play jokes

In the UK, we are traditionally allowed to play jokes on people until what time in the day?

在英国，我们允许跟别人开玩笑，除了哪个时间段？

Is it:

a) midnight

b) midday

c) 4 o'clock

April Fool's Day

Kate:Hello, I’m Kate Colin and this is 6 minute English. Today I'm joined again by Jackie Dalton. Hi Jackie.

Jackie:Hi Kate

Kate: As you may know, yesterday, April 1st was April Fool's Day!

Jackie:Well, to be honest, I completely forgot …..until I was caught out that is…

Kate:Oh no – what happened?

Jackie:Well, my flatmate changed my clock so I ended up getting up a whole hour earlier than I needed to. I only realised just before I was about to leave the house and I heard the time on the radio. I felt quite silly!

Kate: Oh dear, but at least you were nice and early for work. I bet 1 you'd have preferred an extra hour in bed though. Well April Fool's Day is the one day of the year when we are all allowed to have some fun and play a few jokes on our friends and colleagues. Newspapers, radio stations and even large companies have their share of fun as well. But before we go any further, here' s my question for this week: In the UK on April Fool's Day, we are traditionally allowed to play jokes on people until what time. Is it: a) midnight b) midday c) 4 o'clock

Jackie:answer

Kate:OK, we'll see if you answered correctly at the end of the programme. Next we're going to hear from our colleague Carrie as she tells us what usually happens on April Fool's Day. See if you can hear how she describes the jokes that are played on people?

Carrie It's usually people playing practical jokes on other people. So if somebody makes somebody else look rather silly, by telling them something that isn't true, by playing a practical joke on them.

Jackie:She called the jokes 'practical jokes' and these are when you play a trick on someone or do something to make them look silly. So the joke my flatmate played on me was an excellent example of a 'practical joke'. I'll get her back next year though!

Kate:Another expression which has a similar meaning to 'practical joke' is 'hoax 2（欺骗，哄骗，愚弄）'. A hoax is when people are deceived（欺骗，行骗） into thinking something false and it's usually on a larger scale than a practical joke, involving many people. A 'media hoax' is when the people in charge of the media (TV, radio or newspapers and online) play a trick on their audience. Listen to what Carrie says about 'hoaxes 3'. What does she think is the problem with 'media hoaxes'?

Carrie The media have a lot of hoaxes, so you can pick up a newspaper on April Fool's Day and there'll be a story in it that you know is a media hoax and it's clearly not true. Or not as the case may be! I think the trouble is now that you pick up a newspaper on 1st April and you look through and try and find the spoof 4 story and quite often you'll pick something that maybe isn't a spoof story at all, it really is a genuine（真正的，诚恳的） story.

Jackie:Carrie says that the trouble with 'media hoaxes' is that now we all expect that's there's going to be one and often we'll see a story and we think it's a hoax when actually it's true.

Kate:We also heard the expression 'spoof（诓骗，愚弄） story'. What does this mean?

Jackie:A 'spoof story' is a kind of practical joke or hoax and it's a story that's not true, presented in a style that makes it looks like as though it's really true. So an example of a spoof story would be a newspaper article saying that Elvis Presley has been seen walking down the streets of London, when in fact he's been dead for many years.

Kate:Yes, and it can be easy to be 'taken in' by these kind of stories. 'Taken in by' in a phrasal verb we use when we believe something that isn't true. Another way of describing someone who is easily taken in by things is to say they are 'gullible 5（易受骗的）'. A 'gullible' person will believe most things you tell them, no matter how unlikely 6 they are to be true. There have been plenty of other media hoaxes and spoof stories and many gullible people have been taken in over the years. Back to Carrie:

Carrie

I think the most famous media hoax is actually a BBC hoax which I think happened in the1950s when a very well respected news programme called Panorama 7 ran a story about spaghetti trees and how, I think it was the Swiss were harvesting a bumper（丰收） crop of spaghetti and they had film clips 8 of people picking spaghetti off trees. It's still probably the most famous, certainly in the UK, the most famous hoax.

