A:Ok, honey, time to take down the Christmas tree.行了,亲爱的,该拿走圣诞树上的东西了。
B:Do we have to?必须拿下吗?
A:Come on, it’s losing needles all the time and the branches are sagging.快点,它总是往下掉松针,而且树枝已下垂。
B:It’s not that bad, besides it really looks nice in that corner. It gives the room a good atmosphere.没那么糟糕,况且放在那个角落里看上去确实很好。它使房间有个好气氛。
A:A good atmosphere? The tree is falling apart, and it’s messing up the room.好气氛?圣诞树都七零八落了,还使房间里乱糟糟的。
B:But it makes the place feel so much like Christmas. I’d really hate to have to take it down.但它使这里感觉像过圣诞节一样。我实在不愿拿下它。
A:But Christmas was two weeks ago! It’s been there only because we’ve been too busy to get rid of it.但是圣诞节已经过去两个星期了。它还留在那是因为我们一直太忙,没有时间清理它。
B:I know, but it seems like such a shame to have to take it away.我知道,但是拿走它似乎是个遗憾。
A:But it’s falling apart, and the cat keeps playing with the lower branches.但是它正变得七零八落,猫还总是玩弄下面的树枝。
B:I know, I know. But it reminds me of the great Christmas we just had. All of us were here -- my parents, your parents, the kids, and the cousins -- the food was good, and everybody got what they wanted.我知道,我知道。但它使我想起了我们刚刚度过的快乐的圣诞节。所有的人都在――我的父母,你的父母,孩子们和堂兄弟姐妹们――食物很好,并且每个人都得到了所想要的。
A:Yeah, it was a good Christmas. It won’t always be this good, but we can’t make it last longer than it should.是的,是一个愉快的圣诞节。它不会总是这样好,但我们不能使它持续太长的时间。
B:Ok, fine. We need to take down the tree.是,行。我们需要拿走圣诞树。
A:I’ll make a deal with you. We’ll leave it up until Sunday, and then we’ll take it down after church.我向你说定了。我们将把它保留至星期天,做完礼拜后再拿下它。