作者：Alice的学习笔记
原文
Today is April Fools’ Day. When I was young, my friends and I tried to outwit each other with April Fools’ pranks. Many media organizations use April Fools’ Day to bamboozle people with untrue news reports. Gullible people are easily bamboozled. Many people agree the best April Fools’ hoax was one by the BBC in 1957. The three-minute hoax on BBC’s Panorama show bamboozled many, including those who worked at BBC because only senior producers knew it was an April Fools’ prank. The hoax was about a family farm in Switzerland with a tree that grew spaghetti. The three-minute news report showed family members removing spaghetti from the tree to dry in the sun.
If you “outwit” someone, it means you use your intelligence or a trick to gain an advantage over someone. The word “outsmart” has a similar meaning. A prank is something harmless that you do to make others look silly, like making others believe in your April Fools’ joke. To bamboozle someone means to trick or cheat someone. A gullible person is someone who is easily fooled. The word “hoax” means to trick or fool someone into believing something that is false. It is a hoax if you call the police to say a bomb will explode in a shopping mall unless you are paid a lot of money when there really isn’t a bomb in the mall.
The BBC’s April Fools’ spaghetti prank fooled so many gullible people that some asked where they could buy a tree that grew spaghetti. But April Fools’ hoaxes are now more difficult because there is so much fake news, especially on social media. Many people no longer know what is true, false, or an April Fools’ joke. Even if a media organization innocently carries an April Fools’ report, it is very possible some people will accuse it of reporting fake news. With so many people still affected by the coronavirus, now is not the time for April Fools’ hoaxes.
单词、短语
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outwit/outsmart
智胜，以计谋击败，英文解释为：to gain an advantage over someone using tricks or clever plans。
a wolf that had outwitted hunters for years
一头多年来智胜猎人的狼。
»She always managed to outsmart her political rivals.
她总有办法表现得比她的政敌智高一筹。
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prank
(尤指使人难堪的)玩笑，恶作剧。
a childish prank
幼稚的恶作剧
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bamboozle
愚弄，欺骗。可作名词，也可作形容词。
She was bamboozled into telling them her credit card number.
他们连哄带骗，骗她说出了信用卡号码。
He bamboozled Mercer into defeat...
他骗得默瑟认了输。
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gullible
轻信的，易受骗的，易上当的。
Plastic replicas of the Greek pottery are sold to gullible tourists.
仿古希腊陶器的塑料复制品被卖给轻信的游客。
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hoax
恶作剧，假警告，骗局，英文解释为：a false warning about something dangerous。
a bomb hoax
虚假炸弹恐吓
hoax calls (=telephone calls giving false information) to the police
恶作剧报警电话
翻译
今天是愚人节。我年轻的时候，会和朋友尝试用各种愚人节的恶作剧（pranks）智胜（outwit）对方。许多传媒机构会用一些虚构的新闻报道去愚弄（bamboozle）人。易受骗的（gullible）人就很易被愚弄（bamboozled）。许多人认为，最佳的愚人节恶作剧（hoax）是一九五七年英国广播公司的那个。在英国广播公司节目《广角镜》上的三分钟骗局（hoax），迷惑了很多人，包括那些在英国广播公司工作的人，因为只有高层的制作人知道那是个愚人节的恶作剧（prank）。那个骗局（hoax）是关于一个瑞士的家族农场，有一棵树长出了意大利面！从那段三分钟的新闻报道可见，那些家庭成员在树上摘下意大利面去晾晒。
若你“outwit” someone，意即你用你的机智或计谋去胜过或骗过某人；“outsmart”的意思亦相近。A prank就是无害的恶作剧，令某人出丑或看来很愚笨，例如令其他人相信你开的愚人节玩笑。To bamboozle someone就是去捉弄或欺骗某人。A gullible person就是容易受骗的人。Hoax是指去捉弄或欺骗某人相信一些不实的东西。假设你报警说，除非你收到大笔金钱，否则将有一个炸弹会在一个商场中爆炸，但其实商场内并不是真的放了炸弹，那就是一个hoax。
英国广播公司的愚人节意粉恶作剧（prank），捉弄了许多易受骗的（gullible）人，其中有些人更询问，在哪里可以买到生出意粉来的树！然而，愚人节骗局（hoaxes）现在变得愈来愈困难，因为有那么多的假新闻，尤其在社交媒体上。许多人不再知道哪些是真的，哪些是假的，哪些是愚人节玩笑。即使一个传媒机构天真地开了一个愚人节玩笑的报道，很有可能会有人指控它在报道假新闻。如今还有那么多人受新冠肺炎疫情影响，现在不是开愚人节玩笑（hoaxes）的适当时机。
原文作者：Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
中文翻译：七刻
以上就是今天的内容。
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