[灌水]April Fool’s Day

jiey

Here are some great April Fool’s Day Hoaxes. Some of them were engineered by some serious news media.  some are just a bit funny : )

jiey

<b>The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
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　　In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in, and many called up wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. To this question, the BBC diplomatically replied that they should “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.“

jiey

<b>San Serriffe
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　　In 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement in honor of the tenth anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian’s phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer’s terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that then gripped the British tabloids in the following decades.
　　
　　<I>(I have to say, this is my favourite one!)</I>

jiey

<b>The Taco Liberty Bell
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　　In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called up the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell is housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed that it was all a joke a few hours later. The best line inspired by the affair came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale, and he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold, though to a different corporation, and would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
　　
　　
　　<B>UFO Lands in London</B>
　　
　　On March 31, 1989 thousands of motorists driving on the highway outside London looked up in the air to see a glowing flying saucer descending on their city. Many of them pulled to the side of the road to watch the bizarre craft float through the air. The saucer finally landed in a field on the outskirts of London where local residents immediately called the police to warn them of an alien invasion. Soon the police arrived on the scene, and one brave officer approached the craft with his truncheon extended before him. When a door in the craft popped open, and a small, silver-suited figure emerged, the policeman ran in the opposite direction. The saucer turned out to be a hot-air balloon that had been specially built to look like a UFO by Richard Branson, the 36-year-old chairman of Virgin Records. The stunt combined his passion for ballooning with his love of pranks. His plan was to land the craft in London’s Hyde Park on April 1. Unfortunately, the wind blew him off course, and he was forced to land a day early in the wrong location.
　　
　　
　　<B>The Eruption of Mount Edgecumbe</B>
　　
　　In 1974 residents of Sitka, Alaska were alarmed when the long-dormant volcano neighboring them, Mount Edgecumbe, suddenly began to belch out billows of black smoke. People spilled out of their homes onto the streets to gaze up at the volcano, terrified that it was active again and might soon erupt. Luckily it turned out that man, not nature, was responsible for the smoke. A local prankster named Porky Bickar had flown hundreds of old tires into the volcano’s crater and then lit them on fire, all in a (successful) attempt to fool the city dwellers into believing that the volcano was stirring to life. According to local legend, when Mount St. Helens erupted six years later, a Sitka resident wrote to Bickar to tell him, “This time you’ve gone too far!“

jiey

<P><FONT color=#ffffff size=4>你知道愚人节的来历吗！！！(</FONT></P><P>In sixteenth-century France, the start of the new year was observed on April first. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, and the new year fell on January first. There were some people, however, who hadn’t heard or didn’t believe the change in the date, so they continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April first. Others played tricks on them and called them “April fools.“ They sent them on a “fool’s errand“ or tried to make them believe that something false was true. In France today, April first is called “Poissond’Avril.“ French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends’ backs. When the “young fool“ discovers this trick, the prankster yells “Poisson d’Avril!“ (April Fish!)
　　 在十六世纪的法国，人们是在 4月1日庆祝新年的。到了1562年，罗马教皇Gregory把一种全新的纪年法引进基督教国家，新年被调至1月1日。但是，有些人不知道或是不相信新年日期的变动，照例在4月1日这天庆祝新年开始。旁观者就拿他们开玩笑，并戏称他们为“四月傻瓜”，并支使这些“傻瓜”去执行一项“傻瓜差事”，就是弄假成真让他们深信不疑。今天的法国，4月1日被叫做Poisson d’Avril（四月的鱼）。法国的小孩子们在伙伴背上偷偷贴上纸做的鱼以愚弄对方，当那些“小愚人”发现他们的恶作剧时，顽皮的孩子就齐声高喊“Poisson d’Avril”。
</P><P>Today Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April. One common trick on April Fool‘s Day, or All Fool‘s Day, is pointing down to a friend‘s shoe and saying, "Your shoelace is untied." Whatever the trick, if the innocent victim falls for the joke the prankster yells, "April Fool! " Most April Fool jokes are in good fun and not meant to harm anyone. The most clever April Fool joke is the one where everyone laughs, especially the person upon whom the joke is played.
　　 现在，美国人也在4月1日这天和朋友或陌生人开这样的玩笑。愚人节最普遍的一个玩笑就是指着朋友的鞋，认真的说：“你的鞋带松了”。无论是什么恶作剧，一旦不明真相的一方上当了，始作俑者都会大喊“四月傻瓜！”。大多愚人节的玩笑都是娱乐性的，并无伤害他人之意。最聪明最成功的一种玩笑就是全场哄堂大笑，被捉弄的那个“愚人”笑得尤为起劲。
</P><P>"The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. "
　　
　　
　　 四月一日这一天是提醒我们记起我们在过去一年的364天中都是什么人的日子。
　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　
　　 - Mark Twain　马克·吐温 </P>

