聖誕在即米歇爾攜女探訪病童

【英文原文】

Asked Tuesday how Christmas would differ this year, eight-year-old firstdaughter Sasha Obama showed she is quite comfortable with the perks of dad's job, replying: "It will be easier to get on the plane than last year."

As President Barack Obama prepares to fly his family off to Hawaii for the Christmas holidays,Sasha and older sister Malia, 11, visited Washington's Children'sNational Medical Center with their mother。

"Howwill the holidays be different for you this year?" one curious childasked, prompting the response from Sasha which was met with a chorus oflaughter。

Since taking office in January, Obama and his family have had two Boeing 747 airplanes at their disposal, luxuriously outfitted aircraft that are designated as "Air Force One" when the president is aboard。

"Every year, ever since the kids were born and even before, we go to Hawaii,because that's where the president is from," First Lady Michelle Obama explained to the audience of some 200 children, some of them in wheelchairs。

"So as soon as all the work here is done, we'll go there."

The first lady and her daughters carefully dodged another question from a child who wanted to know what Christmas present they would be giving the president。

"Oh, I can't tell," Michelle Obama said. "Don't say it, just give it a category," she cautioned her daughters。

The First Lady divulged that her husband could expect something related to sports, with Sasha adding: "It's something he likes."

Michelle Obama and her daughters also revealed that there are some 26 Christmas trees distributed throughout the White House。

"Unfortunately, you don't get presents under all of them," Malia said。

Readingfestive stories to the children, Michelle Obama and her daughters werekeeping up a tradition of visiting with sick kids during the Christmasseason started by Bess Truman, former president Harry Truman's wife。

【中文譯文】

本週二，美國總統奧巴馬八歲的女兒薩莎在被問及今年的聖誕節與以往有何不同時，回答說：“坐飛機肯定比去年方便。”看來“第一女兒”對父親的工作帶來的便利十分滿意。

當天，薩莎和11歲的姐姐瑪麗亞與母親一起探訪了位於華盛頓的全國兒童醫療中心，此後她們將和奧巴馬總統一同前往夏威夷度聖誕假期。

一個小朋友好奇地問道：“對你來說今年的聖誕假期有什麼不同呢？”緊接着薩沙的回答引來一陣笑聲。

自今年一月奧巴馬就任總統後，有兩架裝備豪華的波音747飛機供他和家人調遣。總統所乘坐的專機被命名爲“空軍一號”。

當天在場的共有約200名兒童，其中有一些坐着輪椅。第一夫人米歇爾•奧巴馬對孩子們說：“從薩沙和瑪麗亞出生後，甚至在那以前，我們每年都去夏威夷過聖誕。因爲那是總統的老家。”

“所以這裏的工作一處理完，我們就去夏威夷。”

還有一個小朋友想知道第一夫人和兩個女兒將送奧巴馬什麼聖誕禮物，不過她們巧妙迴避了這個問題。

米歇爾說：“噢，這可不能說。“她還提醒兩個女兒說：“可別說啊，給個大致範圍就行了。”

第一夫人透露說，她們送給奧巴馬的禮物與運動有關。薩莎在一旁補充說道：“是他喜歡的東西。”

米歇爾和兩個女兒還透露稱，現在白宮裏大概放了26棵聖誕樹。

瑪麗亞說：“但並不是每棵聖誕樹下都有禮物。”

米歇爾•奧巴馬和兩個女兒還給孩子們讀了節日故事。在聖誕季探訪患病兒童的傳統始於美國前總統哈利•杜魯門的夫人貝絲•杜魯門。