中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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AC Milan's David Beckham looks on during the Champions League soccer match against Manchester United at the San Siro stadium in Milan February 16, 2010.(Agencies) |
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David Beckham joining the Australian soccer team? A stapler sending tweets? It must be April Fools' Day. In keeping with tradition, media outlets, companies, websites and other jokers came up with various April Fools' hoaxes Thursday that ranged from the ridiculous to the absurd. Australian pen maker Artline was advertising a new product in newspapers and on its website www.artline.com.au -- a pen that remembers everything you write. "Forget the worry of losing the shopping list or the scrap of paper with that vital name or number on it," read the Artline advertisement. "You can download it all later -- as you wrote it, or in the typeface of your choice." Last year on April 1 the company unveiled a pen with microchip tracking so no one could pinch it. The website HowStuffWorks.com came up with the "twapler," which is a "stapler that automatically sends a message via Bluetooth or WiFi to a Twitter feed detailing exactly what you're stapling at any given moment." "Whether you're joining together a research project, tax forms or your divorce papers, the Twapler will send out a message for eager tweeters to revel in." Australian broadcaster ABC put out a spoof interview with an injured David Beckham in which the former England soccer captain said he was set to join the Australian national team, the Socceroos, as assistant manager and lead them to World Cup glory in South Africa. Residents of the small Australian town of Murwillumbah woke up to the news in local newspaper the Tweed Daily News that "Avatar" director James Cameron had scouted local rainforests as a location for a sequel to the box-office hit. April Fools' Day dates back centuries, but its origins remain unclear. A widespread theory is that it dates back to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar with the term April Fool applying to those who were still following the Julian Calendar. By tradition in most countries, people can pull pranks before noon on April 1 in the name of April Fools' Day but become the fool if they do it in the afternoon. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
貝克漢姆要加入澳大利亞國家足球隊？訂書機也能“推特”？如果看到這樣的消息，一定是愚人節到了。 按照慣例，世界各地的新聞媒體、公司、網站和愛開玩笑的人在本周四愚人節當天搞出了各種荒唐可笑的玩笑和惡作劇。 澳大利亞鋼筆制造商Artline在報紙及其網站www.artline.com.au上發布了一款最新產品的廣告——一種可以記住你所寫內容的筆。 Artline在廣告中是這樣描述這款筆的：“不用再為弄丟購物清單或記有重要名字或數字的便條而擔心了。你可以在寫完后下載全部內容——按照原本的字體，或另選其它字體。” 去年愚人節，這家公司“推出”一款無人能偷走的微芯片跟蹤筆。 HowStuffWorks.com網站則在愚人節當天推出了一款“推特訂書機”，這款訂書機可以“通過藍牙或無線網絡向推特發送信息，隨時記錄你正在裝訂的東西?！?/p> “無論你是在裝訂研究報告，報稅表格還是離婚文件，這款訂書機都會向推特上發送一條信息，吸引粉絲關注。” 澳大利亞廣播公司則在當天播出了對貝克漢姆的一期專訪。在這個經過處理的假專訪中，有傷在身的前英格蘭國家足球隊隊長宣布，他將擔任澳大利亞國家足球隊（綽號Socceroos）的助理教練，帶領該隊征戰南非世界杯。 澳大利亞Murwillumbah小鎮的居民則在愚人節早上看到了當地《特維德每日新聞》報上的這樣一條消息，《阿凡達》導演詹姆斯?卡梅隆已選定當地雨林作為這部票房大片續集的拍攝地。 愚人節已有數百年歷史，但其來源仍存在爭議。一種比較普遍的觀點認為愚人節與“格里歷”（即現行公歷）的使用有關，當時人們將在公歷普及后仍使用羅馬儒略歷（公歷的前身）的人稱為“四月愚人”。 按照大多數國家的傳統，人們只能在愚人節的上午開愚人節玩笑。如果到了下午再去搞惡作劇，那么你自己就成了“愚人”了。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍） |
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Vocabulary: typeface：any design of type, including a full range of characters, as letters, numbers, and marks of punctuation, in all sizes（字體，打字機字體） microchip：（計算機）微芯片 sequel：a literary work, movie, etc., that is complete in itself but continues the narrative of a preceding work（續集，續篇） |
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