员工手册--新概念英语第三册课文及翻译2

Lesson40 Whos whoIt has never been explained why university students seem to enjoy practical jokes more thananyone else.Students specialize in a particular type of practical joke:the hoax.Inviting thefire-brigade to put out a non-existent fire is a crude form of deception which no self-respectingstudent would ever indulge in,Students often create amusing situations which are funny toeveryone except the victims.When a student recently saw two workmen using a pneumatic drilloutside his university,he immediately telephoned the police and informed them that twostudents dressed up as workmen were tearing up the road with a pneumatic drill.As soon as hehad hung up,he went over to the workmen and told them that if a policeman ordered them to goaway,they were not to take him seriously.He added that a student had dressed up as apoliceman and was playing all sorts of silly jokes on people.Both the police and the workmenwere grateful to the student for this piece of advance information.The student hid in an archway nearby where he could watch and hear everything that went on.Sure enough,a policeman arrived on the scene and politely asked the workmen to go away.When he received a very rude reply from one of the workmen,he threatened to remove them byforce.The workmen told him to do as he pleased and the policeman telephoned for help.Shortlyafterwards,four more policemen arrived and remonstrated with the workmen.As the menrefused to stop working,the police attempted to seize the pneumatic drill.The workmenstruggled fiercely and one of them lost his temper.He threatened to call the police.At this,thepolice pointed out ironically that this would hardly be necessary as the men were already underarrest.Pretending to speak seriously,one of the workmen asked if he might make a telephonecall before being takento the station.Permission was granted and a policeman accompanied him to a call-box.Onlywhen he saw that the man was actually telephoning the police did he realize that they had allbeen the victims of a hoax.谁也弄不清为什么大学生好像比任何人都更喜欢恶作剧。大学生擅长种特殊的恶作剧戏弄人。请消防队来扑灭一场根本没有的大火是一种低级骗局，有自尊心的大学生决不会去做。大学生们常常做的是制造一种可笑的局面，使大家笑上一场，当然受害者是笑不出来的。最近有个学生看见两个工人在学校门外用风钻干活，马上打电话报告警察，说有两个学生装扮成工人，正在用风钻破坏路面。挂上电话后，他又马上来到工人那儿，告诉他们若有个警察来让他们走开，不要把他当回事，还对工人说，有个学生常装扮成警察无聊地同别人开玩笑。警察与工人都对那个学生事先通报情况表示感谢。那个学生躲在附近一拱形的门廊里，在那儿可以看见、听到现场发生的一切。果然，警察来了，不礼貌地请工人离开此地；但其中个工人粗鲁地回了几句。于是警察威胁要强行使他们离开。工人说，悉听尊便。警察去打电话叫人。一会儿工夫，又来了 4个警察，规劝工人离开。由于工人拒绝停下手中的活，警察想夺风钻。两个工人奋力抗争，其中个发了火，威胁说要去叫警察。警察听后讥讽地说，这大可不必，因为他俩已被逮捕了。其中一个工人装模作样地问道，在被带往警察局之前，是否可以打一个电话。警察同意了，陪他来到一个投币地电话前，当他看到那个工人真的是给警察挂电话，才恍然大悟，原来他们都成场骗局的受害者。Lesson41 I llusions of Pastoral peaceThe quiet life of the country has never appealed to me.City born and city bred,I have alwaysregarded the country as something you look at through a train window,or something youoccasionally visit during the week-end.Most of my friends live in the city,yet they always go intoraptures at the mere mention of the country.Though they extol the virtues of the peaceful life,only one of them has ever gone to live in the country and he was back in town within six months.Evenhe still lives under the illusion that country life is somehow superior to town life.He is forevertalking about the friendly people,the clean atmosphere,the closeness to nature and the gentlepace of living.Nothing can be compared,he maintains,with the first cock crow,the twittering ofbirds at dawn,the sight of the rising sun glinting on the trees and pastures.This idyllic pastoralscene isonly part of the picture.My friend fails to mention the long and friendless winter evenings whichare interrupted only by an occasional visit to the local cinema-virtually the only form ofentertainment.He says nothing about the poor selection of goods in the shops,or about thoseunfortunate people who have to travel from the country to the city every day to get to work.Whypeople are prepared to tolerate a four hour journey each day for the dubious privilege of livingin the country is beyond my ken.They could be saved so much misery and expense if they choseto live in the city where they rightly belong.If you can do without the few pastoral pleasures of the country,you will find the city can provideyou with the best that life can offer.You never have to travel miles to see your friends.Theyinvariably live nearby and are always available for an informal chat or an eveningsentertainment.Some of my acquaintances in the country come up to town once or twice a yearto visit the theatre as a special treat.For them this is a major operation which involvesconsiderable planning.As the play draws to its close,they wonder whether they will ever catchthat last train home.The city dweller never experiences anxieties of this sort.The latestexhibitions,films,or plays are only a short bus ride away.Shopping,too,is always a pleasure.There is so much variety that you never have to make do with second best.Country people runwild when they go shopping in the city and stagger home loaded with as many of the necessitiesof life