愚人节是一个很有趣的日子英语（AprilFools）

Read and learn

April 1st is an unofficial holiday in the United States called April Fool's day.

In the past, April 1st used to be celebrated as the New Year. And then in the year, 1592, or something like that, the official New Year was changed to January 1st and some people never heard of this change so they continued to celebrate the New Year on the April 1st, but the people who knew of this change called them fools.

unofficial/ˌʌn.əˈfɪʃ.əl/ adj. 非正式的；非官方的

unofficial reports非官方的报道

used to过去惯常，过去常常做…

She used to live in Glasgow.她曾在格拉斯哥住过。

She used to love dancing, but she doesn't do it any more.

她曾经喜爱跳舞，但现在已经不跳了。

change/tʃeɪndʒ/ v.换，交换;改变，变化

She's just changed jobs. 她刚换了工作。

Let's change the subject (= talk about something different).

我们换个话题吧。

I almost didn't recognize her - she'd changed so much.

我几乎认不出她了——她变化太大了。

That was 20 years ago and things have changed since then.

20年过去了，情况已经变了。

hear of 听说

What kind of accidents do you hear of ? 你听说过哪些类型的事故？

continue/kənˈtɪn.juː/ v.（使）继续，（使）持续，（使）延续

If the rain continues, we'll have to cancel tonight's plans.

如果雨还下个不停，我们只好取消今晚的计划。

The article continues/is continued on page ten.

这篇文章续载在第10页。

A fool in English is someone who is not smart. We have many words for this in English: dumb, a dummy, stupid, imbecile, idiot. But the people who continued to celebrate the New Year's on April 1st were called April fools. So a tradition started, that on April 1st people would try to do pranks on other people.

dumb /dʌm/ adj. 愚蠢的; 哑的；说不出话的

Are they brave or just dumb?他们是勇敢还是愚蠢而已？

What a dumb idea!这想法太蠢了！

He's been deaf and dumb since birth.他生下来就又聋又哑。

dummy /ˈdʌm.i/ n. 蠢人，傻瓜

You dummy - you don't know the answer!

你这个笨蛋——你不知道答案！

Only a dummy would ignore the safety warnings.

只有傻瓜才会对安全警告视而不见。

stupid /ˈstjuː.pɪd/ adj. 愚蠢的；糊涂的；欠考虑的

She was really stupid to quit her job like that.

她就那样辞掉了工作，简直是愚蠢透顶。

Whose stupid idea was it to travel at night?

晚上赶路是谁的馊主意？

imbecile/ˈɪm.bə.siːl/ n. 低能者，弱智者，蠢人

What an imbecile that boy is!那个男孩真笨！

idiot /ˈɪd.i.ət/ n. 白痴，笨蛋

Some idiot left the tap running in the bathroom and there's water everywhere.

哪个白痴忘了关浴室的水龙头，水流得到处都是。

You stupid idiot - that's a month's work you've lost!

你这个十足的白痴——你损失了一个月的工作！

prank/præŋk/ n. 胡闹，玩笑，恶作剧

When I was at school we were always playing pranks on our teachers.

我读书时我们总是搞恶作剧捉弄老师。

I've had enough of your childish pranks.

我受够了你孩子般的胡闹了。

While popular in the U.S.,the April Fool' s Day tradition is even more prevalent in European countries, such as France and Great Britain.

In Great Britain, tradition only allows April Fool's tricks from midnight to noon on April 1.Those who try to play tricks in the afternoon become the fools themselves.

prevalent/ˈprev.əl.ənt/ adj. 流行的，盛行的，普遍的

These diseases are more prevalent among young children.

这些疾病在幼儿中更普遍。

European/ˌjʊə.rəˈpiː.ən/ adj. 欧洲的；欧洲人的

a European city一个欧洲城市

European history欧洲历史

allow /əˈlaʊ/ v. 使有可能；允许，准许；容许

Do you think Dad will allow you to go to Jamie's party?

你认为爸爸会允许你去参加杰米的聚会吗？

You're not allowed to talk during the exam.

考试期间不许交谈。

Smoking is not allowed in this restaurant.

这个饭店内不许抽烟。

He didn't allow us enough time to finish the test.

他没有给我们留足够的时间完成测验。

trick /trɪk/ n. 骗局；诡计；恶作剧

She played a really nasty trick on me - she put syrup in my shampoo bottle!

她对我搞了一个很讨厌的恶作剧——把糖浆放进了我装洗发剂的瓶子里。

Read the passage again and fill in the blanks.

April 1st is an unofficial holiday in the United States 1 April Fool's day.

In the past, April 1st used to be 2 as the New Year. And then in the year, 1592, or something like that, the official New Year was changed to January 1st and some people never heard 3 this change so they continued to celebrate the New Year 4 the April 1st, but the people who knew of this change called them fools.

A fool in English is someone who is not 5 . We have many words for this in English: dumb, a dummy, stupid, imbecile, idiot. But the people who 6 to celebrate the New Year's on April 1st were called April 7 . So a tradition started, that on April 1st people would try to do pranks on 8 people.

While popular in the U.S.,the April Fool' s Day tradition is even more prevalent in European countries,such as France and Great Britain.

In Great Britain,tradition only 9 April Fool's tricks from midnight to noon on April 1.Those who try to play 10 in the afternoon become the fools themselves.

译文：

4月1日是美国的一个非正式节日，称作愚人节。过去，4月1日曾经被当作新年来庆祝。大概是在1592年，新年正式更改为1月1日，可是有些人并没有听到更改的消息，所以他们继续在4月1日庆祝新年，而知道更改日子的民众便称那些人是愚人。英语中说的愚人就是那些不聪明的人。英语中有很多词来形容这个意思：愚蠢的，笨蛋，笨的，蠢货，白痴，但是继续在4月1日庆祝新年的人被称作四月愚人。所以这就是这个节日传统的由来，在4月1日，人们会对其他人做恶作剧。

愚人节的习俗在美国是很流行的，在欧洲国家如法国和英国就更是如此了。

在英国，按习俗在４月１日只允许从半夜到中午的这段时间可以搞愚人的恶作剧，到下午还这么做的人自己就成了愚人了。

Keys:

1. called/ named 2.celebrated 3. of 4. on 5. smart/ clever

6. Continued 7.fools 8.other 9.allows 10.tricks

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