读者文摘:九则引人思考的笑话(1)

Some jokes just make you chuckle¹, and thank goodness for them. But some punch lines make you stop mid-laugh and actually think.

有些笑话让你发笑，你会感谢它们。但是有些段子会让你停止大笑，开始思考。

One. An elderly woman is watching her grandson play on the beach when a huge wave comes in and sweeps him out to sea.

一位年长的女士正在看着她的孙子在沙滩上玩耍，这时一个巨浪冲了过来，把他卷到海里。

Frantic², she falls down on her knees and pleads, "Please, God, save my only grandchild.

她像发了疯一样，跪在地上祈祷，“老天，救救我的孙子吧。

Please, I beg you, bring him back." Suddenly another wave comes in and delivers the boy onto the beach, as good as new.

求求你，把他带回来吧。”突然另一个巨浪冲了过来，把小男孩送到了沙滩上，就像新的一样。

The grandmother looks up to heaven and shouts, "He had a hat!"

这个祖母看向天空，大喊道，“他刚才还有一顶帽子！”

In other words...Don't be a jerk. A little gratitude³ goes a long way.

换言之...别犯傻。一点点感激能让你走得更远。

Two. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip. After a good dinner and a bottle of wine, they retire for the night.

夏洛克·福尔摩斯和华生去露营。吃完晚饭，喝了一瓶酒后，他们晚上休息。

Some hours later, Holmes wakes up and nudges his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."

几小时后，福尔摩斯醒来，轻推了他的好友。“华生，看看天空，告诉我你看到了什么。”

"I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes," replies Watson. "And what do you deduce from that?"

华生回答，“我看到了无数的星星。”“你可以从中推断出什么？”

Watson ponders for a minute, then says, "Well, astronomically⁴, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies⁵ and potentially billions of planets.

华生沉思了一分钟，然后说：“从天文学的角度来看，它告诉我有数百万个星系，可能还有数十亿颗行星。

Astrologically, I observe that Saturn⁶ is in Leo. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.

从占星术上说，我观察到土星在狮子座。从气象学上说，我怀疑明天天气会很好。

Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are a small and insignificant⁷ part of the universe.

从神学上讲，我可以看到上帝是无所不能的，而我们只是宇宙中微不足道的一部分。

But what does it tell you, Holmes?" "Watson, you idiot!" Holmes says. "Someone has stolen our tent!"

可是它告诉您什么呢，福尔摩斯？”“华生，你真够白痴的！”福尔摩斯说。“有人偷了我们的帐篷！”

In other words ...Hey, genius: Smarts aren't always a substitute for common sense.

换言之...嘿，天才：聪明并不总是常识的替代品。

Three. One evening over dinner, a boy asked his father, "Dad, are bugs⁹ good to eat?" "That's disgusting," said the father.

一天晚饭时，一个男孩问他的爸爸：“爸爸，虫子好吃吗?”“真恶心，”父亲说。

"You know the rules—we don't talk about things like that while we're eating."

“你知道规矩——我们吃饭的时候是不能说这种话的。”

After dinner, the dad asked, "Now, what was it you wanted, son?" "Oh, never mind, Dad," the boy said.

晚饭后，爸爸问：“儿子，你想要什么？”“哦，没关系，爸爸，”男孩说。

"There was a bug⁸ in your soup, but now it's gone."

“你汤里有只虫子，但现在不见了。”

In other words...If you get stuck on following the rules, you might learn things the hard (and crunchy) way.

换言之...如果你坚持遵循这些规则，你可能会以一种困难的(和脆弱的)方式来学习。

1 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

2 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

3 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

4 astronomically   

天文学上

参考例句：

• The bill was astronomically high. 账单上的金额高得没谱儿。
• They have only been read as the multitude read the stars, at most astrologically, not astronomically. 它们之被群众阅读，有如群众之阅览繁星，至多是从星象学而不是从天文学的角度阅览的。

5 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

6 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

7 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

8 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

9 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》