新概念英語第二冊Lesson 76 April Fools' Day
First listen and then answer the question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
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 生詞和短語
fool n. 傻瓜
bulletin n. 新聞簡報
announcer n. （電視、電臺）播音員
macaroni n. 通心面，空心面條
leading adj. 主要的
grower n. 種植者
splendid adj. 極好的
stalk n. 梗
gather v. 收莊稼
thresh v. 打（莊稼）
process v. 加工
Signor n. （意大利語）先生
present adj. 目前的
champion n. 冠軍
studio n. 播音室
參考譯文
“作為我們專題新聞節(jié)目的結尾，”電視廣播員說，“我們現(xiàn)在到克拉布利亞的通心粉田里。通心粉在這個地區(qū)已經種植了600多年了。兩個主要種植者，朱塞皮.莫爾道瓦和里卡多.布拉班特告訴我，他們一直期待著今年獲得一個大豐收，收割工作比往年開始要早些。這里您可以看到兩個工人，他們協(xié)力割下了3車金黃色的通心粉秸。全村的人都日夜奮戰(zhàn)，要趕在9月的雨季之前把今年的莊稼收獲上來，打完場。在屏幕的右側，您可以看到布拉班特太太本人，她已經幫了她的丈夫30年了。布拉班特太太現(xiàn)在正和負責通心粉加工的當?shù)丶庸S的經理交談。這最后一個鏡頭向您展示了收獲之后將發(fā)生的事情：著名的克拉布利亞人吃通心粉大賽！目前的冠軍弗拉特里先生，自1991年以來，年年獲勝。今天 -- 4月1日，星期四--的專題新聞節(jié)目到此結束。現(xiàn)在我們回到電視演播室。”
自學導讀
Further notes on the text
1．…we're going over to the macaroni fields of Calabria.……我們現(xiàn)在到克拉布利亞的通心粉田里。
?。?）go over表示“往……走過去”，暗示中間原有一段距離：
I went over to the blind man to help him across the road.
我走到那個盲人身邊，幫他過馬路。
?。?）field指“（一塊）田”、“塊”，為可數(shù)名詞，常用復數(shù)：
Many people are busy harvesting in the rice fields.
稻田里許多人正忙著收割。
（3）macaroni指“通心粉”，是加工過的面粉。它不可能像wheat, rice一樣長在田里，不該與fields連用，但由于是愚弄人的玩
笑，所以這篇文章通篇都是以通心粉長在地里為前提進行的描述。由于macaroni是意大利語，很可能有人會以為是某種沒聽說過的新的糧食品種。
2．between them,由于他們共同努力的結果。
between作介詞時含義之一是“作為……共同努力的結果”、“協(xié)
力”；
Between them they killed the snake.
他們一起殺死了那條蛇。
Between us we pulled down the tree.
我們協(xié)力把樹拉倒了。
3．the September rains,9月雨季。
rain一般指“雨水”：
The rain is falling heavily.
雨下得很大。
We haven't had much rain this year.
今年雨水不多。
當rain指“雨季”、“季節(jié)性的雨”，尤其是熱帶地區(qū)的雨季時，要
用復數(shù)形式：
We'd better leave the district before the April rains.
我們最好在4月的雨季之前離開這個地區(qū)。
Sometimes spring rains are really annoying.
有時綿綿春雨真讓人心煩意亂。
詞匯學習 Word study
1．usual與usually
?。?）usual通常為形容詞，表示“通常的”、“平常的”、“慣常的”等：
It was warm last Sunday, so I went and sat on the river bank as usual.
上星期日天氣暖和。于是我和往常一樣，又去河邊坐著。
（as usual表示“像平常一樣”、“照例”，它有時可放在句首）
One Monday, there were fewer people in the shop than usual.
有一個星期一，這家商場里的人比往常少。
It is usual with him to get up late.
他常起床起得晚。
I parked the car at the usual place.
我在往常那個地方停了車。（usual既可以作定語，又可以作表語）
?。?）usually為頻度副詞，表示“平常”、“通常”：He usually gets up late.
他通常起得晚。
When do you usually have supper?
你平常幾點吃晚飯？
2．between與among
?。?）介詞between表示“在（兩者）之間”：
I picked up the receiver between two sticky finger.
我用兩根黏糊糊的手指拿起了話筒。
Can you tell the difference between Indian music and jazz?
你能分辨出印度音樂和爵士樂嗎？
Between them they finished cutting three carloads of macaroni stalks.
他們協(xié)力割下了3車通心粉秸。
當表示兩兩之間的相互關系時，between可用于3個（或3個以上）的名詞前：
The village lies between a river, a mountain and a road.
這個村子位于一條河、一座山和一條馬路之間。
?。?）among表示“在……中間”或“被……環(huán)繞”，指3者以上：
The church lies among mountains.
這教堂位于群山之中。
Among those boys, Dan is the tallest.
那些男孩中丹最高。
3．manager,director與headmaster
這3個都是表示職務的詞， manager通常譯為“經理”， director 可表示“主任”、“董事”等，headmaster則指“（中學）校長”： I entered the hotel manager's office and sat down. 我走進飯店經理的辦公室，坐了下來。
Before he retired, Frank was the director of a very large company.
弗蘭克退休前是一家非常大的公司的主管。
I haven't met the headmaster of this school yet.
我沒見過這個學校的校長。
練習答案 Key to written exercises
1．關鍵句型練習答案
A What has happened: has been grown(1.3);has begun(1.6); have just finished(1.7); has won(1.13)
What has been happening: have been expecting(1.5); has been working(11.8-9);has been helping(1.10)
2．難點練習答案
1 among 2 usual 3 manager 4 headmaster
5 usual 6 director 7 between 8 usually
3．多項選擇題答案
1d 2b 3d 4a 5a 6b
7b 8a 9c 10b 11d 12d
