April Fools Day or All Fools Day is one day of the year when you’re allowed to mercilessly prank your friend, family and coworkers.
四月愚人节是一年之中可以无情地恶整你的朋友、家人和同事的日子。mercilessly adv 无情地（merciless + -ly）
How exactly did this day come about? We don’t actually know for sure what started the celebration of April Fools Day.
这天到底是怎么来的呢？我们实际上并不确定是什么开始了愚人节的庆祝活动。References can be found as early as 1500s, but these accounts are infrequent and not very detailed.
文献可追溯早至十六世纪，但这些记载很少也不是很详细。
reference n [C] 参考文献（refer + -ence）infrequent adj 不常发生的；罕见的 (rare)（in- + frequent）Most popular theories had begun around 1582 in France during the reformation of the calendar.
大部分盛行的理论源自于大约公元1582年法国的历法改革之时。
reformation n [U] [正式用语] 改革（reform + -ation）Before France adopted the Gregorian calendar, they celebrated the New Years for eight days, beginning on March 25th, and ending on April 1st.
在法国采用公历之前，他们用八天庆祝新年，从3月25日开始，4月1日结束。
When they switch calendar system, the eighth day moved from April 1st to January 1st.当他们转换日历系统时，那第八天从4月1日挪到1月1日。Because they didn’t have internet, phones, social media and a mail system, a lot of people didn't hear about this change until years later.
因为他们没有网络、电话、社交媒体和邮件系统，很多人直到多年以后才知道这项改变。
Those who did not hear about the change continued to celebrate New Years in April. Others refused to celebrate out of rebellion.
那些没听到改变的人继续在四月庆祝新年。其他人因为反对而拒绝庆祝。
Those who had been informed of the change and adjusted their calendars began to make fun of these fools who were uninformed or rebellious.那些被告知改变，且已调整他们日历的人开始嘲笑这些没有被通知到或是反对的笨蛋。inform v 通知 inform sb of sth 通知某人某事uninformed adj 无知的；知识 / 信息贫乏的This harassment evolved into a tradition of playing pranks on the first day of April, and then spread to other countries.
这样的骚扰发展成一个在四月的第一天去恶作剧的传统，然后散布到其他国家。
However, April Fools Day was already established in England, which didn’t switch calendar system until 1752.
然而，四月愚人节在英国早已建立，他们直到公元1752年才改变日历。
Also people are already engaging in pranks and light-heartedness around this time of year, long before the French switch their calendar systems, such as in the case of the ancient Roman festival of Hilaria.此外，早在法国人改变他们的日历系统之前，比如古罗马的希拉利亚节，人们就已经开始在每年的这个时候搞恶作剧和轻松作乐了。light-heartedness n [U] 轻松（light-hearted + -ness）Modern celebrations of April Fools Day have slightly different traditions, depending on the country you are in. But they all have the similar theme of pranking or humiliating individuals.现代的四月愚人节的庆祝有些稍微不同的传统，这取决于你身处哪个国家。但是它们都有相似的恶作剧或是羞辱人的主题。In France, they try to tape an image of fish to your back without you noticing.在法国，他们试着在你背后贴上鱼的图案而不被你发现。And in Portugal, they throw flour at you. In England, you are always supposed to pull jokes until noon, and if you pull a joke after noon, you are called an April Fool.
而在葡萄牙，他们朝你撒面粉。在英格兰，你永远应该在中午之前说笑话，而如果你过了中午说笑话，你就被称为四月傻瓜。
And in the United States and Britain, even popular media outlets and companies have been known to get involved in the fun.
在美国和英国，甚至连受欢迎的媒体机构和公司都因参与这趣味而为人知晓。
In 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the Liberty Bell from the city of Philadelphia, and it was going to rename it as Taco Liberty Bell.1996年，Taco Bell宣布他们跟费城市买下了独立钟，而且要把它重新命名为Taco独立钟。be supposed to do sth 应该做某事
pull jokes 开玩笑；说笑话
purchase v 购买
Liberty Bell 自由钟（指美国费城独立厅的大钟,1776年7月4日鸣此钟宣布美国独立,1835年被损）
rename v 重命名（re- + name）
In 1992, NPR claimed that Richard Nixon would be running again for president.
1992年，美国全国公共广播电台声称尼克森要再次参选总统。
British publication, the Guardian, famously pranked the public in 1977, when they said that a Semicolon shaped island in the Indian Ocean had been discovered.
英国出版社，卫报，在1977年出名的恶搞了大众，他们说一个分号形状的岛屿在印度洋中被发现。
This hoax is credited for launching the trend of April Fools Day pranks by British tabloids.这骗局归功于英国八卦小报的发动四月愚人节恶作剧风潮。
So hopefully you now know a little more about the history of April Fools Day, or at least what we think the history of it is.
所以希望你现在对愚人节的历史有了更多的了解，或者至少知道了那些我们认为的历史。
