【生词预览】

inspector检查员，cordially热情地，windmill风车，compartment车厢，eyelid眼皮

【笑话原文】

German Visit

A man decided to visit his brother who was stationed in Germany. He assumed that most Germans would speak English，but found that many people spoke only their native tongue—including the ticket inspector on the train.

He looked at the man‘s ticket, then chatted cordially for a bit, making gestures like a windmill. The man simply nodded from time to time to show him that he was interested.

When the ticket inspector had gone, an American woman in the compartment leaned forward and asked if he spoke German.

“No,” he confessed.

“Then that explains,” she said, “why you didn’t bat an eyelid when he told you that you were on the wrong train.”

【中文译文】

德国之旅

一个人决定去探望住在德国的弟弟。他以为大部分德国人会讲英语。但最终发现很多人都只说德语——包括列车上的检票员

他看了看男人的票，然后很热情地和他聊了一下，手势比划得像风车一样。男人一次次地只是点头示意他对谈话感兴趣。

检票员走了以后，车厢里的一个美国女人靠过来问男人讲不讲德语。

“不讲，”他承认。

“难怪，”女人说，“他跟你说你上错车的时候你眼睛都不眨一下。“

【词汇讲解】

1.station安置，驻扎:the British forces stationed in Germany驻德英军；Hundreds of fishing boats are stationed there.数百条渔船停泊在那里。

2.native tongue母语。native：native silver天然银，native land故土，native produce土特产品，native plants土生植物

3.inspector检察员。sanitation inspector卫生检查员；building inspector房屋验收；quality control inspector质量管理检查员

4. “making gestures like a windmill”在这里是伴随状语，前面讲检票员在和男人说话，这里的“手势比划得像风车呼呼转一样”就是形容检票员谈话的姿态。

5.compartment泛指分隔的空间。a storage compartment一个仓库； a small compartment一个小而舒服的地方

6.bat an eyelid是个特别生动的说法。bat是“眨”的意思，eyelid是“眼皮”，连起来就是眨一下眼皮。男人连眼皮都没有眨，说明他压根就不懂检票员说的话，没有任何反应。