以下是為大家整理的關(guān)于圣誕節(jié)英語(yǔ)作文：一輛舊單車的圣誕祝福的文章，希望大家能夠喜歡！
When I was 6 years old, my parents got me a used bicycle for Christmas.
我6歲的時(shí)候，父母給了我一輛舊單車作為圣誕禮物。
A year or so later, I badly wanted a Sting-Ray, a tricked-out bike that was wildly popular in the 1960s. So my father took my old bike, slapped a new coat of paint on it, and equipped it with a banana seat, monkey handlebars and a sissy bar.
大約一年后，我渴望能有輛Sting-Ray牌單車，在60年代這可是非常時(shí)髦的靚車。于是，我父親把我的舊單車拿過(guò)去，仿照Sting-Ray的樣子，涂了一層新漆，裝了一個(gè)細(xì)長(zhǎng)而后部翹起的車座、一個(gè)直把，座位后面還裝了一根保護(hù)杠。
It didn't matter to me that some friends had new Sting-Rays straight from the Schwinn factory. Or even that my dad put the sissy bar on backward, which exposed me to some teasing before we fixed it. I loved that bike.
我并不在乎有些朋友騎的是從Schwinn廠子剛出產(chǎn)的嶄新Sting-Ray單車，也不在乎父親把保護(hù)杠裝反了，在重新裝過(guò)之前我還受到了一些取笑。我非常喜愛(ài)那輛單車。
So it was for my childhood. We weren't poor. But we always had modest Christmases. And I expected to do the same when I got married 27 years ago.
我童年就是這樣子。我們家并不窮，但我們的圣誕禮物總是很有節(jié)制。27年前我結(jié)婚的時(shí)候，我想以后也照此行事。
My wife, Clarissa, had different ideas. She, too, had some modest Christmases growing up. She vividly remembers when she was 14 or 15 years old and her father lost his job in the construction industry. She overheard her parents talking about how broke they were.
我妻子克萊瑞薩(Clarissa)卻有著不同的想法。她小時(shí)候，有幾年的圣誕節(jié)過(guò)得也很節(jié)儉。她仍清晰地記得，在她十四、五歲的時(shí)候，從事建筑業(yè)的父親失業(yè)了。她無(wú)意中聽(tīng)到父母談?wù)摷依锷钣卸噢讚?jù)。
So when her parents asked her what she wanted that year, she said, 'Nothing.' When her mother insisted she had to get something, Clarissa asked for socks. 'I felt very good about myself afterward,' she recalls.
所以那年當(dāng)她的父母問(wèn)她想要什么圣誕禮物時(shí)，她回答說(shuō)，什么也不要。當(dāng)她媽媽堅(jiān)持讓她選件禮物時(shí)，她要了襪子。她回憶道，過(guò)后我自我感覺(jué)很好。
But as her family's finances improved, Christmas went back to being a much bigger production. By the time I arrived on the scene, the entire family -- more than 20 people -- would gather at her grandmother's house in Mexicali, Mexico, on Christmas Eve. Around 10 p.m., Santa (my future brother-in-law in a costume) showed up with an enormous bag of presents and stepped into a roomful of children shrieking with joy.
但是隨著她家經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況的好轉(zhuǎn)，她又回到了更大的排場(chǎng)。我認(rèn)識(shí)她之前，她們一家子（有20多人）會(huì)聚在墨西哥墨西卡利市她祖母家里過(guò)圣誕夜。晚上10點(diǎn)左右，圣誕老人（我未來(lái)的小舅子扮的）會(huì)拿著一個(gè)裝滿禮物的巨大袋子現(xiàn)身，走進(jìn)滿屋子快樂(lè)尖叫的孩子堆里。
'It was all about the children,' says Clarissa, who thought the experience was priceless. And she has spent hundreds of dollars on presents every year to duplicate it.
克萊瑞薩說(shuō)，我們做的一切都是為了孩子。她認(rèn)為這種經(jīng)歷是無(wú)價(jià)之寶。每年她都要花數(shù)百美元買禮物重溫這種經(jīng)歷。
I, in turn, kept trying to relive my childhood. When our oldest son turned 5, I got him a used bike for $35. He seemed happy enough with it.
