READING "Who is Santa Claus … Really?"

hat do you already know about Santa Claus?

Read the article below and then answer the questions.

Who is Santa Claus … Really?

When I was a young boy, I knew exactly who Santa Claus was. He was a fat, friendly, old man with a long, white beard that visited my home once a year to put lots and lots of toys under the Christmas tree. He came only if my sister and I had been good – and only if we were asleep. Then, early the next morning, after we woke up, we ran downstairs to open all our gifts (I never understood why my parents always seemed so tired on Christmas morning).

As I got older, however, I stopped believing in Santa Claus. Many years later, I asked myself the question, “Who is Santa Claus … really?” So, I went online1 and googled2 “Santa Claus.” And guess what? I found out that yes, indeed3 , Santa Claus was, in fact, a real man!

Santa Claus was a real person. He was a Greek man, a Christian called Saint Nicholas who lived about 1,700 years ago in the area that is now Turkey. He was famous because he gave many gifts to poor people. About a thousand years later, many people in Europe began the tradition of giving gifts to children to remember Saint Nicholas. The modern picture of Santa Claus – an old man dressed in red and white, with a long white beard – started about two hundred years ago in the United States and Canada. Nowadays, he is also known as Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Santy or just Santa.

Saint Nicholas died a very long time ago but I like to believe but that his spirit still lives on to this day. His spirit, I believe, reminds us that true happiness comes from giving to other people. He is the goodness and love in our hearts that reminds us that true happiness comes from giving to other people.