北外高级口译高级口语 第8课:狗狗也有幽默感
日期:2013-05-02 16:51

(单词翻译:单击)

Dogs Have a Sense of Humour
The question of whether dogs have a sense of humour is often fiercely argued. My own opinion is that some have and some haven't. Dachshunds have, but not'St Bernards or Great Danes. Apparently a dog has to be small to be fond of joke. You never find a Great Dane trying to be a comedian.

But it is fatal to let any dog know that he is funny, for he immediately loses his head and starts overdoing it. As an` example of this I would point to Rudolph, a dachshund I once owned, whose slogan was "Anything for a I.augh". Dachshunds are always the worst offenders in this respect because of their peculiar shape. It is only natural that when a dog finds that his mere appearance makes the viewing public laugh, he should imagine that Nature intended him to be a comedian.

I had a cottage at t.he time outside an English village,not far from a farm.where they kept ducks, and one day the farmer called on me to say his ducks were disappearing and suspicion had fallen on my Rudolph. Why? I asked, and he said because mine was the only dog in the neighbourhood except his own Towser, and Towser had been so carefully trained that he would not touch a duck if you brought it to him with orange sauce over it.

I was very annoyed. I said he only had to gaze intp Rudolph's truthful brown eyes to see how baseless were his suspicions. Had he not, I asked, heard of foxes? How much more likely that a fox was the Bad Guy in the story. He was beginning to look doubtful and seemed about to make an apology, when Rudolph, who had been listening with the greatest interest and at a certain point had left the room, came trotting in with a duck in his mouth.
Yes, dachshunds overplay their sense of humour, and I suppose other dogs have their faults, but they seem unimportant compared with their virtues.

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重点单词
  • truthfuladj. 诚实的,真实的
  • certainadj. 确定的,必然的,特定的 pron. 某几个,某
  • appearancen. 外表,外貌,出现,出场,露面
  • intendedadj. 故意的,有意的;打算中的 n. 已订婚者 v.
  • annoyedadj. 恼怒的;烦闷的 v. 使烦恼;打扰(annoy
  • exceptvt. 除,除外 prep. & conj. 除了 ..
  • apologyn. 道歉;勉强的替代物
  • doubtfuladj. 可疑的,疑心的,不确定的
  • havenn. 港口,避难所,安息所 v. 安置 ... 于港中,
  • suspicionn. 猜疑,怀疑