相反，我則在不斷試圖重溫我的孩提時(shí)代。當(dāng)我們的大兒子5歲的時(shí)候，我用35美元給他買了一輛二手單車。他看起來(lái)對(duì)此很知足。
I've had my victories over the years. Still, Clarissa has generally decided which presents our three kids got. And while their take hasn't been outlandish, they have certainly received their share of videogames and other yuletide paraphernalia.
過(guò)去幾年中，我也曾占過(guò)上風(fēng)。不過(guò)，通?？巳R瑞薩才是決定給我們?nèi)齻€(gè)孩子買什么禮物的人。雖然禮物并不奢侈，但是孩子們無(wú)疑收到了想要的電子游戲和其他圣誕節(jié)個(gè)人用品。
It wouldn't be so bad if it was just the five of us. But there are my parents and my brother's family. And Clarissa comes from a much bigger family, with three siblings, multiple aunts, uncles and cousins, and an ever-expanding population of nieces and nephews. At one point, she was buying presents for close to 30 people, plus friends, neighbors, even the garbage collectors.
如果只有我們五個(gè)的話，情況還不會(huì)這么糟。但是還有我的父母和我弟弟的家人。而克萊瑞薩的家族則更加龐大，她有三個(gè)兄弟姐妹，很多個(gè)叔叔、嬸嬸和表兄弟姐妹，還有一大群不斷壯大的侄女和侄子。曾有一度，她要給將近30個(gè)人買禮物，還有朋友、鄰居，甚至垃圾清潔工。
That costs money.
這都要花錢。
One year in the early 1990s, when Clarissa was still working, she recalls spending $2,000 on presents, the Christmas tree, food for family gatherings and the like. Thankfully, I didn't know the extent of it or I would have blown a gasket.
克萊瑞薩回憶說(shuō)，90年代初的某一年她還在工作的時(shí)候，她花了2,000美元準(zhǔn)備禮物、 誕樹(shù)和食品用于一家團(tuán)聚和其他活動(dòng)。謝天謝地，我當(dāng)時(shí)并不知道花了這么多錢，否則我早就暴跳如雷了。
In recent years, as her nephews and nieces have grown up, spending has been more restrained. A few years ago, the adults in her family switched to a gift-exchange system, in which everyone gives a gift to one other person, instead of giving gifts to everyone. That saved a lot of money.
這幾年，隨著她的侄子和侄女都陸續(xù)長(zhǎng)大了，圣誕支出也得到了控制。幾年前，她家里的成年人轉(zhuǎn)向了“禮物交換”機(jī)制──一個(gè)人只需要向另外一個(gè)人送禮物，而不需要向每個(gè)人送禮物。這樣就省了很大一筆錢。
This year, times are tougher. Clarissa's sister works in banking, and one of her brothers does construction. Both industries are laying off workers.
今年，形勢(shì)更加嚴(yán)峻。克萊瑞薩的妹妹在銀行業(yè)工作，她的一個(gè)弟弟從事建筑業(yè)。這兩個(gè)行業(yè)現(xiàn)在都在裁員。
So when Clarissa and I talked a few weeks ago about her family's annual gift exchange for adults, we both thought it made sense to restrict gifts to children. She broached the idea with her family, and it fell flat.
所以，當(dāng)幾周前克萊瑞薩和我討論她們家每年的成年人禮物交換時(shí)，我們兩個(gè)都覺(jué)得有必要限制給孩子的禮物。她和家人說(shuō)了這個(gè)想法，不過(guò)沒(méi)有得到響應(yīng)。
'We have to have something to unwrap, even if it's just the ribbon,' one of her aunts told her.
她的一位嬸嬸對(duì)她說(shuō)，我們必須有個(gè)包裝的禮物，即使只是包裝帶也好。
That was enough for Clarissa. 'If you want to drop out of the gift exchange, go ahead,' Clarissa told me the other day. 'But the rest of us are going ahead.'
這對(duì)克萊瑞薩已經(jīng)足夠了。有一天她對(duì)我說(shuō)，如果你想退出禮物交換，你可以退出；不過(guò)我們其余的人還會(huì)繼續(xù)下去的。
Well, I might as well paint a target on myself. Count me in.
