世界杯纪念品闹乌龙 奥巴马变英格兰队球员

 　　A hilarious¹ blunder at a company producing World Cup merchandise has seen Barack Obama mistaken for defender² Chris Smalling on a set of mugs.

图片1

　　近日，一家世界杯商品公司推出一套马克杯，误将奥巴马的头像印在三狮后卫克里斯·斯莫林的杯子上，乌龙设计令人捧腹。

　　The U.S. President is pictured wearing the England football top after a junior member of staff was tasked with finding royalty³ free images of the squad⁴.

　　在发行的马克杯图像中，美国总统奥巴马身穿斯莫林的12号球衣。之所以出现这种失误，是因为公司安排了一名初级员工在网上搜索英格兰球员的免费照片。

　　The head and shoulders photo printed on the mugs show Obama wearing the kit⁵, with the caption⁶ Chris Smalling World Cup squad Brazil 2014 beneath it.

　　奥巴马头部及肩部的照片被印在了马克杯上，照片中，他身穿英格兰球衣，下方文字标明：“2014年巴西世界杯英格兰队克里斯·斯莫林。

　　The merchandise company which made the error has now hastily turned to Dorset-based expert clearance⁷ resellers Wholesale⁸ Clearance UK to try and shift the stock that could have easily appeared in an Only Fools and Horses episode.

　　日前，该公司已紧急联系位于多赛特的清仓处理商Wholesale Clearance来处理这批蠢的足以上《只有蠢人和马》连续剧的货物。

　　Wholesale Clearance managing director Karl Baxter said the company contacted him with the hope of off-loading the stock.

　　Wholesale Clearance的总经理卡尔·巴克斯特告诉记者，该公司曾和他联系，希望把这些商品下架。

　　Mr Baxter said he believed a junior member of staff at the Dorset company responsible could be facing demotion after being trusted with the task of sourcing royalty free pictures of each England player to use on the mugs.

　　巴克斯特先生说，他认为这名负责搜索英格兰球员免费照片以印在马克杯上的初级员工可能会被降职。

　　They passed this onto to their young, bright eyed and bushy tailed new apprentice⁹. The designs were proofed and signed off by their boss, who had clearly had a heavy night with the lads playing poker¹⁰ and before he'd had his first vat¹¹ of coffee the following morning.

　　“他们把这个任务交给了一个年轻而积极的新手。”他说，“而且公司老板还签字通过了这款产品的设计，显然，这位老板前一天晚上肯定和伙伴们通宵打扑克了，而且在第二天早上签字之前肯定还没喝咖啡。”

　　They immediately contacted us and 2,000 of the England items were dispatched to our warehouse¹². We eagerly unpacked¹³ them and, indeed it turned out that the Chris Smalling cup had Barack Obam’s head on instead of Chris’s.

　　“他们立即通知了我们，2000件商品运到了我们的仓库。我们马上打开查看，发现斯莫林的杯子上印的是奥巴马的头像。”

1 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

2 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

3 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

4 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

5 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

6 caption   

n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明

参考例句：

• I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
• There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。

7 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

8 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

9 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

10 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

11 vat   

n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶

参考例句：

• The office is asking for the vat papers.办事处要有关增值税的文件。
• His father emptied sacks of stale rye bread into the vat.他父亲把一袋袋发霉的黑面包倒进大桶里。

12 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

13 unpacked   

v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的过去式和过去分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等）

参考例句：

• I unpacked my bags as soon as I arrived. 我一到达就打开行李，整理衣物。
• Our guide unpacked a picnic of ham sandwiches and offered us tea. 我们的导游打开装着火腿三明治的野餐盒，并给我们倒了些茶水。 来自辞典例句