Unit 3
第三单元
A Taste of English Humour
英语幽默
Reading
阅读
A Master of Nonverbal Humor
无声的幽默大师
As Victor Hugo once said, "Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face",
维克多·雨果曾经说过：“笑容就如取走人们脸上的冬天的阳光。”
and up to now nobody has been able to do this better than Charlie Chaplin.
关于这一点，直到今天也没有人能比查理·卓别林做得更好。
He brightened the lives of Americans and British through two world wars and the hard years in between.
在两次世界大战以及之间的艰苦岁月里，他给英国和美国人民打来了快乐。
He made people laugh at a time when they felt depressed, so they could feel more content with their lives.
在人们感到沮丧的时候，卓别林使他们开怀大笑，于是人们对自己的生活感到比较满意。
Not that Charlie's own life was easy!
然而卓别林自己的生活并不容易。
He was born in a poor family in 1889.
他生于1889年，出身贫寒。
His parents were both poor music hall performers.
他的父母都是杂耍戏院里贫穷的演员。
You may find it astonishing that Charlie was taught to sing as soon as he could speak and dance as soon as he could walk.
你可能会感到惊讶，查理刚能说话时大人就教他如何唱歌，他刚能走时大人就教他跳舞。
Such training was common in acting families at this time, especially when the family income was often uncertain.
这样的训练在当时的演员家庭中是很普遍的，尤其是在家庭收入经常不稳定的时候。
Unfortunately his father died, leaving the family even worse off,
不幸的是他的父亲去世了，整个家庭状况更糟了。
so Charlie spent his childhood looking after his sick mother and his brother.
所以卓别林在童年时候就要照顾生病的母亲和弟弟。
By his teens, Charlie had, through his humour, become one of the most popular child actors in England.
在十多岁的时候，凭借着自己的幽默，查理在英国已经成为最受欢迎的童星之一。
He could mime and act the fool doing ordinary everyday tasks.
他能够不说话而仅靠动作来模仿傻子做日常的任务。
No one was ever bored watching him - his subtle acting made everything entertaining.
看他的表演没有人会感到无聊——他巧妙的表演使得一切都那么滑稽可笑。
As time went by, he began making films.
随着时间的推移，他开始拍电影。
He grew more and more popular as his charming character, the little tramp, became known throughout the world.
他塑造的可爱的“小流浪汉”角色开始闻名于世，而他自己也越来越受欢迎。
The tramp, a poor, homeless man with a moustache, wore large trousers, worn-out shoes and a small round black hat.
这个穷苦的无家可归的小流浪汉，留着小胡子，穿着大裤子，破鞋子，头顶着黑色的小圆帽。
