April Fool's Day

Minute EnglishApril Fool's Day

Kate: Hello, I’m Kate Colin and this is 6 minute English. Today I'm joined again byJackie Dalton. Hi Jackie.
　　Jackie: Hi KateKate: As you may know, yesterday, April 1st was April Fool's Day!
　　Jackie: Well, to be honest, I completely forgot …..until I was caught out that is…Kate: Oh no – what happened?
　　Jackie: Well, my flatmate changed my clock so I ended up getting up a whole hourearlier than I needed to. I only realised just before I was about to leave the house and I heard the time on the radio. I felt quite silly!
　　Kate: Oh dear, but at least you were nice and early for work. I bet¹ you'd havepreferred an extra hour in bed though. Well April Fool's Day is the one day ofthe year when we are all allowed to have some fun and play a few jokes on ourfriends and colleagues. Newspapers, radio stations and even large companieshave their share of fun as well. But before we go any further, here' s myquestion for this week:
　　In the UK on April Fool's Day, we are traditionally allowed to play jokes onpeople until what time. Is it:
　　a) midnightb) middayc) 4 o'clock

Jackie: answerKate: OK, we'll see if you answered correctly at the end of the programme. Nextwe're going to hear from our colleague Carrie as she tells us what usuallyhappens on April Fool's Day. See if you can hear how she describes the jokesthat are played on people?
　　CarrieIt's usually people playing practical jokes on other people. So if somebody makes somebodyelse look rather silly, by telling them something that isn't true, by playing a practical jokeon them.
　　Jackie: She called the jokes 'practical jokes' and these are when you play a trick onsomeone or do something to make them look silly. So the joke my flatmate playedon me was an excellent example of a 'practical joke'. I'll get her back next yearthough!
　　Kate: Another expression which has a similar meaning to 'practical joke' is 'hoax²'. Ahoax is when people are deceived³ into thinking something false and it's usually ona larger scale than a practical joke, involving many people. A 'media hoax' iswhen the people in charge of the media (TV, radio or newspapers and online) playa trick on their audience. Listen to what Carrie says about 'hoaxes⁴'. What doesshe think is the problem with 'media hoaxes'?
　　CarrieThe media have a lot of hoaxes, so you can pick up a newspaper on April Fool's Day andthere'll be a story in it that you know is a media hoax and it's clearly not true. Or not as thecase may be! I think the trouble is now that you pick up a newspaper on 1st April and you lookthrough and try and find the spoof⁵ story and quite often you'll pick something that maybeisn't a spoof story at all, it really is a genuine⁶ story.
　　6 Minute English ? bbclearningenglish.com 2009Page 3 of 4Jackie: Carrie says that the trouble with 'media hoaxes' is that now we all expect that'sthere's going to be one and often we'll see a story and we think it's a hoax whenactually it's true.
　　Kate: We also heard the expression 'spoof story'. What does this mean?
　　Jackie: A 'spoof story' is a kind of practical joke or hoax and it's a story that's not true,presented in a style that makes it looks like as though it's really true. So anexample of a spoof story would be a newspaper article saying that Elvis Presley has been seen walking down the streets of London, when in fact he's been dead formany years.
　　Kate: Yes, and it can be easy to be 'taken in' by these kind of stories. 'Taken in by' ina phrasal verb we use when we believe something that isn't true. Another way ofdescribing someone who is easily taken in by things is to say they are 'gullible⁷'. A'gullible' person will believe most things you tell them, no matter how unlikelythey are to be true. There have been plenty of other media hoaxes and spoofstories and many gullible people have been taken in over the years. Back toCarrie:
　　CarrieI think the most famous media hoax is actually a BBC hoax which I think happened inthe1950s when a very well respected news programme called Panorama⁸ ran a story aboutspaghetti trees and how, I think it was the Swiss were harvesting a bumper⁹ crop of spaghettiand they had film clips¹⁰ of people picking spaghetti off trees. It's still probably the mostfamous, certainly in the UK, the most famous hoax.
　　Kate: So many people were taken in by that practical joke that a large number ofpeople contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate¹¹ their own spaghettitrees! Unsurprisingly, as Carrie said, even after 50 years it remains¹² one of themost successful TV hoaxes of all time.
　　Jackie: And the BBC have been quite naughty （顽皮）pranskters in the past. A prankster issomeone who plays tricks or pranks¹³ on someone else. And in 1965, the BBC toldthe public that they were broadcasting smells through the airwaves so that if theysniffed their radios they would be able to get smells sent over from the BBC.
　　Many people actually contacted the BBC saying that they could indeed smellthings coming through their radio.
　　Kate: I bet they felt very silly after they realised it was just an April Fool. It's amazingwhat some people will believe…..Let's have a quick look over the vocabulary wecame across today: We had:
　　practical joke - which a type of joke which is played at someone else's expensehoax - to trick people into believing something that's not true, usually on a largerscalespoof story - a story that's not true presented as though it were truetaken in by - to believe something that isn't truegullible - describes someone who believes things easily, even if it's obvious thatthey're not trueprank - is a type of practical joke.
　　Kate: Now lastly to the question I asked you earlier, in the UK on April Fool's Day, weare allowed play jokes on people until what time?
　　Jackie: I said middayKate And you were correct…traditionally in England, the jokes only last until noonmidday. Elsewhere¹⁴, such as in Ireland, France, and the USA, the jokes can last allday. Unlucky for them! That's all we have time for today. Until next week.
　　Both: Goodbye!（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 bet   