Kate:So many people were taken in by that practical joke that a large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate 9 their own spaghetti trees! Unsurprisingly, as Carrie said, even after 50 years it remains 10 one of the most successful TV hoaxes of all time.

Jackie:  And the BBC have been quite naughty pranskters in the past. A prankster is someone who plays tricks or pranks（开玩笑，恶作剧，戏谑） on someone else. And in 1965, the BBC told the public that they were broadcasting smells through the airwaves so that if they sniffed 12 their radios they would be able to get smells sent over from the BBC. Many people actually contacted the BBC saying that they could indeed smell things coming through their radio. 

Kate:  I bet they felt very silly after they realised it was just an April Fool. It's amazing what some people will believe…..Let's have a quick look over the vocabulary we came across today: We had: 

practical joke - which a type of joke which is played at someone else's expense 

hoax -to trick people into believing something that's not true, usually on a larger scale 

spoof story - a story that's not true presented as though it were true 

taken in by -to believe something that isn't true 

gullible - describes someone who believes things easily, even if it's obvious that they're not true 

prank 11 - is a type of practical joke. 

Kate:  Now lastly to the question I asked you earlier, in the UK on April Fool's Day, we are allowed play jokes on people until what time? 

Jackie:  I said midday 

Kate  And you were correct…traditionally in England, the jokes only last until noon midday. Elsewhere 13, such as in Ireland, France, and the USA, the jokes can last all day. Unlucky for them! That's all we have time for today. Until next week. 

Both:  Goodbye!  (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

点击收听单词发音  






1
bet

  
 


v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌


参考例句：





I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。












2
hoax

  
 


v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧


参考例句：





They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。












3
hoaxes

  
 


n.恶作剧，戏弄( hoax的名词复数 )v.开玩笑骗某人，戏弄某人( hoax的第三人称单数 )


参考例句：





The disc jockey, a young separatist named Pierre Brassard, has made his name with such hoaxes. 这位名叫彼埃尔 - 布拉萨尔的音乐节目主持人，是一名年轻的分离主义者，以制造这类骗局闻名。 来自百科语句
This chain-letter hoaxes, has mutated over the years. 这一骗局多年来在互联网上不断发展和变异。 来自互联网












4
spoof

  
 


n.诳骗，愚弄，戏弄


参考例句：





The show was a spoof of college life.那戏是对大学生活的讽刺。
That is Tim Robbins's spoof documentary about a presidential campaign.那是蒂姆·罗宾斯关于总统选举的讽刺纪录片。












5
gullible

  
 


adj.易受骗的；轻信的


参考例句：





The swindlers had roped into a number of gullible persons.骗子们已使一些轻信的人上了当。
The advertisement is aimed at gullible young women worried about their weight.这则广告专门针对担心自己肥胖而易受骗的年轻女士。












6
unlikely

  
 


adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的


参考例句：





It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。












7
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。












8
clips

  
 


n.剪（ clip的名词复数 ）；剪短；剪报；（塑料或金属的） 夹子v.用别针别在某物上，用夹子夹在某物上（ clip的第三人称单数 ）；剪掉；缩短；给…剪毛（或发）


参考例句：





toe clips on a bicycle 自行车上的踏脚夹套
Use the crocodile clips to attach the cables to the battery. 用鳄鱼嘴夹把电缆接到蓄电池上。












9
cultivate

  
 


vt.耕作，栽培，养殖；培养，陶冶，发展


参考例句：





Farmers cultivate their farms with cows.农夫用牛耕田。
One should cultivate good manners from childhood.一个人从小要学讲礼貌。












10
remains

  
 


n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹


参考例句：





He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。












11
prank

  
 


n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己


参考例句：





It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。












12
sniffed

  
 


v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说


参考例句：





When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》












13
elsewhere

  
 


adv.在别处，到别处


参考例句：





Our favourite restaurant was full so we had to go elsewhere.我们最喜欢去的那家饭店客满了，因此不得不改去别处。
I have half a mind to move elsewhere.我有点想搬到别处去。