英語笑話:Morality 道德

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One was convinced the modern world was declining.

He said, "Premarital sex is the reason for our downfall."

He proudly said, "I didn't sleep with my wife before marriage, did you?"

The other replied, "I can't remember. What was your wife's maiden name?"

Notes:

1. Two ministers were discussing morality.

兩個牧師正在討論道德操守的問題。

morality [m??ræl?ti] n.道德;品德

2. One was convinced the modern world was declining.

其中一個相信現(xiàn)代世界正在墮落。

convinced的后面省略了that，表示“確信某事。”“be convinced”后可接that引導的從句(that常省略);要表示

“確信某事”還可用“be convinced of+名詞或名詞性短語”。如:I am convinced of what you said.我確信你說的話是真的。

convince [k?n?v?ns] vt.確信 decline [d??kla?n] v.衰退;墮落

3. He said, "Premarital sex is the reason for our downfall."

他說：“婚前性行為時我們墮落的原因。”

pre [pri] abbr.…之前的 marital [?mær?tl] adj.婚姻的 downfall [?da?nf?:l] n.墮落

4. He proudly said, "I didn't sleep with my wife before marriage, did you?"

他驕傲地說：“我在婚前沒和我妻子有過性行為，你呢?”

"sleep with sb."有兩個含義：①和某人一起睡覺，②與某人發(fā)生性關系。要作哪個意思解，須看上下文，這里的解釋應為“與某人發(fā)生性關系”。

proudly [?pra?dli] adv.驕傲地

5. The other replied, "I can't remember. What was your wife's maiden name?"

另一個人回答：“我不記得了。”

reply [r??pla?] v.回答 remember [r??memb?(r)] v.記得

6. What was your wife's maiden name?"

你妻子的娘家姓什么?

美國女性在結婚之后，約有70~80%會改從丈夫的姓(married name)，而約有20~30%的女性會冠以丈夫的姓，如：Hillary Rodham Clinton(希拉里·拉丹·克林頓)。所以這個句子中的婚前名字(maiden name)，就是指娘家姓。因為大部分的美國女性在結婚之后會從夫姓，所以他必須跟另一個牧師確認妻子的娘家姓是什么，才能知道是否與她有過性行為。這顯然是誤會了第一個牧師的意思。

maiden [?me?dn] adj.未婚的