Lesson 76 April Fools' Day愚人节
First listen and then answer the question.听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What was the joke?
'To end our special news bulletin,' said the voice of the television announcer, 'we're going over to the macaroni fields of Calabria. Macaroni has been grown in this area for over six hundred years. Two of the leading growers, Giuseppe Moldova and Riccardo Brabante, tell me that they have been expecting a splendid crop this year and harvesting has begun earlier than usual. Here you can see two workers who, between them, have just finished cutting three cartloads of golden brown macaroni stalks. The whole village has been working day and night gathering and threshing this year's crop before the September rains. On the right, you can see Mrs. Brabante herself. She has been helping her husband for thirty years now. Mrs. Brabante is talking to the manager of the local factory where the crop is processed. This last scene shows you what will happen at the end of the harvest: the famous Calabrian macaroni-eating competition! Signor Fratelli, the present champion, has won it every year since 1991. And that ends our special bulletin for today, Thursday, April lst. We're now going back to the studio.'
参考译文
“作为我们专题新闻节目的结尾，”电视广播员说，“我们现在到克拉布利亚的通心粉田里。通心粉在这个地区已经种植了600多年了。两个主要种植者， 朱塞皮.莫尔道瓦和里卡多.布拉班特告诉我，他们一直期待着今年获得一个大丰收，收割工作比往年开始要早些。这里您可以看到两个工人，他们协力割下了3车 金黄色的通心粉秸。全村的人都日夜奋战，要赶在9月的雨季之前把今年的庄稼收获上来，打完场。在屏幕的右侧，您可以看到布拉班特太太本人，她已经帮了她的 丈夫30年了。布拉班特太太现在正和负责通心粉加工的当地加工厂的经理交谈。这最后一个镜头向您展示了收获之后将发生的事情：著名的克拉布利亚人吃通心粉 大赛！目前的冠军弗拉特里先生，自1991年以来，年年获胜。今天 -- 4月1日，星期四--的专题新闻节目到此结束。现在我们回到电视演播室。”
New words and expressions 生词和短语
fool
n. 傻瓜
bulletin
n. 新闻简报
announcer
n. （电视、电台）播音员
macaroni
n. 通心面，空心面条
leading
adj. 主要的
grower
n. 种植者
splendid
adj. 极好的
stalk
n. 梗
gather
v. 收庄稼
thresh
v. 打（庄稼）
process
v. 加工
Signor
n. （意大利语）先生
present
adj. 目前的
champion
n. 冠军
studio
n. 播音室
Lesson 76 自学导读First things first
课文详注 Further notes on the text1．…we're going over to the macaroni fields of Calabria.……我们现在到克拉布利亚的通心粉田里。
（1）go over表示“往……走过去”，暗示中间原有一段距离：
I went over to the blind man to help him across the road.
我走到那个盲人身边，帮他过马路。
（2）field指“（一块）田”、“块”，为可数名词，常用复数：
Many people are busy harvesting in the rice fields.
稻田里许多人正忙着收割。
（3）macaroni指“通心粉”，是加工过的面粉。它不可能像wheat, rice一样长在田里，不该与fields连用，但由于是愚弄人的玩笑，所以这篇文章通篇都是以通心粉长在地里为前提进行的描述。由于macaroni是意大利语，很可能有人会以为是某种没听说过的新的粮食品种。
2．between them,由于他们共同努力的结果。
between作介词时含义之一是“作为……共同努力的结果”、“协力”；
Between them they killed the snake.
他们一起杀死了那条蛇。
Between us we pulled down the tree.
我们协力把树拉倒了。
3．the September rains,9月雨季。
rain一般指“雨水”：
The rain is falling heavily.
雨下得很大。
We haven't had much rain this year.
今年雨水不多。
当rain指“雨季”、“季节性的雨”，尤其是热带地区的雨季时，要用复数形式：
We'd better leave the district before the April rains.
我们最好在4月的雨季之前离开这个地区。
Sometimes spring rains are really annoying.
有时绵绵春雨真让人心烦意乱。
词汇学习 Word study
1．usual与usually
（1）usual通常为形容词，表示“通常的”、“平常的”、“惯常的”等：
It was warm last Sunday, so I went and sat on the river bank as usual.
上星期日天气暖和。于是我和往常一样，又去河边坐着。
（as usual表示“像平常一样”、“照例”，它有时可放在句首）
One Monday, there were fewer people in the shop than usual.
有一个星期一，这家商场里的人比往常少。
It is usual with him to get up late.
他常起床起得晚。
I parked the car at the usual place.
我在往常那个地方停了车。（usual既可以作定语，又可以作表语）
（2）usually为频度副词，表示“平常”、“通常”：He usually gets up late.
他通常起得晚。
When do you usually have supper?
你平常几点吃晚饭？
2．between与among
（1）介词between表示“在（两者）之间”：
I picked up the receiver between two sticky finger.
我用两根黏糊糊的手指拿起了话筒。
Can you tell the difference between Indian music and jazz?
你能分辨出印度音乐和爵士乐吗？
Between them they finished cutting three carloads of macaroni stalks.
他们协力割下了3车通心粉秸。
当表示两两之间的相互关系时，between可用于3个（或3个以上）的名词前：
The village lies between a river, a mountain and a road.
这个村子位于一条河、一座山和一条马路之间。
（2）among表示“在……中间”或“被……环绕”，指3者以上：
The church lies among mountains.
这教堂位于群山之中。
Among those boys, Dan is the tallest.
那些男孩中丹最高。
3．manager,director与headmaster
这3个都是表示职务的词， manager通常译为“经理”， director 可表示“主任”、“董事”等，headmaster则指“（中学）校长”： I entered the hotel manager's office and sat down. 我走进饭店经理的办公室，坐了下来。
Before he retired, Frank was the director of a very large company.
弗兰克退休前是一家非常大的公司的主管。
I haven't met the headmaster of this school yet.
我没见过这个学校的校长。
