英语阅读：愚人节.doc

美联英语提供：英语阅读：April Fools Day愚人节 两分钟做个小测试，看看你的英语水平 /test/kuaisu.aspx?tid=16-73675-0 While popular in the U.S., the April Fools Day tradition is even more prevalent in European countries, such as France and Great Britain. Although the roots of the traditional tricking,event)trickings are unclear, the French and the British both have claims on the origin of the celebration. 愚人节的习俗在美国是很流行的，在欧洲国家如法国和英国 就更是如此了。虽然这种愚弄人习俗的起源不甚清楚，但 是法国人和英国人却都宣称这种庆祝活动是由他们开始的。 One theory holds that the first April Fools Day was on April 1 of the year when King of France instituted the new calendar. This new system placed the day that had formerly been the first day of a new year on April 1. Many people were reluctant to adjust to the new calandar and continued to celebrate New Years Day on what had become the first day of April. Thus, they become the first April fools. Others began to give gag gifts on the day to mock the foolishness of those who continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. 有一种说法认为，第一个愚人节始于法国国王设立新历法 那一年的4月1曰。这种新历法将以前新的一年的第一天定在 4月1曰。很多人都不愿意按照新的历法行亊，还继续在根据 新的历法已经是4月的第一天庆祝新年，于是他们就成了第一 批愚人。另有一些人开始在这一天送戏弄人的礼物来取笑那些 继续在4月1日庆祝新年的人。 An English story about the day, however, holds that it began sometime during the 1200s. At the time, King John of England was in the habit of making a road out of nearly every path he walked regularly. The citizens of one particular farm village were aware of this. To avoid having their green meadows and pastures disturbed with one of the kings roads, they built a fence that prevented the king from walking through their countryside. The king sent a group of messengers to inform the villagers that they must remove the barrier. Upon hearing that the king was planning to do this, however, the villagers developed a plan of their own. When the messengers arrived, they found what appeared to be a community of lunatics, with people behaving in a bizarre manner, throwing things and running around wildly. The messengers, alarmed at what they had found, reported to