經(jīng)典趣味英語小故事大全

經(jīng)典趣味英語小故事大全 英語趣味小故事 一英語有時候真是莫名其妙，你覺得你明明懂了，可實際上你又沒有懂。所以，今天我想講幾件軼事，都是因為沒有理解聽到看到的東西而鬧出的笑話。也許，從他們的經(jīng)驗中，你也可以學(xué)到一些東西。 第一個故事發(fā)生在秘魯，一位美國婦女在餐館里用餐。她問服務(wù)員： Excuse me. Where could I wash my hands? 服務(wù)員把她帶到洗手間，可不巧，正有一些工人在粉刷洗手間的墻壁。工人們一看有人要用洗手間，就準(zhǔn)備離開。服務(wù)員攔住他們，說： Thats Ok. Stay. She only wants to wash her hands. 在英語里，wash my hands實際上是上廁所的委婉說法。那個服務(wù)員按照字面意思理解，結(jié)果鬧了笑話。 還有一次，一個留學(xué)生在國外的第一天上學(xué)，心里又興奮又緊張。一個美國人見到一張新面孔，為了表示友好，就問： Hi! Whats the good word? 留學(xué)生一聽到這個，立刻傻眼了，他想： My God! I dont know the good word. Ive studied English for years, but no one told me about the good word! 他猶豫再三，想，反正我也不知道，就問問他 好了。于是他吞吞吐吐地問：Hello. Whats the good word? 老美聽了，很隨意地說：Oh, not much. 這下，這個留學(xué)生就更吃驚了！原來，Whats the good word? 在美語里，是一句問候語，意思是“你 還好嗎？”但問話的人并不指望你把遇到的高興 的事情都一一告訴他，只是打個招呼而已。但這 個留學(xué)生以為對方真的在問什么是Good word， 所以鬧了笑話，不過還好，也算給他歪打正著了。 下面的故事就更有意思了。一次，一個美國公司的管理人員給公司一個駐外分部發(fā)了一份傳真，要求對方把職員的人數(shù)報上來。他是這么說的：I need a head count telling the number of people in your factory, the number of people in your office, broken down by sex. 在上面的傳真里，broken down by sex是“按照性別分開”的意思，但是分公司的外國職員沒有理解“broken down by sex”的意思。不過break something/someone down倒是還有一個意思，就是“把某事物，把某人壓服”。 結(jié)果，美國總部收到了回音。那份傳真是這樣說的：Here is your head count. Here we have thirty-five people in our factory, fifteen people in our office, five people in the hospital, none broken down by sex. (這是你要的人頭數(shù)。我們的工廠里有35人，辦公室15人，醫(yī)院5人，無人因縱欲過度而垮掉。) 最后，他還加了一句：And if you really must know, our problem down here is with alcohol. (如果你非要知道，我們這兒的問題是飲酒過度。) ，break down就是“把?壓服，把?壓垮”的意思，因此外國職員就把broken down by sex理解成了“因為縱欲過度而垮了”，但是在那樣的語言環(huán)境下，broken down by sex實際上是“按照性別分開”的意思。美國人 一下子就理解的東西，在外國人眼里，就成了匪夷所思。可見，語言學(xué)習(xí)還真是麻煩。最好 的辦法當(dāng)然是不斷積累，還有，如果有不懂的東西，一定要問明白！ 二英語有時候真是莫名其妙，你覺得你明明懂了，可實際上你又沒有懂。故事發(fā)生在秘魯，一位美國婦女在餐館里用餐。她問服務(wù)員： excuse me. where could i wash my hands? 服務(wù)員把她帶到洗手間，可不巧，正有一些工人在粉刷洗手間的墻壁。工人們一看有人要用洗手間，就準(zhǔn)備離開。服務(wù)員攔住他們，說： thats ok. stay. she only wants to wash her hands.在英語里，wash my hands實際上是上廁所的委婉說法。那個服務(wù)員按照字面意思理解，結(jié)果鬧了笑話。 三你聽說過有不會游泳的魚嗎？你聽說過魚因不會游泳而淹死的事嗎？如果誰有這樣的擔(dān)憂，就和那個被嘲笑了幾百年的擔(dān)心天會塌下來的杞國人沒什么差別了，必定會成為人們 _的笑料。 作為一種本能，魚兒天生就是會游泳的，完全適應(yīng)水底生活，如果有人想教魚兒how to swim，這和在魯班門前賣弄使斧頭的功夫，在孔老夫子面前賣弄寫文章的本領(lǐng)又有什么差異呢？ 因此，teach a fish how to swim 的含義就是“班門弄斧”，“在孔夫子面前賣文章”。英語中類似的表達(dá)還有：teach a dog to chase rabbits；show the President where the White House is； teach the Pope how to pray. 四In America, if you sit ahead when you take a taxi，the driver will be very happy. 在美國，如果你坐在車前座上，司機(jī)會很高興，他會一路上與你談笑風(fēng)生。 But if you sit at the back, the driver will not say a word to you. 但是，如果你坐在后座上，司機(jī)則跟你一句話也不說。即便你主動搭訕，人家也愛搭不理的。 原來啊，如果你坐在前面，說明你把司機(jī)當(dāng)作了朋友；你若坐在了后面，便表明對方成了純粹為你服務(wù)的司機(jī)，你們就是雇傭關(guān)系了。 現(xiàn)在人們往往還是尋求金錢（money）以外的尊重（respect）與友誼（friendship），這看上去雖然只是個座位的問題，但卻體現(xiàn)了人與人之間的尊重。 所以啊，如果您有機(jī)會在美國打的“take a taxi”，可要記得坐在前面?。?五最佳有人在美國拉斯維加斯的時候曾經(jīng)在餐廳里向服務(wù)生要“napkin” ，服務(wù)生很 納悶，為什么你找我要“尿布”呢？原來“napkin”在最初在英語中指的是小孩用的尿布，而“餐巾紙”這種含義則在只在美國東部比較流行。 pants這個詞在美語中是褲子的意思，但在英式英語中卻是內(nèi)褲的意思。如果美國人對英國人說your pants is very pretty。英國人就會認(rèn)為你這個美國人沒素質(zhì)。 英式英語(English English)和美式英語(American English)的差別是客觀存在的，并且在語法上也是有一定差別的。 其實，不單是語法結(jié)構(gòu)方面如此，甚至單詞的使用也有這樣的傾向。這是說，在英式英語和美式英語中，假若是用不同的詞匯表達(dá)同一個意思的，那么，使用美式英語的人遠(yuǎn)較使用英式英語者多。 