好吧，這樣我還不如干脆在自己身上畫(huà)個(gè)靶子。還得算我一個(gè)。
When I was 6 years old, my parents got me a used bicycle for Christmas.
我6歲的時(shí)候，父母給了我一輛舊單車作為圣誕禮物。
A year or so later, I badly wanted a Sting-Ray, a tricked-out bike that was wildly popular in the 1960s. So my father took my old bike, slapped a new coat of paint on it, and equipped it with a banana seat, monkey handlebars and a sissy bar.
大約一年后，我渴望能有輛Sting-Ray牌單車，在60年代這可是非常時(shí)髦的靚車。于是，我父親把我的舊單車拿過(guò)去，仿照Sting-Ray的樣子，涂了一層新漆，裝了一個(gè)細(xì)長(zhǎng)而后部翹起的車座、一個(gè)直把，座位后面還裝了一根保護(hù)杠。
It didn't matter to me that some friends had new Sting-Rays straight from the Schwinn factory. Or even that my dad put the sissy bar on backward, which exposed me to some teasing before we fixed it. I loved that bike.
我并不在乎有些朋友騎的是從Schwinn廠子剛出產(chǎn)的嶄新Sting-Ray單車，也不在乎父親把保護(hù)杠裝反了，在重新裝過(guò)之前我還受到了一些取笑。我非常喜愛(ài)那輛單車。
So it was for my childhood. We weren't poor. But we always had modest Christmases. And I expected to do the same when I got married 27 years ago.
我童年就是這樣子。我們家并不窮，但我們的圣誕禮物總是很有節(jié)制。27年前我結(jié)婚的時(shí)候，我想以后也照此行事。
My wife, Clarissa, had different ideas. She, too, had some modest Christmases growing up. She vividly remembers when she was 14 or 15 years old and her father lost his job in the construction industry. She overheard her parents talking about how broke they were.
我妻子克萊瑞薩(Clarissa)卻有著不同的想法。她小時(shí)候，有幾年的圣誕節(jié)過(guò)得也很節(jié)儉。她仍清晰地記得，在她十四、五歲的時(shí)候，從事建筑業(yè)的父親失業(yè)了。她無(wú)意中聽(tīng)到父母談?wù)摷依锷钣卸噢讚?jù)。
So when her parents asked her what she wanted that year, she said, 'Nothing.' When her mother insisted she had to get something, Clarissa asked for socks. 'I felt very good about myself afterward,' she recalls.
所以那年當(dāng)她的父母問(wèn)她想要什么圣誕禮物時(shí)，她回答說(shuō)，什么也不要。當(dāng)她媽媽堅(jiān)持讓她選件禮物時(shí)，她要了襪子。她回憶道，過(guò)后我自我感覺(jué)很好。
But as her family's finances improved, Christmas went back to being a much bigger production. By the time I arrived on the scene, the entire family -- more than 20 people -- would gather at her grandmother's house in Mexicali, Mexico, on Christmas Eve. Around 10 p.m., Santa (my future brother-in-law in a costume) showed up with an enormous bag of presents and stepped into a roomful of children shrieking with joy.
但是隨著她家經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況的好轉(zhuǎn)，她又回到了更大的排場(chǎng)。我認(rèn)識(shí)她之前，她們一家子（有20多人）會(huì)聚在墨西哥墨西卡利市她祖母家里過(guò)圣誕夜。晚上10點(diǎn)左右，圣誕老人（我未來(lái)的小舅子扮的）會(huì)拿著一個(gè)裝滿禮物的巨大袋子現(xiàn)身，走進(jìn)滿屋子快樂(lè)尖叫的孩子堆里。
'It was all about the children,' says Clarissa, who thought the experience was priceless. And she has spent hundreds of dollars on presents every year to duplicate it.
克萊瑞薩說(shuō)，我們做的一切都是為了孩子。她認(rèn)為這種經(jīng)歷是無(wú)價(jià)之寶。每年她都要花數(shù)百美元買禮物重溫這種經(jīng)歷。
I, in turn, kept trying to relive my childhood. When our oldest son turned 5, I got him a used bike for $35. He seemed happy enough with it.
