圣诞老人准备全球送礼

 Santa Claus and his 'elves' are busy making their final preparations for Christmas Eve at Santa Claus Village in Lapland.

Santa is confident they'll have their work done in time.

"Huh, they're going very well, everything is on schedule. Christmas of course is - I always say this that - it's such a good thing, Christmas Eve is always 24 December. So, it's very easy to plan ahead."

Santa Claus Village is located in the Arctic¹ Circle, around eight kilometres north of Rovaniemi, the capital of Finland's Lapland.

Around 300,000 people visit the village every year to meet Santa, play in the snow, and get in the festive² spirit.

圣诞老人准备全球送礼

Student Audrey Morin is visiting Santa Claus Village from Auxerre in France.

She says it's a magical experience.

"You have the feeling to be in a different world, a different planet³. It's like you have a magical atmosphere. You come here and you are amazed⁴ by all the lights and all the children playing, it's like really nice to be here."

It's an out-of-this-world experience for Gavin Holcombe and his kids. 

Gavin says they're normally⁵ accustomed to beachside festive fun in their hometown of Brisbane, Australia.

"We normally spend our Christmas at the beach out swimming in the surf, so being here in the snow is really different for us. It's a complete contrast to what our normal Christmases would be like in Australia, where it's really quite hot, it's normally about 35 or 36 degrees (Celsius) this time of year."

Part of the experience of visiting Santa Claus Village is getting to meet the big guy himself.

He says he's seen adults reduced to tears and even tell him it's a "childhood dream come true."

"They are amazed, surprised, some a little shy, many are very, very enthusiastic - they come like running and; 'Ah Santa' - and also the adults, it's the same with the adults."

For those who can't meet Santa Claus in person, there's always old-fashioned⁶ mail to get in contact.

In the village's nearby post office, Santa's 'elves' are busy sorting through thousands of letters sent from all around the world.

The post office says Santa Claus receives around half a million letters every Christmas from around 200 different countries.

This year, the festive posts are coming from Asia, Poland, Italy and Great Britain. A popular request is for toys from the winter-themed animated⁷ Disney film 'Frozen⁸.'

Santa says many of the letters he receives also include details of the children's home lives:

"They write about their life, their pets, their family and sometimes sad things, if the parents are divorced⁹. but mostly it's good things, it's about nice things happening and nice wishes and things like that." 

With all the Christmas letters read and presents packed, Santa heads to the snow-covered forest to greet his trusty reindeer¹⁰, Rudolph. He laughs as he rides off on his sleigh.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun.

1 Arctic   

adj.北极的；n.北极

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• The sort of animal lived in the Arctic Circle.这种动物生活在北极圈里。

2 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

3 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

4 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

5 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

6 old-fashioned   

adj.旧式的，保守的，挑剔的

参考例句：

• Why do you still dress in an old-fashioned mode?你为什么还穿款式陈旧的衣服？
• Here is an old-fashioned pump for drawing water from a well.这里有一个旧式水泵可从井里抽水。

7 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

8 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

9 divorced   

adj.离婚的；分开的；不相干的；脱离的v.与…离婚(divorce的过去式和过去分词)；分离；与某人离婚，判某人离婚

参考例句：

• Apparently they are getting divorced soon. 看样子，他们很快就要离婚。
• Many divorced men remarry and have second families. 许多离婚的男子再婚组成了新的家庭。

10 reindeer   

n.驯鹿

参考例句：

• The herd of reindeer was being trailed by a pack of wolves.那群驯鹿被一只狼群寻踪追赶上来。
• The life of the Reindeer men was a frontier life.驯鹿时代人的生活是一种边区生活。