普通高中课程标准实验教科书 英语必修4 Unit 3 A taste of Engli

 April Fool's Day, or April 1st, is known¹ in many. countries as a day for playing jokes on others. It is usually a time when children make fun of each other, but sometimes other people can get caught in the fun too.
      One of the most famous jokes in England took place on British television in 1957. It was a Monday night when there were always many serious programmes on the television. One of them was called Panorama², This show explored problems and progress all over the world, so nobody was surprised when it began with a report on the excellent noodle harvest in south Switzerland. The programme mentioned two reasons for the good crop: an unusually warm winter and the disappearance³ of the insect that attacked the noodle crop every year. The reporter showed many noodle trees with the farmers pulling noodles off them and putting them into baskets. The people watching were told that they may not have heard of noodles from this part of the world because noodles were grown as part of small family businesses.
      The programme makers⁴ realized that people might wonder why noodles were always the same size so they explained that "it was the result of many years' patient research with the trees to produce noodles of exactly the same length." But even so they explained, the life of a noodle farmer was not easy. "The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for noodle farmers. There is always a chance of very cold weather spoiling⁵ their crop. Then it is difficult for them to get top prices on the world markets."
     Many people in England believed this story. They rang the BBC⁶ to find out how to grow their own noodle tree. They were told to "place a piece of noodle in a tin of tomato sauce⁷ and hope for the best." This may seem very silly, but in the 1950s very few British people travelled abroad for their holidays and even fewer of them ate noodles. So it seemed possible to imagine that noodles grew on trees like apples, pears and nuts. People also trusted the Panorama programme for its careful research and serious information. So they were shocked to find the next day that they had all believed an April Fool's joke. Even today the report of the noodle harvest is remembered as one of the best April Fool's jokes ever!

1 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

2 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。

3 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 spoiling   

v.变质( spoil的现在分词 )；损坏；毁掉；破坏

参考例句：

• You are spoiling this man's son. 贼夫人之子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The murderer attempted to escape from law punishment by spoiling his own face. 那个杀人犯企图自毁容貌以逃脱法律的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 BBC   

abbr.（=British Broadcasting Corporation）英国广播公司

参考例句：

• She works for the BBC.她为英国广播公司工作。
• The BBC was founded in 1922.英国广播公司建于1922年。

7 sauce   

n.酱油，酱汁；调味汁

参考例句：

• Some cream will enrich the sauce.在调味汁里加一些奶油会使其味道更加丰富。
• This sauce is too thick-- add some milk.调味汁太稠，再加点奶.