相反，我則在不斷試圖重溫我的孩提時(shí)代。當(dāng)我們的大兒子5歲的時(shí)候，我用35美元給他買了一輛二手單車。他看起來(lái)對(duì)此很知足。
I've had my victories over the years. Still, Clarissa has generally decided which presents our three kids got. And while their take hasn't been outlandish, they have certainly received their share of videogames and other yuletide paraphernalia.
過(guò)去幾年中，我也曾占過(guò)上風(fēng)。不過(guò)，通?？巳R瑞薩才是決定給我們?nèi)齻€(gè)孩子買什么禮物的人。雖然禮物并不奢侈，但是孩子們無(wú)疑收到了想要的電子游戲和其他圣誕節(jié)個(gè)人用品。
It wouldn't be so bad if it was just the five of us. But there are my parents and my brother's family. And Clarissa comes from a much bigger family, with three siblings, multiple aunts, uncles and cousins, and an ever-expanding population of nieces and nephews. At one point, she was buying presents for close to 30 people, plus friends, neighbors, even the garbage collectors.
如果只有我們五個(gè)的話，情況還不會(huì)這么糟。但是還有我的父母和我弟弟的家人。而克萊瑞薩的家族則更加龐大，她有三個(gè)兄弟姐妹，很多個(gè)叔叔、嬸嬸和表兄弟姐妹，還有一大群不斷壯大的侄女和侄子。曾有一度，她要給將近30個(gè)人買禮物，還有朋友、鄰居，甚至垃圾清潔工。
That costs money.
這都要花錢。
One year in the early 1990s, when Clarissa was still working, she recalls spending $2,000 on presents, the Christmas tree, food for family gatherings and the like. Thankfully, I didn't know the extent of it or I would have blown a gasket.
克萊瑞薩回憶說(shuō)，90年代初的某一年她還在工作的時(shí)候，她花了2,000美元準(zhǔn)備禮物、 誕樹(shù)和食品用于一家團(tuán)聚和其他活動(dòng)。謝天謝地，我當(dāng)時(shí)并不知道花了這么多錢，否則我早就暴跳如雷了。
In recent years, as her nephews and nieces have grown up, spending has been more restrained. A few years ago, the adults in her family switched to a gift-exchange system, in which everyone gives a gift to one other person, instead of giving gifts to everyone. That saved a lot of money.
這幾年，隨著她的侄子和侄女都陸續(xù)長(zhǎng)大了，圣誕支出也得到了控制。幾年前，她家里的成年人轉(zhuǎn)向了“禮物交換”機(jī)制──一個(gè)人只需要向另外一個(gè)人送禮物，而不需要向每個(gè)人送禮物。這樣就省了很大一筆錢。
This year, times are tougher. Clarissa's sister works in banking, and one of her brothers does construction. Both industries are laying off workers.
今年，形勢(shì)更加嚴(yán)峻。克萊瑞薩的妹妹在銀行業(yè)工作，她的一個(gè)弟弟從事建筑業(yè)。這兩個(gè)行業(yè)現(xiàn)在都在裁員。
So when Clarissa and I talked a few weeks ago about her family's annual gift exchange for adults, we both thought it made sense to restrict gifts to children. She broached the idea with her family, and it fell flat.
所以，當(dāng)幾周前克萊瑞薩和我討論她們家每年的成年人禮物交換時(shí)，我們兩個(gè)都覺(jué)得有必要限制給孩子的禮物。她和家人說(shuō)了這個(gè)想法，不過(guò)沒(méi)有得到響應(yīng)。
'We have to have something to unwrap, even if it's just the ribbon,' one of her aunts told her.
她的一位嬸嬸對(duì)她說(shuō)，我們必須有個(gè)包裝的禮物，即使只是包裝帶也好。
That was enough for Clarissa. 'If you want to drop out of the gift exchange, go ahead,' Clarissa told me the other day. 'But the rest of us are going ahead.'
這對(duì)克萊瑞薩已經(jīng)足夠了。有一天她對(duì)我說(shuō)，如果你想退出禮物交換，你可以退出；不過(guò)我們其余的人還會(huì)繼續(xù)下去的。
Well, I might as well paint a target on myself. Count me in.
好吧，這樣我還不如干脆在自己身上畫(huà)個(gè)靶子。還得算我一個(gè)。