缺席的慶典
Claus and Jenny are roommates. Christmas is around the corner.
克勞斯和珍妮是室友。聖誕節快到了。
around the corner近了=be on its way
Claus: I was at the mall with my nephew. And guess what?
克勞斯：我剛剛和侄子在商場逛街。你猜怎麼了？
Jenny: Did he make a scene again?
珍妮：他又大吵大鬧了嗎？
make a scene大吵大鬧
Claus: Well, yes, because there was no Santa!
克勞斯：嗯，對，因為居然沒有聖誕老人！
Jenny: How come? I thought the mall would always hire someone to be Santa for the season.
珍妮：怎麼會？我以為商場總會僱個人當聖誕老人。
hire(v.)雇用season(n.)時節、winter holiday season、季節、Season′s greetings
Claus: Many Santa actors are not willing to do the gigs this year due to COVID. And many passed away due to COVID.
克勞斯：由於新冠病毒的關係許多聖誕老人演員今年不願意演出。許多人更因為新冠病毒而去世。
actor(n.)演員be willing to do sth.有意願gig(n.)演出機會pass away過世
Jenny: So sad to hear.
珍妮：真是傷心的消息。
Claus: To make things even worse, there were not enough students enrolled in Santa schools for the past two years.
克勞斯：更糟糕的是，過去兩年沒有足夠的學生進入聖誕老人學校。
To make things even worse更糟糕的是enroll(v.)入學
Jenny: The Santa shortage will continue for a while.
珍妮：這個聖誕老人短缺會持續一段時間呢。
shortage(n.)短缺
Claus: Exactly. My nephew will be so down.
克勞斯：沒錯。我的侄子會很沮喪。
Jenny: Maybe it`s time for you to dress up as Santa to cheer him up.
珍妮：也許你是時候扮成聖誕老人讓他高興一下了。
dress up扮裝cheer sb. up讓某人開心、振作起來