英語笑話
A film crew was on location deep in the desert. One day, an old Indian went up to the director and said, "Tomorrow will be rain." The next day it rained.
A week later, the Indian went up to the director and said, "Tomorrow will be storm." The next day there was a hailstorm.
This Indian is incredible ! said the director. He told his secretary to hire the Indian to predict the weather.
However, after several successful predictions , the old Indian didn't show up for two weeks. Finally the director sent for him. "I have to shoot a big scene tomorrow," said the director, "and I'm depending on you. What will the weather be like?"
The Indian shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he said. "The radio has broken."
中文翻譯
一個電影攝制組在沙漠深處工作。一天,一個印度老人告訴導演說:“明天有雨?!钡诙旃幌掠炅?。
一周后,這個印度人又來告訴導演說,“明天有暴風雨?!惫?,第二天下了冰雹。
“這印度人真神!”導演說。他讓秘書雇傭這個印度人來預報天氣。
可是,幾次預報成功后,這位印度老人有兩周都沒露面了。最后導演派人去叫他?!拔颐魈煲囊粋€很大的場景,”導演說,“我就靠你了。明天天氣如何?”
印度人聳了聳肩,說:“我不知道,收音機壞了。”
詞匯點睛
crew [kru?] n. 隊,組
location [l???ke???n] n. 位置,場所;(電影的)外景拍攝地
desert [?dez?t] n. 沙漠,荒漠,荒原
director [d??rekt?(r)] n. 導演
hailstorm [?he?lst??m] n. 冰雹
incredible [?n?kred?bl] adj. 難以置信的,不可思議的
secretary [?sekr?tr?] n. 秘書,書記
predict [pr??d?kt] v. 預報,預告
prediction [pr??d?k??n] n. 預言,預報
show up 出現(xiàn),露面
shoot [?u?t] n. 拍攝
scene [si?n] n. 片段,場面,場景
shrug [?r?g] v. 聳(肩)
語法分析
1. One day, an old Indian went up to the director and said, "Tomorrow will be rain." 一天,一個印度老人告訴導演說:“明天有雨?!?/p>
解析 在本篇笑話中,要注意直接引語。講述別人的原話,并把它放在引號里,這叫直接引語。直接引語用來直接引述別人的話語,一般說來具有以下五個特點:
①引用的話之前用“,”;
②引用的話結(jié)束后,需用“.”、“?”、“!”等標點符號;
③被引用的話是原話,不作任何改動;
④被引用的話放在引號內(nèi);
⑤引出直接引語的引述詞常有say(說道),ask(問道),shout(喊道),cry(喊道),laugh(大笑道)等。例如:
He said, "I am going to see her this afternoon." 他說:“我今天下午要去看望她?!?/p>
You are wrong, Tom said. “你錯了,”湯姆說。
口語實踐
A Have you listened to the weather forecast?
B Yes, it is sunny today.
A 你聽天氣預報了嗎?
B 聽了,今天天氣晴朗。
★forecast [?f??kɑ?st] n.&v. 預報,預測
A Is it going to rain today?
B I heard it might rain.
A 今天會下雨嗎?
B 我聽說今天可能下雨。
A How's the weather tomorrow?
B The weather forecast says it will rain tomorrow.
A 明天天氣怎么樣?
B 天氣預報說明天有雨。
A Nice day, isn't it?
B Yes, it's incredible. We haven't had sunshine like this in months!
A 天氣真好,不是嗎?
B 是啊,好得出奇。我們已經(jīng)幾個月都沒見到這樣的陽光啦!
★sunshine [?s?n?a?n] n. 陽光
A It is boiling today, isn't it?
B Yes, it's very hot and stuffy.
A 今天的天氣熱得要命,是不是?
B 是的,今天天氣很悶熱。
★boiling [?b??l??] adj. 炎熱的
★stuffy [?st?f?] adj. 通風不良的,悶人的
笑話文化解讀
在英美國家,人們對于談論天氣有著特別的興趣。在他們看來,初次見面或在彼此不是很了解的情況下,談論天氣是最穩(wěn)妥的辦法,所以他們常說“以談論天氣作為談話開場白既管用,又不得罪人(Mentioning weather can be a useful and inoffensive way of starting a conversation.)”。
英美人談論天氣,除個別情況是實實在在地談論天氣情況外,其他絕大部分情況都不是為了天氣而談天氣,而是為了引入新的話題。比如旅行的人們坐在車上,彼此互不認識,假若大家都默默地坐著,那未免太尷尬,讓人難受。為了打破這種僵局(breaking the ice),人們就得沒話找話說。說什么呢?在英美人看來,最方便也是最安全的辦法,就是談論天氣。因為天氣這一話題人人都可以發(fā)表見解,且不涉及他人私事(英美人視打聽私事為大忌),也不至于失禮或引起誤解。