The Legend of Santa Claus 圣誕老人的傳說

Christmas is the most important festival of a year in many western countries. Children believe that on Christmas Eve (圣誕節前夕) Santa Claus will slide (滑) down their chimneys (煙囪) to bring them gifts. So they hang stockings (長筒襪) by the fireplace， hoping that Santa Claus will fill them with candy and toys.

But was there really a Santa Claus? Yes. Not the man mentioned (提到) above， but a 4th century bishop (主教)， Saint Nicholas. He was born in Turkey and his remains (遺體) are kept to this day in Bari， Italy. According to a story， he was best known for saving children. He brought three dead boys back to life after they had been chopped up (剁碎)! Stories like that helped him become the patron saint (守護神) of boys and girls. Later on， his name was changed into Santa Claus. In the 17th century， the Dutch of New Amsterdam in America added the sleigh (雪橇) and the flying reindeer (馴鹿) to him. Since then Santa Claus has traveled in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeers.

On Christmas Eve many children even lie awake listening to Santa Claus and his sleigh. But he never comes. The gifts found in the stockings the next morning were put there by their own parents when they were asleep.

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( )1. Children believe that Santa Claus comes________.

A. on Christmas Day

B. on New Year’s Eve

C. on the evening before Christmas

( )2. Children hang stockings by the fireplace ________.

A. to dry them up

B. for their mothers to wash

C. to receive gifts from Santa Claus

( )3. Saint Nicolas was born in________.

A. EuropeB. Turkey

C. Greece

( )4. “His remains are kept to this day in Bari， Italy.” The sentence means________ .

A. Saint Nicolas still lives in Italy

B. his body is kept in Italy today

C. he works in Italy