A So how’s everything going for Christmas? 圣诞节准备得怎么样了?

B I’ve got all the presents I need, and my family is working together to get all the food ready. That’s easy; but I have another problem to deal with. 要的礼物我都准备好了，而且我们全家正在一起准备食物。那很容易，但我还有一个难题要处理。

A What’s that? Don’t tell me you’ve still got Christmas cards to write, it usually takes my wife a month to write all of ours. 什么事?不要告诉我你还有许多圣诞卡要写;我妻子通常花一个月的时间写好我们所有的圣诞卡。

B No, I did that a long time ago. It’s about telling my son the truth about Santa Claus. 不是，圣诞卡我早就写完了。难题是怎样告诉我儿子有关圣诞老人的实情。

A He still doesn’t know that Santa isn’t real? How old is he, eight? 他还不知道圣诞老人不是真的?他多大，八岁?

B Yes. He’s never said anything so I never told him. But now that he’s getting older… 是的，他从未说过什么，因此我也从未告诉过他。但现在他越来越大了……

A You think it’s better that he should be told? 你认为他应该知道实情比较好吗?

B Yes, he’s too old to believe in that type of things. And I’d rather tell him before the kids at school do. 是的，他太大了，不应该相信那种事情。而且我宁愿在学校的孩子们告诉他以前告诉他。

A That happened to my oldest girl. She became really upset when her classmates told her Santa wasn’t real. 以前我的大女儿也是这样。当她的同学告诉她圣诞老人不是真的时候，她变得很伤心。

B I can understand. I was lucky with my oldest; she figured it out by herself and didn’t tell my son. 我能理解。我幸运我的大女儿没有这种麻烦，她自己猜出圣诞老人是假的，但没有告诉我儿子。

A Well, when you tell him, be gentle. It’s hard for kids to find out something like that. 唔，那你告诉他时，温和一点。对小孩来说，得知那样的事是很难承受的。