Santa's Claws|圣诞老公公的爪子

by Marcus Maurice

A modern fairy tale with a Taiwanese twist

June and her mother were walking around Ximending in the middle of August when they saw an arcade filled with claw machines. Each one contained different sized stuffed animals like Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse, and even all the characters from Angry Birds. June begged her mother for some change so she could try to get one of the green pigs from Angry Birds in the claw machine. June's mother agreed, and June was soon moving the claw over the choices in the machine. When she hit the button, the claw went down, but it only grabbed air. Each time she tried, she got more depressed because she didn't succeed at getting the pig she wanted.

An older, heavy-set foreign gentleman with a big belly and white beard was watching and walked over to June and her mother. "Let me give it a shot," the man said before he placed a token in the machine and expertly guided the claw to the biggest green pig in the machine. He pressed the button, and the claw swooped down, picked up the green pig, and dropped it into the chute. He grabbed the green pig, handed it to June, and said, "Here you go, little girl. Have fun with your new toy."

June happily accepted the pig, turned to her mother, and said, "What a nice man." Her mother took the pig and turned around to thank the man, only to see that he had vanished. June asked, "Where did he go?" Her mother answered, "I think I know what Santa Claus does during his time off."

    1.     What happened first in the story?

(A) June's mother told her Santa Claus didn't exist.

(B) June and her mother were taking a leisurely stroll around Ximending.

(C) June wanted to try the claw game.

(D) An older gentleman was nice to June.

    2.     What happened when June tried her luck at the claw game?

(A) She managed to get the item she wanted on her first try.

(B) She decided she didn't like green pigs.

(C) She was upset about not achieving her goal.

(D) She begged for someone to help her.

    3.     According to the article, which of the following statements is true?

(A) June's mother was grateful to the old man for his timely help.

(B) June's mother didn't like her talking to strangers.

(C) June needed to practice being nicer to people.

(D) June was an expert at the claw game.

圣诞老公公的爪子

有台湾风味的现代童话

八月中旬的某一天，茱恩与妈妈在西门町附近散步，就在这时她们看见了一座电动游戏场，里面满满的都是夹娃娃机。每台机器内都有大小不一的填充玩具，像是凯蒂猫、米老鼠，甚至还有愤怒鸟里的所有角色。茱恩向妈妈讨了一些零钱，这样她就可以设法从夹娃娃机里抓出其中一只绿色小猪。茱恩的妈妈同意给她一些零钱，茱恩就很快地将夹娃娃机的爪子移到她想要挑选的填充玩具上。当茱恩按了按钮，爪子就往下移动，但爪子却扑了个空。她每试一次就变得更加地沮丧，因为她还是无法成功地夹到想要的小猪。

一位年长且体格魁梧的外国绅士，挺着大肚腩、脸上长满白色的胡子，他当时就在一旁观看，接着便走向茱恩和她妈妈那里。在将一枚代币投入机器前，这名男人说:『让我来试试看。』，接着很熟练地将爪子指引到机器里最大的那只绿色小猪。他压下按钮，爪子就俯冲而下，夹起了那只绿色小猪，接着把小猪投入输送槽。他抓起了那只绿色小猪，将玩具递给茱恩，接着说：『小妹妹，拿去。祝妳玩新玩具玩得开心。』

茱恩开心地接受了小猪玩具这项礼物，并转向她母亲说：『他人真好。』她妈妈接过小猪玩具并转身要感谢那名男子，却只看见他早已消失无踪了。茱恩问到：『他人去哪儿了呢？』她妈妈回答：『我想我知道圣诞老公公休假时都在做些什么事了。』

答案：  1.  B   2.  C   3.  A

选物贩卖机，台湾俗称夹娃娃机，香港称夹公仔机，为一种源于日本的电子游戏。日语原名 UFO CATCHER。并于目前流行日式夹公仔机（2爪）及韩式夹公仔机（3 爪）。

选物贩卖机是指将商品陈列在一个透明的箱内，其上有一个可控制抓取物品的机器手臂，使用者要凭自己的技术操控手臂，以取得自己想要的物品。因最早大多放置毛绒玩具之类的布偶填充玩具，故有之

「夹娃娃」、「夹公仔」之称。

之后有商家推出夹手表、钥匙圈等等物品。这类机器因为不一定能抓到想要的物品，但运气或技巧好时有可能以少量金钱获得商品，因此相较于贩卖物品的功能，其作为提供乐趣的游戏或博奕的功能更多。（数据源：维基百科）