新奇事件簿 科学家找到一块圣诞老人的骨头

Scientists from Oxford¹ University in the UK believe they have found a bone that belonged to Santa Claus. The real name of Santa Claus is St Nicholas. He was a Christian² holy man who lived in the 4th century in what is now Turkey. He died in the year 343. There are stories that he created many miracles, which is why the Christian church made him a saint. The scientists said the bone is from when St Nicholas lived. An archaeologist said: "This bone…suggests that we could possibly be looking at remains³ from St Nicholas himself." St Nicholas is the saint of children and students. There are stories that he secretly gave presents to poor people. This is the story behind today's Santa Claus.

来自英国牛津大学的科学家们相信他们已找到了圣诞老人身上的一块骨头。圣诞老人的真名叫做圣尼古拉斯。他是一名基督教神职人员，四世纪时期居住于如今的土耳其。他死于343年。有很多关于他创造各种奇迹的故事，所以基督教会让他成为了圣人。科学家们表示这块骨头来自于圣尼古拉斯的居住地。一名考古学家说：“这块骨头表明我们有可能会找到圣尼古拉斯身上的其他骨头。”圣尼古拉斯是孩子和学生们的圣人。在许多故事中，他都会悄悄地给穷人送礼物。这就是圣诞老人背后的故事。

Santa Claus has other names. His name can be shortened to Santa. In many countries, he is called Father Christmas. He is a legendary⁴ character who brings presents to the homes of well-behaved children on the evening of the 24th of December (Christmas Eve). Badly-behaved children get a piece of coal. He delivers the presents on a sleigh, which is pulled through the air by his flying reindeer⁵. Santa Claus is usually seen as an over-weight, happy, smiling man with a white beard. He wears a red coat with a white fur collar and cuffs⁶, red trousers, a black leather belt and black boots. He lives in the North Pole, where he has a toy-making workshop. Children today can track his Christmas Eve journey online.

圣诞老人还有其他的名字。他的名字可被缩写成Santa。在许多国家，他也被称为Father Christmas。他是一个传奇人物，在12月24号晚上（平安夜）将礼物带给乖巧的小孩。而表现不好的小孩则会得到一块煤炭。他乘坐雪橇分发礼物，会飞的驯鹿拉着雪橇穿梭于天空。圣诞老人被看成是一名快乐的胖胖的男人，留着白色的胡子，脸上还挂着微笑。他穿着领口和袖子都是白色软毛的红色外套，配上红色的长裤、黑色的皮带以及黑色的靴子。他住在北极，他的玩具制造厂就在那。如今孩子们能够在线追寻他的平安夜之旅。

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

5 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。

6 cuffs   

n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• a collar and cuffs of white lace 带白色蕾丝花边的衣领和袖口
• The cuffs of his shirt were fraying. 他衬衣的袖口磨破了。