奥巴马夫妇互比圣诞礼物

爱思英语编者按：现在的白宫可能已经挂满了各种圣诞装饰，洋溢着浓浓的圣诞气氛，但这里最著名的居民对圣诞老人却似乎颇有微词。美国总统贝拉克•奥巴马的一期访谈节目于上周日在ABC电视台播出。奥巴马在访谈中谈到圣诞礼物时半开玩笑地说：“我送给别人的礼物总比我收到的好。”

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sit down with Oprah Winfrey for the "White House Christmas Special," a less rigid interview than the President"s "60 Minutes" sitdown.
 

The White House may be bedecked with baubles and awash with Christmas cheer, but its most famous resident appears a tad disgruntled with Santa.

When it comes to gifts, "I give nicer stuff than I get," President Barack Obama said half-jokingly in an interview aired on ABC television Sunday.

Quizzed about Christmas-time giving by Oprah Winfrey -- a close friend and backer from his hometown of Chicago -- Obama"s candidness prompted a nudge from his co-interviewee, First Lady Michelle Obama.

"No way!" she shot back, "I gave you good gifts last year."

But Obama ceded little ground: "Absolutely -- aw, come on please," he said pointing to a double-stranded pearl necklace that was a gift for their wedding anniversary.

"Who gave you this?" he asked with a grin.

Michelle Obama may not be alone in questioning the president"s claim to gift-giving greatness.

The 48-year-old was earlier criticized when he presented British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a DVD set of Hollywood films, which apparently did not work on a European player.

He also raised eyebrows by giving the Queen of England an iPod and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a copy of the sheet music for "The Star Spangled Banner."

Obama meanwhile has received a taekwondo outfit from South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, a book from his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez and a jersey from a Stanley Cup-winning ice hockey team.

In the conversational interview, the US president said his all-time favorite gifts were a 10-speed bicycle he received one year and a basketball his estranged father gave him one Christmas.更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

"You know, I do remember the one time I met my father he was visiting during Christmas and he gave me a basketball and -- the degree to which I came to love basketball -- it wasn"t until much later in life that I realized, "Actually, he gave me that basketball,"" Obama recalled.

The intimate, hour-long special also features Winfrey"s first one-on-one conversation with the president, an interview with the first couple and behind-the-scenes preparations for the holiday season at the White House.