jiey

<P>愚人谚语 </P><P>在愚人节读一些含“愚人”的谚语是十分有趣的。千万不要小看这些含“愚人”的谚语，有的还包含一定的哲理，令人深思。
　　
　　
　　1．A fool always finds a greater fool than himself．傻瓜总爱装聪明。
　　
　　
　　2．A fool’s bolt is soon shot．蠢人一下子把箭射完。
　　
　　
　　3．A fool may give a wise man counsel．智者千虑，必有一失。
　　
　　
　　4．A fool may throw a stone into a well which a hundred wise men cannot put out．一个傻子闯祸，百个智者难补。
　　
　　
　　5．Fools learn nothing from wise men；but wise men learn much from fools．愚者不能从聪明人那里学到什么，智者却能从愚者那里学到许多。
　　
　　
　　6．A man may talk like a wise man and act like a fool．说得头头是道，也许干得乱七八糟。
　　
　　
　　7．A wise man changes his mind，a fool never will．智者通权达变，愚者刚愎自用。
　　
　　
　　8．As the fool thinks，so the bell clinks．不管愚人怎样想，时钟还是照样响。铃铛一敲就响，傻瓜只爱空想。
　　
　　
　　9．Every man has a fool in his sleeve．人人都有糊涂的时候。
　　
　　
　　10．Fortune favours fools．傻人有傻福。
　　
　　
　　11．He is fool who cannot be angry，but he is a wise man who will not．愚者不会怒，智者不发怒。
　　
　　
　　12．He that walks with wise men shall be wise；but a companion of fools shall be destroyed．近朱者赤，近墨者黑。
　　
　　
　　13．If wise men play the fool，they do it with a vengeance．聪明人做起糊涂事来，那才糊涂透顶。
　　
　　
　　14．No fool is a fool always，every one sometimes．没有终身的傻瓜，也没有终身不当傻瓜的人。
　　
　　
　　15．One fool makes many．听蠢人的话也将变成蠢人。愚蠢也能传染。
　　
　　
　　16．The fool asks much，but he is more fool that grants it．拼命多要的人愚蠢，答应多给的人更蠢。
　　
　　
　　17．The fool does think he is wise，but the wise man knows himself．愚者自以为聪明，智者则有自知之明。
　　
　　
　　18．The fool is busy in everyone’s business but his own．傻瓜忙别人，不知忙自己。
　　
　　
　　19．The fool wanders，the wise man travels．愚者彷徨观望，智者勇往直前。
　　
　　
　　20．What the fool does in the end，the wise man does at the beginning．蠢人最后才做的，聪明人一开始就做。
　　
　　
　　21．Wise men have their mouths in their hearts，fools have their hearts in their mouths．聪明人有事装在肚里，傻瓜有事喊在嘴里。
　　
　　
　　22．Wise men learn by other men’s mistakes；fools，by their own．聪明人从别人的错误中得到教益，傻瓜只能从自己的错误中吸取教训。
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jiey

lvzh11

<P>Thanks a lot!</P>

yhwhk76

you do a good job and i get much knowledge here, thank you, jiey!