口语Festival素材:April Fools Day（愚人节）

文章作者 无名 发表时间 2004:12:06 06:07:24
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

April Fools Day

April 1st

April Fools Day is traditionally a day to play practical jokes on others, send people on fools errands, and fool the unsuspecting. No one knows how this holiday began but it was thought to have originated in France. The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. New Years was celebrated on March 25 and celebrations lasted until April 1st. When New Years Day as changed from March 25 to January 1st in the mid-1560s by King Charles IX, there were some people who still celebrated it on April 1st and those people were called April Fools. Pranks performed on April Fools Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoes untied!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommates alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fools Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!" April Fools Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. Its simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool! Each country celebrates April Fools differently. In France, the April Fools is called "April Fish" (Poisson dAvril). The French fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends backs and when some discovers a this trick, they yell "Poisson dAvril!". In England, tricks can be played only in the morning. If a trick is played on you, you are a "noodle". In Scotland, April Fools Day is 48 hours long and you are called an "April Gowk", which is another name for a cuckoo bird. The second day in Scotlands April Fools is called Taily Day and is dedicated to pranks involving the buttocks. Taily Days gift to posterior posterity is the still-hilarious "Kick Me" sign.