Lesson 12 April Fool's Day

愚人節

一、詞匯部分
1.fool/fuːl/ n. 傻瓜
擴展：jerk/dumbass/asshole/a piece of shit.
搭配：make fool of 取消；make fool of oneself 自取其辱

2.bulletin/ˈbʊl.ə.t̬ɪn/ n. 新聞簡報
擴展：bullet/bull/bully

3.announcer/əˈnaʊn.sɚ/ n. （電視、電臺）播音員
擴展：announce v. 宣布；pronounce 發音

4.macaroni/ˌmæk.əˈroʊ.ni/ n. 通心面，空心面條

5.leading/ˈliː.dɪŋ/ adj. 主要的
擴展：leading actor 主演；

6.grower/ˈɡroʊ.ɚ/ n. 種植者
擴展：grow 成長；Failure is not a bad thing. It makes you grow.

7.splendid /ˈsplen.dɪd/ adj. 極好的

8.stalk/stɑːk/ n.梗
擴展：stalk v. 尾隨；stalker 尾隨者；pervert n.變態

9.gather/ˈɡæð.ɚ/ v. 收莊稼
10.thresh/θreʃ/ v. 打（莊稼）

11.process/ˈprɑː.ses/ v. 加工

12.Signor /si'njɔ/ n.（意大利語）先生

13.present /ˈprez.ənt/ adj.目前的
擴展：present n. 禮物；v. 呈現；
搭配：at present 目前，現在；in the past 在過去

14.champion/ˈtʃæm.pi.ən/ n. 冠軍

15.studio /ˈstuː.di.oʊ/ n.播音室

文章講解

'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.'

文章精講：

1.'To end our special news bulletin,' said the voice of the television announcer, 'we're going over to the macaroni fields of Calabria.

知識點:
end up with/end up doing something 結果是…
例句：We were planning to take a trip to America, but we ended up taking English classes all day.

例句：It’s not the end of the world. Everything will be all right.

2.Macaroni has been grown in this area for over six hundred years.

知識點:
完成時被動語態：have/has been + done
擴展：時態＋語態
擴展：完成進行時——have/has been doing something 一直做某事

例句：I’ve been trying to figure out how it works. 我最近一直在想搞清楚，這個到底是怎么回事。

擴展：area/neighborhood
例句：Peter is a new kid in this neighborhood.

擴展：完成時＋時間（for/since）
例句：I’ve been teaching English since my second year in college.

3.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.

知識點:
定語從句
1)名詞＋who ….
2)定語從句里面（關系代詞／關系副詞）
名詞／代詞＋（連接詞＋句子）謂語＋賓語。
名詞／代詞謂語賓語＋（連接詞＋句子）

搭配：finish doing something 完成做某事
例句：I just finished watching a movie. You wanna have some night snacks?

表達點：have been doing something

4.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.


知識點:
搭配：on the right/left/in front of(in the front of)/behind
例句：You’ll see the subway station on your right hand.

擴展：take a right/left
例句：Go down this road and take a left at the first crossroad. 直走，然后在第一個紅綠燈左轉。

Right in front of …正前方
例句：I didn’t expect he would cry right in front of us.我沒想到他會在我們面前哭。

定語從句：
Mrs. Brabante is talking to the manager of the local factory where the crop is processed.

5.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.'

知識點:
賓語從句
This last scene shows you what will happen at the end of the harvest

擴展：
show up 出現；We had been waiting for him the whole night. But he didn’t show up.

end up doing something結果以…告終。It went really well at first, but we ended up breaking up.

Who was the most ignorant American you have ever met?

I overheard a woman at a meeting tell another woman that she doesn’t drink milk when it’s hot outside. She said, “When it’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside or more, milk will curdle and spoil inside of your body.”
I wanted to correct the lady. However, I knew it would be of no use. She continued to talk to the other woman about milk going bad inside the body when it’s hot outside for a few more minutes.
Update: The average normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.