《新概念英语》第二册第76集：April Fools' Day

Lesson 76 April Fools' Day

First listen and then answer the question.

What was the joke?

'To end our special news bulletin,' said the voice of the television announcer, 'we're going over to the macaroni fields of Calabria. Macaroni has been grown in this area for over six hundred years. Two of the leading growers, Giuseppe Moldova and Riccardo Brabante, tell me that they have been expecting a splendid crop this year and harvesting has begun earlier than usual. Here you can see two workers who, between them, have just finished cutting three cartloads of golden brown macaroni stalks. The whole village has been working day and night gathering and threshing this year's crop before the September rains. On the right, you can see Mrs. Brabante herself. She has been helping her husband for thirty years now. Mrs. Brabante is talking to the manager of the local factory where the crop is processed. This last scene shows you what will happen at the end of the harvest: the famous Calabrian macaroni-eating competition! Signor Fratelli, the present champion, has won it every year since 1991. And that ends our special bulletin for today, Thursday, April lst. We're now going back to the studio.'

New words and expressions

生词和短语

fool  n. 傻瓜

bulletin [ˈbʊlətɪn]  n.(电台或电视台的)新闻简报;公告;布告;(机构或组织的)简报 vt.公布;公告;用公报发表

bull,教皇文件，官方文件，见bill,议案，bull,教皇训谕

a bulletin on the President's health

关于总统健康状况的公告

The Internet is the largest computer bulletin board in the world.

因特网是世界上最大的计算机公告系统。

announcer  n. （电视、电台）播音员

macaroni [ˌmækəˈroʊni]  n.通心粉;空心面;通心面

They tend to buy cheap processed foods like canned chicken and macaroni.

他们往往会买便宜的加工食品，像鸡肉罐头和通心粉之类的。

There were few provisions available in exchange for food stamps: ersatz coffee, macaroni, small cubes of margarine.

可以用来换取粮票的食物只有这些：代用咖啡、通心粉和小块的人造黄油。

leading  adj. 主要的

grower  n. 种植者

splendid  adj. 极好的

stalk [stɔːk]  n.秆;(叶或果实)柄;(花)梗;(植物的)茎;(动物的)肉柄;肉茎 v.偷偷接近;潜近(猎物或人);(非法)跟踪;盯梢;怒冲冲地走;趾高气扬地走

He ate the apple, stalk and all.

他把那个苹果吃了个干净，连梗都没剩下。

Crabs have eyes on stalks.

螃蟹的眼睛长在肉柄上。

gather  v. 收庄稼

thresh  v. 打（庄稼）

process  v. 加工

Signor  n. （意大利语）先生

present  adj. 目前的

champion  n. 冠军

studio  n. 播音室

参考译文

“作为我们专题新闻节目的结尾，”电视广播员说，“我们现在到克拉布利亚的通心粉田里。通心粉在这个地区已经种植了600多年了。两个主要种植者，朱塞皮.莫尔道瓦和里卡多.布拉班特告诉我，他们一直期待着今年获得一个大丰收，收割工作比往年开始要早些。这里您可以看到两个工人，他们协力割下了3车金黄色的通心粉秸。全村的人都日夜奋战，要赶在9月的雨季之前把今年的庄稼收获上来，打完场。在屏幕的右侧，您可以看到布拉班特太太本人，她已经帮了她的丈夫30年了。布拉班特太太现在正和负责通心粉加工的当地加工厂的经理交谈。这最后一个镜头向您展示了收获之后将发生的事情：著名的克拉布利亚人吃通心粉大赛！目前的冠军弗拉特里先生，自1991年以来，年年获胜。今天 -- 4月1日，星期四--的专题新闻节目到此结束。现在我们回到电视演播室。”

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