April Fools' Day
【課文】
'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.'
【課文翻譯】
“作為我們專題新聞節(jié)目的結(jié)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(gè)地區(qū)已經(jīng)種植了600多年了。兩個(gè)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(gè)大豐收，收割工作比往年開始要早些。這里您可以看到兩個(gè)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(cè)，您可以看到布拉班特太太本人，她已經(jīng)幫了她的丈夫30年了。布拉班特太太現(xiàn)在正和負(fù)責(zé)通心粉加工的當(dāng)?shù)丶庸S的經(jīng)理交談。這最后一個(gè)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(jié)束�，F(xiàn)在我們回到電視演播室。”
【生詞匯總】
fool n. 傻瓜
bulletin n. 新聞簡報(bào)
announcer n. (電視、之聲)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
【知識(shí)點(diǎn)講解】
1. fool [n] 傻瓜;受騙者 [v] 欺騙;開玩笑;戲弄
April fool 愚人節(jié)中受愚弄者 act /play the fool 扮丑角
A fool and his money are soon parted.
笨蛋難聚財(cái)。
除了作名詞，fool也可以作動(dòng)詞用。
make a fool of sb. 愚弄某人，欺騙某人 fool about 游手好閑，干蠢事 fool away 浪費(fèi)，虛度
He always taking a delight in making a fool of others.
他總是以愚弄他人為樂。
2. bulletin [n]公報(bào)，公告 [v]發(fā)表，用公告通知
Bulletin Board System 電子布告欄，也即我們常說的BBS。 official bulletin 正式公報(bào)，官方公報(bào)
weather bulletin 氣象通報(bào) results bulletin 成績公告
It is said on the bulletin that the wage adjustment will be carried out from next month.
公告上說從下個(gè)月開始進(jìn)行工資調(diào)整。
3. 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 有很多種意思，比如檢查、復(fù)習(xí)、重做、越過、轉(zhuǎn)向等等。在上面這個(gè)句子中g(shù)o over(to…)表示從較遠(yuǎn)的一處到另一處。
go over big 大受歡迎 go over the wall 越獄 go over the ground 調(diào)查事實(shí)，檢查情況
4. Two of the leading growers 兩個(gè)主要種植者
leading作形容詞表示“最主要的、最重要的”
leading article 社論 leading lady /man 演出的主角 leading light 重要人物
5. they have been expecting a splendid crop this year.
他們一直期待著今年獲得一個(gè)大豐收。
have been+動(dòng)詞現(xiàn)在分詞 這是一個(gè)現(xiàn)在完成進(jìn)行時(shí)�，F(xiàn)在完成進(jìn)行時(shí)表示動(dòng)作發(fā)生在過去，但現(xiàn)在仍在繼續(xù)，今后可能繼續(xù)延續(xù)。也就是說他們過去就一直很希望有個(gè)豐收，現(xiàn)在仍然有這樣一個(gè)愿望。
現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)和現(xiàn)在完成進(jìn)行時(shí)的區(qū)別在于：
①現(xiàn)在完成進(jìn)行時(shí)更強(qiáng)調(diào)動(dòng)作的延續(xù)性，是現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)的強(qiáng)調(diào)形式。試比較下面兩個(gè)句子：
We have been lived here for more than ten years.
We have been living here for more than ten years.
②在沒有時(shí)間狀語的情況下，現(xiàn)在完成進(jìn)行時(shí)表示動(dòng)作仍在進(jìn)行，而現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)則表示動(dòng)作已結(jié)束。
She has been working for this company. 她一直供職于這家公司。
She has worked for this company. 她曾經(jīng)供職于這家公司。
③有些表狀態(tài)、感情、感覺的動(dòng)詞如have/exist/like/hate/hear/know/sound等詞不能用于現(xiàn)在完成進(jìn)行時(shí)，但可用于現(xiàn)在完成時(shí)。
How long have you heard this news?
你知道這個(gè)消息多久了?
6. Here you can see two workers who, between them, have just finished cutting three cartloads of golden brown macaroni stalks.
這里您可以看到兩個(gè)工人，他們協(xié)力割下了3車金黃色的通心粉秸。
這里面包含一個(gè)定語從句，在這整個(gè)句子中，后半部分have just finished cutting three cartloads of golden brown macaroni stalks.是修飾two workers。
7. The whole village has been working day and night gathering and threshing this year's crop before the September rains.
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。
這個(gè)句子里working day and night gathering and threshing this year's crop，后面的現(xiàn)在分詞gathering和threshing表示方式狀語，意思是全村人都日夜奮戰(zhàn)，奮戰(zhàn)的方式就是gathering(收割)和threshing(打谷)。
September rains 九月雨季時(shí)節(jié)
rain表示“雨季”“季節(jié)性雨”的時(shí)候要用復(fù)數(shù)形式rains。
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