April fool’s day |四月愚人节—American humorist1 Mark Twain“四月第一天让我们想起自己一年中其它364天里样子。
”——美国幽默作家马克·吐温In sixteenth-century France, the start of the new year was observed2 on April first. It was celebrated in much the same way as it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night. Then in 1562, Pope3 Gregory introduced a new calendar4 for the Christian world, and the new year fell on January first. Not everyone in France heard about5 the change, and even some who did know continued to celebrate the New Year on April first. Others played tricks on them and called them “April fools”. The custom6 of playing tricks on this day became popular in France and then spread to many other countries.In France today, April first is called “Poisson d’Avril (April Fish)”. French children fool their friends by taping7 a paper fish to their friends’ backs. When the “young fool” discovers this trick, the others shout “Poisson d’Avril!”Today Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike8 on the first of April. One common9 trick is pointing down to a friend’s shoe and saying, “Your shoelace is untied10.” Another trick is to secretly stick a sign on someone’s back that says something like “kick me” or “hit me”. Some people may get to t he office early and set all the clocks ahead11 by one hour, and then tell everyone who comes in the door that they are late for work. When they begin to apologize, they hear “April Fools”! The teacher may give unexpected12 exam papers to the students. When they see “April Fool!” at the bottom of the paper, they realize it’s a joke and begin to laugh. Some jokes are kept up13 the whole day before the “fool” realizes what day it is.Here are some more jokes:*telling a classmate that there will be no classes that day*calling the zoo and asking to speak to Mr. Fox*putting salt in the sugar bowl (It is not a nice trick to play on a stranger.)*saying to a friend, “Oh, my. You have four big holes in your coat! ”(buttonholes)*tying a string to a wallet, leaving the wallet in the middle of the sidewalk14, and then, when someone bends down to pick it up, pulling it out of reach15*setting the clock an hour behind, so the roommates show up16 to the wrong class—or not at all *(the whole class) sitting in a nother teacher’s classroom, so the teacher will be puzzled17 that she/he has walked into the wrong classroom when she/he is greeted by unfamiliar18 faces An April Fool’s joke should be in good fun and not meant to19 harm anyone. The most clever April Fool joke is the one where everyone laughs, especially the person upon whom the joke is played. Children enjoy the holiday very much, and it seems that more and more newspapers and TV shows join in. A British short film once shown on April Fool’s Day was a v ery detailed documentary20 about “spaghetti21 farmers” and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. It is fun that nobody knows exactly22 what is true and what is false23. Maybe you have to wait till the next day or longer to know the truth. So, watch out24!If you were fooled this April first, try to be smarter next time. Sending your friends April Fool e-cards may be a good idea. Log on line25 right now! Surely26 you will be better at catchingone fool or two next year.十六世纪法国，过新年是从四月一日开始。
