ESL Podcast 882 – Playing a Practical Joke

 　　Patricia: What are you doing?

 

　　Luis: I’m setting up a practical joke for Bobby. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he walks outside and finds his bike in pieces. It’ll be the best prank¹ ever!

 

　　Patricia: You’re not really going to take apart his bike, are you?

 

　　Luis: I’ll let you in on the joke. He’ll just be looking at spare parts. I’ve hidden his bike in the garage.

 

　　Patricia: He’s really going to freak out when he thinks that you’ve run over his bike with the car, though. I think this is more cruel than mischievous².

 

　　Luis: Lighten up! When he realizes he’s the butt³ of the joke, he’ll think it’s hilarious⁴, trust me.

 

　　Patricia: Couldn’t you just play some other kind of practical joke, maybe with a whoopee cushion?

 

　　Luis: A whoopee cushion? That’s child’s play. This practical joke is worthy⁵ of a master prankster!

 

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

2 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

3 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

4 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。