What was the joke? 'To end our special news bulletin,' said the voice of the television announcer, 'we're going over to the macaroni fields of Calabria. Macaroni has been grown in this area for over six hundred years. Two of the leading growers Giuseppe Moldova and Riccardo Brabante, tell me that they have been expecting a splendid crop this year and harvesting has begun earlier than usual. Here you can see two workers who, between them, have just finished cutting three cartloads of golden brown macaroni stalks. The whole village has been working day and night gathering and threshing this year's crop before the September rains. On the right, you can see Mrs. Brabante herself. She has been helping her husband for thirty years now. Mrs. Brabante is talking to the manager of the local factory where the crop is processed.This last scene shows you what will happen at the end of the harvest: the famous Calabrian macaroni-eating competition! Signor Fratelli, the present champion, has won it every year since 1991. And that ends our special bulletin for today, Thursday, April 1st. We're now going back to the studio.' “作为我们专题新闻节目的结尾，”电视广播员说，“我们现在到克拉布利亚的通心粉田里。通心粉在这个地区已经种植了600多年了。两个主要种植者，朱塞皮.莫尔道瓦和里卡多.布拉班特告诉我，他们一直期待着今年获得一个大丰收，收割工作比往年开始要早些。这里您可以看到两个工人，他们协力割下了3车金黄色的通心粉秸。全村的人都日夜奋战，要赶在9月的雨季之前把今年的庄稼收获上来，打完场。在屏幕的右侧，您可以看到布拉班特太太本人，她已经帮了她的丈夫30年了。布拉班特太太现在正和负责通心粉加工的当地加工厂的经理交谈。这最后一个镜头向您展示了收获之后将发生的事情：著名的克拉布利亚人吃通心粉大赛!目前的冠军弗拉特里先生，自1991年以来，年年获胜。今天 -- 4月1日，星期四--的专题新闻节目到此结束。现在我们回到电视演播室。”
- expect/ɪkˈspekt/ vt. 预料；期望；指望；[口]认为
- harvest n. 收获；产量；结果
- splendid adj. 辉煌的；极好的；灿烂的；杰出的
- talk vt. 说；谈话；讨论
- macaroni/ˌmækəˈroʊni/ 通心粉;通心面;空心面
- crop/krɑːp/ n. 农作物；庄稼；产量；平头
- bulletin/ˈbʊlətɪn/ n. 公告，公报
- stalk n. （植物的）茎，秆；（支持叶子、果实和花的）梗，柄；追踪；高视阔步
- straw n. 稻草；吸管；一文不值的东西
- carload/ˈkɑːrtloʊd/ n. 大量;一大车的装载量;大批
- thresh/θreʃ/ v.(用机器使)脱粒;(尤指旧时手持工具)打(稻、麦等);翻滚;(使)剧烈扭动 n.脱粒
- fresh adj. 新鲜的；无经验的；淡水的；清新的
- scene n. 情景；景象；场面；事件
- competition[ˌkɑːmpəˈtɪʃn] n. 竞争；比赛，竞赛
- process vt. 处理；加工
- spaghetti n. 意大利式细面条