圣诞节前不久，他突然莫名其妙地病了。

Shortly before Christmas, he was mysteriously taken ill.

《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》

在去年圣诞节前不久，一个联邦快递的盒子交到了勃鲁姆的旧货商场，这是卡伯恩寄来的。

Shortly before Christmas last year, a FedEx box arrived at Blum’s salvage emporium, sent by Carbone.

youdao

但是，每一次阿拉伯和以色列的和平尝试失败，就像奥巴马的圣诞节前不久所做的，让和平变得越来越不现实，战争的危险日益增加一样。

But every time an attempt at Arab-Israeli peacemaking fails, as Barack Obama's did shortly before Christmas, the peace becomes a little more fragile and the danger of war increases.

youdao

但是，每一次阿拉伯和以色列的和平尝试失败，就像奥巴马的圣诞节前不久所做的，让和平变得越来越不现实，战争的危险日益增加一样。

But every time an attempt at Arab-Israeli peacemaking fails, as Barack Obama's did shortly before Christmas, the peace becomes a little more fragile and the danger of war increases.

youdao