世界节假日博览 第67期:愚人节

 April Fools' Day is on the first of April every year. It is a day when people can play tricks, practical jokes and hoaxes¹ on each other. No one really knows the exact origin of this day. The writer Mark Twain famously said: “This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three-hundred and sixty-four days.” In some countries, you have until noon to play your jokes. If you play a trick on someone after midday, you are the April Fool. In other countries, April Fools' Day lasts the whole day. On this day, you never know what or who to believe. Even newspapers and television stations play April Fools' jokes on their readers and viewers. Sometimes people actually think the real news is an April Fools' joke.

每年的4月1日为愚人节。在这一天里，人们可以互相欺骗，互相捉弄。没有人知道愚人节的确切起源。作家马克·吐温曾经写过一句著名的话：“这天能提醒我们想起剩下364天的样子。”在一些国家，人们中午才过愚人节。要是在午后捉弄别人，那你就是“April Fool”。在其它一些国家，愚人节活动会持续一天。你不知道这天你能相信什么，有谁可以相信。甚至连报纸和电视台都会对读者和观众开玩笑。人们有时会认为愚人节这天所播出的新闻最真实。

Some of the most famous April Fools' jokes are quite amazing. My favourite happened in 1957. The BBC showed a documentary² of people in Switzerland cutting spaghetti from spaghetti trees. Lots of people contacted the BBC asking how they could grow their own spaghetti trees! Another good one was the “left-handed burger” advertised by Burger King on April 1st, 1998. They said all of the juice would drip³ out of the right hand side of the burger. Many customers asked the Burger King staff for the traditional right-handed burger. Other classic⁴ jokes include the BBC’s 1965 news of “Smell-o-vision” and Google’s 2008 invitation for people to apply to be astronauts to live on the website’s new base on Mars⁵. If you believe that, you’ll believe anything!

许多愚人节笑话十分有趣。我最喜欢1975年的笑话。在BBC的一档纪录片中，瑞士人在意大利面树上切意大利面。许多人随即联系了BBC，询问他们如何种植意大利面树！另一个有趣笑话是1998年愚人节所推出的汉堡王广告“左手汉堡”。广告中称，所有肉汁都会从汉堡右手边流出来。许多顾客向工作人员询问了传统的“右手汉堡”。其它经典笑话包括BBC在1965年有关“嗅觉电影”的新闻，以及2008年谷歌发出了申请成为航天员，前往火星基地生活的邀请。如果你连这个都相信，那你就无所不信了！

1.practical joke 恶作剧

例句：In England, jokes are only played in the morning as it is considered bad luck to play a practical joke on someone after noon.

在英格兰，只有上午才能和人开玩笑，过了中午的恶作剧会被人认为是不吉利的。

2.play a trick on 恶作剧

例句：Then we'd play a trick on them, usually taking a piece of soap and make marks on their windows.

我们就捉弄他们，通常是拿一块肥皂把他们的玻璃涂得乱七八糟。

3.remind of 使回想起

例句：This mishap⁶ reminded me of a traffic accident I once experienced⁷.

这次不幸事故使我联想起我过去经历的一次交通事故。

4.play joke on 戏弄

例句：Sometimes, they like to play jokes on others.

但有的时候他们也会戏弄别人。

1 hoaxes   

n.恶作剧，戏弄( hoax的名词复数 )v.开玩笑骗某人，戏弄某人( hoax的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The disc jockey, a young separatist named Pierre Brassard, has made his name with such hoaxes. 这位名叫彼埃尔 - 布拉萨尔的音乐节目主持人，是一名年轻的分离主义者，以制造这类骗局闻名。 来自百科语句
• This chain-letter hoaxes, has mutated over the years. 这一骗局多年来在互联网上不断发展和变异。 来自互联网

2 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

3 drip   

n.滴，点滴；水滴；乏味的人；v.滴下，漏水

参考例句：

• I hate this sort of drip.我讨厌这种无聊的闲话。
• A drip of water fell from the tap.从龙头滴下一滴水。

4 classic   

n.经典作品；adj.经典的，一流的；古典的

参考例句：

• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。
• The football match was a classic.那场足球比赛堪称典范。

5 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

6 mishap   

n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸

参考例句：

• I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
• We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

7 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。