筆者曾對一些用詞作過研究，藉此判別上述這種趨勢是否普遍存在，結(jié)果是肯定的。根據(jù)一些英美人士所作的調(diào)查，在日常應(yīng)用的詞匯中，英式英語和美式英語各有表達(dá)用語的大約有一千個，其中通用的占了大部分。但所謂通用，其實是指英國人采納了美 _用詞而已。在英、美兩國本土以外的地區(qū)，使用英文的人習(xí)慣了美式英語而少用英式英語者亦占了大多數(shù)。 以下舉一些例子說明上述情況的表現(xiàn)。 Antenna，aerial（前者為美式英語，后者為英式英語，下同）-泛指無線電上使用的天線，但antenna遠(yuǎn)比aerial（或aerial wire）流行。 Apartment，flat-指大廈中的住宅單 位，前者也被譯為（住宅）公寓。不 過，東南亞地區(qū)目前流行用座來表達(dá)， 故使用flat的機(jī)會較多。 Ash，can；dust，bin-指垃圾箱。在 美式英語中，含有同等詞義的還有 garbage can和junk一heap，但英式英 語則只有dust一bin（或dust-bin）. 香港目前多用dustbin。但廢紙簍的兩 種稱呼分別是waste一basket和waste 一paper basket，流行度則似乎相等。 Automobile，motor-car-汽車。美式 英語很多時更簡為auto，如車禍即稱 為auto aident。兩個字的使用度似乎 相差不大。 英語小故事大全 1、The Thirsty Pigeon口渴的鴿子 A PIGEON, oppressed by excessive thirst, saw a goblet of water painted on a signboard. Not supposing it to be only a picture, she flew towards it with a loud whir and unwittingly dashed against the signboard, jarring herself terribly. Having broken her wings by the blow, she fell to the ground, and was caught by one of the bystanders. Zeal should not outrun discretion. 有只鴿子口渴得很難受，看見畫板上畫著一個水瓶，以為是真的。他立刻呼呼地猛飛過 去，不料一頭碰撞在畫板上，折斷了翅膀，摔在地上，被人輕易地捉住了。 這是說，有些人想急于得到所需的東西，一時沖動，草率從事，就會身遭不幸。 2、The Boys And The Frogs 男孩和青蛙 One spring day some naughty boys were playing near a pond. They began to throw stones into the water. In the pond lived many frogs were much afraid of the boys, for the stones hurt some of the frogs. At last an old frog lifted his head out of the water and said, Boys, please don?t throw stones at us.The boys said, We are only playing. I know that, but please stop throwing stones, my boys. What is play to you is death to us, said the old frog. So the boys stopped throwing stones and went away. 春天里的一天，一些頑皮的男孩在一個水塘邊玩耍。他們開始往水里扔石塊。許多生活在水塘里的青蛙非常害怕這些男孩，因為石頭曾弄傷了他們中的一些。最后一只老青蛙把他的腦袋探出水面，他說：“孩子們，請別向我們?nèi)邮^?！蹦泻⒄f：“我們只是在玩耍?！薄拔抑溃垊e扔石頭，孩子們。對你們而言的玩耍對我們可意味著死亡?！崩锨嗤苷f。因此男孩們不再扔石頭并且離開了 3、Applauded Twice The Head of the bureau addressde the meeting:I have always felt strange why the audience always applauded twice.Now I have made clear.Those who listened attentively woke up those who were dozing off.That is why we heard the appluase twice. The moment his voice died down,an outburst of uproar of noise and laughter arouse,Again two outbursts of noise and laughter. 4. Difference I can always tell a graduate class from an undergraduate class, observed the instructor in one of my graduate engineering courses at California State University in Los Angeles. When I say, Good afternoon, the undergraduates respond, Good afternoon. But the graduate students just write it down. She is the one who sells the candy. 5. A Good Boy Little Robert asked his mother for two cents. What did you do with the money I gave you yestrday? I gave it to a poor old woman, he answered. Youre a good boy, said the mother proudly. Here are two cents more. But why are you so interested in the old woman? 6. The Fox. and the Crow A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree. ?That?s for me, as I am a Fox,? said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. ?Good-day, Mistress Crow,? he cried. ?How well you are looking to-day: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.? The Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by Master Fox. ?That will do,? said he. ?That was all I wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the future. ?Do not trust flatterers.? 