地道英語：簡直是個玩笑
Its a joke
簡直是個玩笑
Helen: 歡迎收聽 BBC 地道英語節目， 我是 Helen, 可是我的搭檔 Neil 看起來非常無奈。 Neil, what are you doing to that mobile phone?
Neil: Argh, I cant get it to make a phone call. It does everything else: it takes photos, it connects to the internet, it even irons shirts but it wont make a call!
Helen: Your mobile irons your shirts?
Neil: No, not really, but honestly it does everything apart from the one thing I want it to do make a phone call. Its a joke!
Helen: A joke? 一個玩笑。 But youre not laughing. It cant be a very funny joke.可是我看不到你臉上有任何笑容，這個玩笑肯定不好笑。
Neil: Well if you saysomething is a joke in English it can also mean that its not very good or not worthy of respect .
Helen: 當我們說某件事情是一個玩笑時，實際是想表達這件事處理非常不當。請聽以下幾個例子。
The investigation into police corruption was a complete joke. Everyone knows the officers were taking money but they were let off.
The weather forecast was a total joke. It said it would be warm and sunny but its freezing and raining.
Helen: 就象我們剛才聽到的，有人形容對警察貪污案件的調查就是一個 joke. 這并不是說這件事情很好笑，實際意思是沒人在徹底調查，根本就不起作用。另外天氣預報根本就不準，所以被形容為 a joke.
Neil: Notice that you can add words before joke to make the meaning even stronger.
Helen: 我們可以在 joke 這個單詞的前面加其他的詞來加重語氣。
Neil: Its a complete joke.
Helen: A complete joke. 簡直不可思議的玩笑。
Neil: Its a total joke.
Helen: A total joke. 意思一樣，完全是個玩笑。
Neil: Its an absolute joke.
Helen: 和剛才的幾個一樣，an absolute joke. Anyway Neil, why dont you just read the instructions for your new mobile phone? Then youll probably be able to work out how to make a call. 看看用戶手冊，我想你就能知道怎么打電話了。
Neil: I looked at the instructions but theyre an absolute joke.
Helen: Oh really?
Neil: Well for a start they are in about 17 languages apart from English.
Helen: What a joke!
Neil: Yeah I know.
Helen: 我們今天聽到了不少的玩笑，但是沒有什么笑聲。
Neil: Argh, what a useless piece of
Helen: 希望 Neil 能搞清楚怎么用他的手機。
Neil: Argh, this is beyond a joke, it really is
Its a joke
簡直是個玩笑
Helen: 歡迎收聽 BBC 地道英語節目， 我是 Helen, 可是我的搭檔 Neil 看起來非常無奈。 Neil, what are you doing to that mobile phone?
Neil: Argh, I cant get it to make a phone call. It does everything else: it takes photos, it connects to the internet, it even irons shirts but it wont make a call!
Helen: Your mobile irons your shirts?
Neil: No, not really, but honestly it does everything apart from the one thing I want it to do make a phone call. Its a joke!
Helen: A joke? 一個玩笑。 But youre not laughing. It cant be a very funny joke.可是我看不到你臉上有任何笑容，這個玩笑肯定不好笑。
Neil: Well if you saysomething is a joke in English it can also mean that its not very good or not worthy of respect .
Helen: 當我們說某件事情是一個玩笑時，實際是想表達這件事處理非常不當。請聽以下幾個例子。
The investigation into police corruption was a complete joke. Everyone knows the officers were taking money but they were let off.
The weather forecast was a total joke. It said it would be warm and sunny but its freezing and raining.
Helen: 就象我們剛才聽到的，有人形容對警察貪污案件的調查就是一個 joke. 這并不是說這件事情很好笑，實際意思是沒人在徹底調查，根本就不起作用。另外天氣預報根本就不準，所以被形容為 a joke.
Neil: Notice that you can add words before joke to make the meaning even stronger.
Helen: 我們可以在 joke 這個單詞的前面加其他的詞來加重語氣。
Neil: Its a complete joke.
Helen: A complete joke. 簡直不可思議的玩笑。
Neil: Its a total joke.
Helen: A total joke. 意思一樣，完全是個玩笑。
Neil: Its an absolute joke.
Helen: 和剛才的幾個一樣，an absolute joke. Anyway Neil, why dont you just read the instructions for your new mobile phone? Then youll probably be able to work out how to make a call. 看看用戶手冊，我想你就能知道怎么打電話了。
Neil: I looked at the instructions but theyre an absolute joke.
Helen: Oh really?
Neil: Well for a start they are in about 17 languages apart from English.
Helen: What a joke!
Neil: Yeah I know.
Helen: 我們今天聽到了不少的玩笑，但是沒有什么笑聲。
Neil: Argh, what a useless piece of
Helen: 希望 Neil 能搞清楚怎么用他的手機。
Neil: Argh, this is beyond a joke, it really is
