Question

April Fools’ Day is on April 1. It’s the custom in many countries to play a trick or a joke on someone on this day. If the person is fooled, then he is called an “April Fool”. In fact it’s only half a day, because April Fools’ Day finishes at midday. No more jokes after lunchtime, please!

Here are some April Fools’ tricks from around the world.

A zoo in Japan said they had a huge penguin that was 165 cm tall and weighed 80 kg! In fact it was a man dressed in a penguin suit.

In 1976 a very famous British astronomer (天文学家) told radio listeners that at 9:47 am the Earth was going to experience a feeling of less gravity (重力). He said Jupiter (木星) and Pluto (冥王星) would cross and if listeners jumped in the air at that time, they would feel the sense of having no gravity! Hundreds of listeners phoned the radio to say they had jumped and floated (浮) in the air!

In the 1990s a fast-food restaurant put an advertisement in a US magazine, offering new “Left-handed hamburgers” for the 32 million left-handed Americans! Thousands of customers ordered the new burger in the restaurant!

A British newspaper announced that Portugal had “sold” the soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo to Spain for ?160 million. Why? To try to clear its national debt (债务). It was a joke of course.

When I was at school, April Fools’ Day was always good fun. We played tricks on each other and sometimes on the teacher. In fact, one year one of the boys put a bucket of water on top of the door and when the chemistry teacher came in, he got very wet! It was funny, but the boy got in big trouble!

1.On April Fools’ Day, people usually play jokes ____________.

A. in the morning B. at lunchtime C. in the afternoon D. at midnight

2.There are ___________ April Fools’ tricks in the passage.

A. three B. four C. five D. six

3.The listeners phoned the radio to say they floated in the air because __________.

A. there was no gravity B. they believed the famous British astronomer

C. they just played trick for fun D. Jupiter and Pluto went across the county

4.Which is TRUE according to the passage?

A. People always have fun calling others “April Fools”.

B. Ronaldo was sold to clear the national debt.

C. The huge penguin in Japan was 165 cm tall and weighed 80 kg.

D. The boy’s teacher got angry with the boy about his trick.

Answer 1