【文章大意】

和家人一起過(guò)圣誕節(jié)對(duì)于我來(lái)說(shuō)意義非凡。我和丈夫以及三個(gè)孩子、還有我兩個(gè)妹妹以及她們的丈夫和孩子都會(huì)去父母家一起度過(guò)這個(gè)一年一度的節(jié)日。我們會(huì)在一起布置圣誕樹(shù)、互贈(zèng)禮物。每年都有新的創(chuàng)意。甚至平時(shí)厭煩的商場(chǎng)購(gòu)物在圣誕節(jié)這段時(shí)間里也讓我覺(jué)得興致盎然。

【關(guān)鍵詞句】

1. mean to

意為“對(duì)……來(lái)說(shuō)很重要、打算、想要”。在文中指的是圣誕節(jié)對(duì)于作者的意義。

例句：Having my family around me means happiness to me.

家人同我在一起就意味著幸福。

I mean to get to the top by sunrise.

我打算在太陽(yáng)出來(lái)的時(shí)侯到達(dá)山頂。

2. travel from

travel from A to B，意為“從某地啟程去旅行、從某地啟程去某地”。

例句：We're very tired， having traveled from London in a day.

我們從倫敦出發(fā)走了一天， 感到很疲倦。

3. background scenery

意為“背景景物、背景布景”。Scenery有“景色、風(fēng)光、舞臺(tái)背景”的意思，可以與很多詞組合連用，如：studio scenery指“演播室布景”。

4. brother-in-law

英文解釋“A brother-in-law is one's sister's husband， or one's spouse's（配偶） brother. One's spouse's sister's husband is also considered a brother-in-law”，指“內(nèi)兄、小叔子、大伯子、內(nèi)弟、姐夫、妹夫、丈夫的姐夫/妹夫、妻子的姐夫/妹夫”。比如：Rob and Gwen are married. Gwen has a Sister， Claire， and so Rob is Claire's brother-in-law. Claire will marry Neil， who will then become Gwen's Brother-in-law. Furthermore， Rob and Neil will become brothers-in-law to one another.

5. finish up

意為“結(jié)束、告終、吃〔喝〕光”。

例句：You can finish up now.

現(xiàn)在你可以結(jié)束了。

We finished up everything there was on the table.

我們把桌上的東西全吃完了。

6. carry away

意為“拿走、帶走、搬走、使激動(dòng)、使著迷”。

例句：The men came and carried the table away.

來(lái)了一些人把那張桌子搬走了。

The politician carried his hearers away with his speech.

那個(gè)政治家的演講感染了聽(tīng)眾。

【原文】

Spending Christmas with my family is very important to me. We usually gather and celebrate at my parent's house， in East Tennessee. My husband， our three children， and myself travel from California. My two sisters， their husbands， and children come from a nearby town. We spend the day baking cookies， making fudge and preparing a big Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. The children love to see each other. They spend the day playing games and sharing their new gifts and toys that Santa Claus brought for each of them. They get so eager to decorate， that it is hard to restrain them.

Decorating for Christmas is so much fun. My father always draws a new background scenery， for the Nativity scene， that he displays every year. He， my brother-in-laws and my husband start with the decorations for the outside of the house and the front yard. Every year， my parents add a little more to the outside decorations. My mom， sisters， our children and myself decorate the inside of the house. My mom has so many indoor decorations that they can not all possibly be displayed.

We try to change the decorations， which we put out every year. The men finish up just about the same time as， we women and then it is time to decorate the tree together. The children love this the most. The tree is always real， and is usually six to seven feet tall. Most of the ornaments have been collected over the years and are very old. They have become real family treasures. We all have a favorite one that we each put on the tree. All the children put their First Christmas ornament on the tree that I brought， as a gift.

I rarely go into department stores， but during the Christmas season， I love to shop. The stores are so beautifully decorated and very festive. I can easily get carried away， with spending so much money. I must admit the thought of spending too much money hardly comes to mind. I can just picture the look on the faces of my family and that brings me so much joy.

I feel so fortunate to have my family throughout the year， but especially at Christmas time when showing my family just how much I love them and what exactly they mean to me. That is so very important to me. Christmas for me is about being with family， loving each other and showing each other just exactly how we all feel.