Public trickeries on April Fools’ Day
閱讀暖身
愚人節通常是一個跟人開玩笑，刻意捉弄人的日子。有人會故意把芥末醬和番茄醬換瓶子裝，或是開朋友、同事無傷大雅的玩笑。話說回來， 利用愚人節來欺騙大眾的現象，行之有年。讓我們來看看一些20世紀發生的愚人節事件吧！
a) 惡作劇
b) 有人動了手腳; 惡搞
c) 偽裝
Look at them scream!
Have you ever thrown a fake spider into a group of people and seen them jump? Well that’s what happened with this a) prank. In 1915, 1) in the midst of World War I a French plane, upon discovering a German camp, decided to drop a massive bomb from above. The Germans, upon seeing the object, immediately sheltered for safety. But there was no sign of an explosion. Sensing b) foul play, they decided to investigate. The giant bomb was in fact a football with “Happy April Fools’ Day” written on the side. They had been duped.
看他們四處尖叫竄逃
你曾經把一個假蜘蛛往人群裡丟，看人群嚇得飛狗跳嗎？這個整人遊戲確實發生過。1915年第一次世界大戰期間，一個法國戰機正好飛行經過德國基地，決定投擲一顆大型炸彈。德軍一看到是炸彈，就到處躲藏。但奇怪的是，炸彈竟然沒有爆炸。德軍意識到可能有人惡搞，出去檢查一下。原來掉下來的不是炸彈，而是一個很大的足球，旁邊還寫著“愚人節快樂”。他們被惡搞了。
Can you imagine a sky full of penguins?
A trailer made by BBC in 2008 as a nod to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution showed what appeared to be a discovery of penguins with the ability to fly. The penguins being very secretive were shown taking off and then flying into the South American jungle to avoid the cold on their yearly migration. But it turned out to be a hoax with the penguins being animated penguins.
你可以想像一群企鵝的天空嗎?
2008英國國家轉播電台BBC做了一個跟達爾文進化理論相關的短片, 影片中呈現找到企鵝會飛的證據！這些動態隱秘的企鵝被拍錄到從地面起飛，然後飛行遷移到溫暖的南美洲去避寒。然而事實上，這些飛翔的企鵝都是由電腦動畫所做出來騙人的。
Alien invasion
In 1989, motorists on a highway in London looked out and were shocked to see what looked like a UFO descending upon the city. Their eyes followed the object until it reached its landing spot in an outfield of the city. Alarmed locals immediately phoned the police who then went to inspect this phenomenon. With backup, one brave policeman confronted the UFO. When the door opened, out walked a figure in a gray suit. However, the officers retreated to a safe distance. But the figure was 2) none other than Richard Branson, the founder and owner of Virgin Group and his floating device was actually a hot air balloon c)in disguise.
外星人入侵
1989年倫敦的高速公路上,駕駛們抬頭望向空中，赫然發現很像飛碟的不明飛行物正往城市的方向降落。他們盯著這個不明飛行物，直到它降落在城市的外圍空地上。當地居民立刻報警, 在警力維護下，一名勇敢的警察上前查看。當艙門打開，走出一個身穿灰色外衣的外星人時，警察們立刻後退保持安全距離。其實這個外星人正是維京唱片公司的創辦人-李察布朗森。他乘坐的是偽裝成飛碟造型的熱氣球。
口語詞彙
1. In the midst of: 在…當中
Mid這個字原來就有「中間」的意思，midst就像amid或是middle一樣，都是從mid衍伸來的的，in the midst是很口語的用法，意思是"在....當中"，可以是很具體的事物當中，也可以是抽象的像是hardship (困境)或chaos (混亂)當中。
e.g. Such beauty was unexpected in the midst of the city. 市中心有這樣的美景真是出乎意料。
There was a sign of hope in the midst of all that chaos. 在混亂中，存在著小小的希望。
2. None other than 正是
這是一句很口語,也很戲劇性的用法。原文中這句" the figure was none other than Richard Branson"其實可以用" the figure was Richard Branson "，但就沒有強調的口吻了。
e.g. The new arrival was none other than the President. 剛到的不是別人，正是總統。
世界公民文化中心是一所兩年制英語學院。
以「英語島學程」獨有的一對一教學和國際商業趨勢同步的團體討論課程，幫助企業人士善用英語整合能力，達成個人和企業國際化的目標，為高科技與國際跨國公司仰賴的商務英語學習機構。
