爱华网Lesson 76 * April Fools'Day
First read and then answer the question.
What was the joke?
'To end our special news bulletin,' said the voice of thetelevision announcer, 'we're going over to the macaroni fields ofCalabria. Macaroni has been grown in this area for over six hundredyears. Two of the leading growers, Giuseppe Moldova and RiccardoBrabante, tell me that they have been expecting a splendid cropthis year and harvesting has begun earlier than usual. Here you cansee two workers who, between them, have just finished cutting threecartloads of golden brown macaroni stalks. The whole village hasbeen working day and night gathering and threshing this year's cropbefore the September rains. On the right, you can see Mrs. Brabanteherself. She has been helping her husband for thirty years now.Mrs. Brabante is talking to the manager of the local factory wherethe crop is processed. This last scene shows you what will happenat the end of the harvest: the famous Calabrian macaroni-eatingcompetition! Signor Fratelli, the present champion, has won itevery year since 1991. And that ends our special bulletin fortoday, Thursday, April lst. We're now going back to thestudio.'
New words andexpressions
fool n. 傻瓜
bulletin n. 新闻简报
announcer n. （电视、电台）播音员
macaroni n. 通心面，空心面条
leading adj. 主要的
grower n. 种植者
splendid adj. 极好的
stalk n. 梗
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 * 愚人节
“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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本文幽默之处：
意大利通心粉即意大利面，欧洲最早的面条类食品传说是由旅行家马可·波罗于1295 年由中国带回意大利的。但此种说法似乎并不可靠。有的历史学家认为，面条是在富裕的意大利人家当厨师的亚洲奴隶传入欧洲的。传说在18 世纪，那不勒斯城附近的一家经营面条和面片的店主叫马卡·罗尼。一天，罗尼的小女儿在玩耍时把面片卷成空心条并晾于衣绳上。罗尼将空心面条煮熟后拌以番茄酱，结果大受顾客欢迎。此后，罗尼兴建了世界上第一家通心粉加工厂，并以自己的名字为通心粉命名。于是这种“马卡罗尼”面食便渐渐传到了欧洲和世界许多地方。