7. Camels 駱駝的故事 At the small zoo camel ask: Mother Mother, why do we eyelashes so long? Camel mother said: When the wind came, the long eyelashes will enable us to be able to see the direction of the storm. small camel asked: Mother Mother, why do we camels back then, the die ugly! camel mother, said: This is called hump, you can help us store a lot of water and nutrients, so that we can tolerate more than a dozen in the desert day of potable water without conditions. small camel asked: Mother Mother, why do we so thick the soles of the feet? camel mother said: That will enable us to many of the body is not stuck in soft sand, to facilitate long-distance ah journey. small camel pleased bad: Wow, so useful that we ah! But mother, why we are still in zoos, do not desert hiking? My talents to be useful, but now no one used. A good attitude + a suessful teaching + an infinite stage = suess. Each potential is unlimited, the key is to find a stage for their full potential. 以下為中文翻譯 駱駝 在動物園里的小駱駝問媽媽：“媽媽媽媽，為什么我們的睫毛那么地長?”駱駝媽媽說：“當(dāng)風(fēng)沙來的時候，長長的睫毛可以讓我們在風(fēng)暴中都能看得到方向。”小駱駝又問：“媽媽媽媽，為什么我們的背那么駝，丑死了!”駱駝媽媽說：“這個叫駝峰，可以幫我們儲存大量的水和養(yǎng)分，讓我們能在沙漠里耐受十幾天的無水無食條件?！毙●橊動謫枺骸皨寢寢寢專瑸槭裁次覀兊哪_掌那么厚?”駱駝媽媽說：“那可以讓我們重重的身子不至于陷在軟軟的沙子里，便于長途跋涉啊?！毙●橊劯吲d壞了：“嘩，原來我們這么有用啊!可是媽媽，為什么我們還在動物園里，不去沙漠遠(yuǎn)足呢?” 我的才華必有用，可惜現(xiàn)在沒人用。一個好的心態(tài)+一本成功的教材+一個無限的舞臺=成功。每人的潛能是無限的，關(guān)鍵是要找到一個能充分發(fā)揮潛能的舞臺。 8. An old woman had a cat. The cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it. Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. She began to hit the cat. The cat said, Do not hit your old servant. I have worked for you for many years, and I would work for you still, but I am too old. Do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young. 【譯文】 老貓 一位老婦有只貓，這只貓很老，它跑不快了，也咬不了東西，因為它年紀(jì)太大了。一天，老貓發(fā)現(xiàn) _，它跳過去抓這只老鼠，然而，它咬不住這只老鼠。因此，老鼠從它的嘴邊溜掉了，因為老貓咬不了它。 于是，老婦很生氣，因為老貓沒有把老鼠咬死。她開始打這只貓，貓說：“不要打你的老仆人，我已經(jīng)為你服務(wù)了很多年，而且還愿意為你效勞，但是，我實在太老了，對年紀(jì)大的不要這么無情，要記住老年人在年青時所做過的有益的事情。” 9.A man was going to the house of some rich person. As he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road. He said, I do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat. Then he took the apples and threw them away into the dust. He went on and came to a river. The river had bee very big; so he could not go over it. He waited for some time; then he said, I cannot go to the rich mans house today, for I cannot get over the river. He began to go home. He had eaten no food that day. He began to want food. He came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them. Do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time. 【譯文】 一個人正朝著一個富人的房子走去，當(dāng)他沿著路走時，在路的一邊他發(fā)現(xiàn)一箱好蘋果，他說：“我不打算吃那些蘋果，因為富人會給我更多的食物，他會給我很好吃的東西?！比缓笏闷鹛O果，一把扔到土里去。 他繼續(xù)走，來到河邊，河漲水了，因此，他到不了河對岸，他等了一會兒，然后他說：“今天我去不了富人家了，因為我不能渡過河?！?他開始回家，那天他沒有吃東西。他就開始去找吃的，他找到蘋果，很高興地把它們從塵土中翻出來吃了。 不要把好東西扔掉，換個時候你會覺得它們大有用處。 10.The City Mouse and the Country Mouse Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, Do e and see me at my house in the country. So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should e and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must e and see me at my house in the city. The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great n