway. All eyes won't be on you!

Lin Zhi: Maybe， but I'm still fretting a little. What if I make a mistake? Or do the wrong thing?

Paul: Hey， I really don't think you need to worry. You got presents for all the people I said， yeah?

Lin Zhi: I did， but it's really hard to know what to get people when you don't know them that well.

Paul: It's pretty hard even when you do! I hate buying Christmas presents. Sometimes it's even trickier if you know someone really well， because the things you know they'd really like they've already brought themselves. Or other people have the same idea. I remember I brought my dad the last Patrick O'Brian book in hardback one year， only to find he'd got it from two other people!

Lin Zhi: I just brought everybody Chinese things. They look tacky to me， but I think foreigners will like them.

Paul: Probably. And did you pick up some DVDs for the kids?

Lin Zhi: I did. But when do we give the presents， anyway? Christmas morning?

Paul: It's different between families. A lot of people do all the family present opening in the morning， and then you just get or give presents to other people as you see them. But my family – well， first of all， the kids open their stockings in the morning.

Lin Zhi: At the end of the bed?

Paul: With all the little toys and gifts in.

Lin Zhi: I wish we had that. When I was little， we used to get red envelopes， and presents for our birthday sometimes， but never stockings.

Paul: I could get my mum to make you one! She loves doing them.

Lin Zhi: Really? But I'm not a kid.

Paul: We do them for adults too sometimes， with little presents like soaps and things.

Lin Zhi: That's be lovely. But what about the proper presents?

Paul: At our house， we open them after lunch – church in the morning， then a big Christmas lunch， then we all take it in turns to open presents， youngest person first， one at a time. That way everyone gets to see what everyone else got.

Lin Zhi: You go to church? I've never seen you do anything but sleep in on a Sunday morning.

Paul: Just for Christmas and sometimes Easter. A lot of people go then who don't go at any other time.

Lin Zhi: It all sounds pretty complicated. But I'm really looking forward to my stocking!

林芝：要在你家過圣誕節(jié)，我覺得有點緊張。

保羅：為什么會緊張？你以前見過我的父母。

林芝：我實在不知道該如何表現(xiàn)。我的意思是，在國外不用擔(dān)心，我家甚至從來沒有真正慶祝過圣誕節(jié)。你知道，在我們這圣誕節(jié)只是一個商業(yè)節(jié)日。

保羅：喂，冷靜點。不是大家要測試你的圣誕節(jié)知識。而且，那天很多人都會去。我的嬸嬸、堂兄妹、霍華德和他的男朋友、伯祖母……總之，房子里會被擠得水泄不通。沒有人會盯著你的。

林芝：也許吧，但我還是有一點小煩躁。要是我出丑了怎么辦？或者犯錯了？

保羅：嗨，我覺得你實在沒必要煩惱。我說的那些人你都給他們買禮物了，對吧？

林芝：我買了。但是給你不熟悉的人買禮物可不是一件容易的事。

保羅：即使你了解那個人也很難。我討厭買圣誕禮物。有時給自己非常熟悉的人買禮物更棘手，因為你所知道他們喜歡的東西他們自己已經(jīng)買了?；蛘咂渌撕湍阆敕ㄒ粯?。我記得有一年我給爸爸買了帕特里克#8226;奧布萊恩最新精裝版小說，結(jié)果卻發(fā)現(xiàn)已經(jīng)有兩個人送給他這本書了！

林芝：我給大家買的都是中國禮物。在我看來這些都很俗氣，但我覺得外國人應(yīng)該會喜歡。

保羅：也許吧。你給孩子們選了一些DVD沒有？

林芝：買了。但是我們什么時候送禮物呢？圣誕早晨？

保羅：每個家庭情況不一樣。很多人都是在早上拆家庭禮物，那你在看見其他人的時候就可以收禮物或者送禮物。但我家嘛——首先，孩子們都是在早上打開襪子。

林芝：在床尾嗎？

保羅：里面裝著些小玩具和小禮物。

林芝：真希望我們也有。在我很小的時候，我們都是收紅包，有時會在生日那天收到禮物，但從來沒有收到過襪子。

保羅：我可以讓我媽媽給你做一個，她喜歡做這些東西。

林芝：真的可以嗎？但我不是孩子了。

保羅：我們有時也會給大人做，里面裝著像肥皂之類的東西。

林芝：那肯定很可愛。但什么時間拆禮物比較合適呢？

保羅：在我們家，我們一般在午飯后——早上會去教堂，接著是豐盛的圣誕午餐，然后我們就會輪流拆禮物，一次一個人，從年紀(jì)最小的人開始。這樣的話每個人都能看見其他人收到了什么禮物。

林芝：你去教堂？在星期天早上我只見過你睡懶覺。

保羅：只是在圣誕節(jié)去，有時復(fù)活節(jié)也會去。很多人只在那時候去教堂，其它時間都不會去。

林芝：聽起來很復(fù)雜。但我很期待我的襪子。

Notes

1. stay with

該短語有多種意思，在文中指的是“在……家里作客”。它還有“和某人呆在一起、相處、和……住在一起、和……并駕齊驅(qū)”的意思。

例句：I hope you'll stay with me on your next visit too.

希望你下次來時還在我家住。

This little child cried for his mother to stay with him.

這個小孩子哭著要媽媽和自己呆在一起。

2. calm down

等于become quiet or calm，意為“使平息、使平靜”。calm主要用來形容氣候、表示“風(fēng)平浪靜的”，如central calm中心無風(fēng)區(qū)；equatorial calms赤道無風(fēng)帶。也可用來形容人 “安靜的、鎮(zhèn)靜的”。

例句：At last the wild wind calmed down.

狂風(fēng)終于過去了。

It was difficult to calm down the football fans.

要使足球迷們平靜下來是很困難的。

3. and things

意為“等等之類”。

例句：We'll go to buy some food， like bread and things， for the picnic.

我們要去為野餐買些吃的東西像面包等等。

4. one at a time

等于one at a time，意為“一次一個人、每次一個人”。

例句：The teacher told the children to talk one at a time.

老師叫孩子們一個接一個講。

5. anything but

意為“除……之外任何事物都……、根本不、絕不、一點也不”。相信大家一定都聽過艾薇兒的那首《Anything But Ordinary》。

例句：That kind of person is anything but a Marxist.

那種人根本不是馬克思主義者。

David: Did you enjoy your holiday?

Scott: Anything but.

大衛(wèi)：你的生日過得快樂嗎?

斯科特：沒有什么特別的。

6. sleep in

等于sleep late，意為“睡過頭、晚起”。

例句：Mark always sleeps in on Monday morning.

馬克老在星期一早上睡過頭。