【生詞預覽】

smuggle走私，sentry哨兵，instruct命令，reluctantly不情愿地，bartender酒保

【笑話原文】

What Were You Smuggling

The suspicious-looking man drove up to the border, where he was greeted by a sentry. When the guard looked in the truck, he found six big sacks. "What's inside?" he asked. "Dirt," the driver replied. "Take them out," the guard instructed. "I want to check them." Each one of them contained nothing but dirt. Reluctantly, the guard let him go.

A week later the man came back, and once again, the sentry looked in the truck. "What's in the bags this time?" he asked. "Dirt, more dirt." said the man. Not believing him, the guard checked the sacks and, once again, he found nothing but soil.

The same thing happened every week for six months, and it finally became so frustrating to the guard that he quitted and became a bartender. Then one night, the suspicious-looking fellow happened to stop by for a drink. Hurrying over to him, the former guard said, "Listen, pal, drinks are on the house tonight if you'll do me a favor: Just tell me what the hell you were smuggling all that time." Grinning broadly, the man leaned close to the bartender's ear and whispered, "Cars."

【中文譯文】

意想不到的走私物品 一個形跡可疑的人開車來到邊境，哨兵迎了上去。哨兵發現了幾個大口袋。 “里面裝的是什么？”他問道。 “土。”司機回答。 “把袋子拿出來”，哨兵命令道：“我要檢查。” 確實，口袋里除了土以外，別無他物。哨兵很不情愿地讓他通過了。 一周后，那人又來了，哨兵再次檢查汽車上的行李箱。 “這次袋子里裝的是什么？”他問道。 “土，又運了一些土。”那人回答。 哨兵不相信，對那些袋子又進行了檢查，結果發現，除了土以外，仍舊一無所獲。

同樣的事情每隔一周發生一次，一共持續了六個月。最后，哨兵被弄得灰心喪氣，干脆辭職去當了酒吧侍者。 有天夜里，那個形跡可疑的人碰巧途經酒吧，下車喝酒。那位從前的哨兵急忙迎上前去對他說，“老兄，你要是能幫我一個忙，今晚的酒就歸我請客。你能不能告訴我，那段時間你到底在走私什么東西？” 那人俯身過來，湊近侍者的耳朵，裂開嘴笑嘻嘻地說：“汽車。”

【詞匯講解】

1.instruct命令。也有“教學”的意思：She instructs music once a week at a middle school.她在中學每周教一次音樂課。

2. reluctantly不情愿地。 He thought for a moment, then reluctantly agreed.他思量了一下,才勉強同意了。

3.on the house免費。