v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌

参考例句：

• I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
• I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。

2 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

3 deceived   

v.欺骗，蒙骗( deceive的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was absolutely furious at having been deceived. 她受了骗，怒不可遏。
• He deceived people for years until the police got onto him. 多年来他欺骗人们一直到警察识破他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hoaxes   

n.恶作剧，戏弄( hoax的名词复数 )v.开玩笑骗某人，戏弄某人( hoax的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The disc jockey, a young separatist named Pierre Brassard, has made his name with such hoaxes. 这位名叫彼埃尔 - 布拉萨尔的音乐节目主持人，是一名年轻的分离主义者，以制造这类骗局闻名。 来自百科语句
• This chain-letter hoaxes, has mutated over the years. 这一骗局多年来在互联网上不断发展和变异。 来自互联网

5 spoof   

n.诳骗，愚弄，戏弄

参考例句：

• The show was a spoof of college life.那戏是对大学生活的讽刺。
• That is Tim Robbins's spoof documentary about a presidential campaign.那是蒂姆·罗宾斯关于总统选举的讽刺纪录片。

6 genuine   

adj.真的，非人造的；真诚的，真心的

参考例句：

• On further examination it was found that the signature was not genuine.经过进一步的调查发现签名不是真的。
• As time went on,a genuine friendship grew up between us.随着时间的推移，我们之间产生了一种真挚的友情。

7 gullible   

adj.易受骗的；轻信的

参考例句：

• The swindlers had roped into a number of gullible persons.骗子们已使一些轻信的人上了当。
• The advertisement is aimed at gullible young women worried about their weight.这则广告专门针对担心自己肥胖而易受骗的年轻女士。

8 panorama   

n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置]

参考例句：

• A vast panorama of the valley lay before us.山谷的广阔全景展现在我们面前。
• A flourishing and prosperous panorama spread out before our eyes.一派欣欣向荣的景象展现在我们的眼前。

9 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

10 clips   

n.剪（ clip的名词复数 ）；剪短；剪报；（塑料或金属的） 夹子v.用别针别在某物上，用夹子夹在某物上（ clip的第三人称单数 ）；剪掉；缩短；给…剪毛（或发）

参考例句：

• toe clips on a bicycle 自行车上的踏脚夹套
• Use the crocodile clips to attach the cables to the battery. 用鳄鱼嘴夹把电缆接到蓄电池上。

11 cultivate   

vt.耕作，栽培，养殖；培养，陶冶，发展

参考例句：

• Farmers cultivate their farms with cows.农夫用牛耕田。
• One should cultivate good manners from childhood.一个人从小要学讲礼貌。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 pranks   

n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

14 elsewhere   

adv.在别处，到别处

参考例句：

• Our favourite restaurant was full so we had to go elsewhere.我们最喜欢去的那家饭店客满了，因此不得不改去别处。
• I have half a mind to move elsewhere.我有点想搬到别处去。