【生词预览】

notorious声名狼藉的，cheap skate 吝啬鬼

【笑话原文】

The Mean Man’s Party

The notorious cheap skate was explaining to a friend how to find his apartment. He said. ″Come up to 5M and ring the doorbell with your elbow. When the door opens，push with your foot.″

″Why use my elbow and foot? ″

″Well. Gosh, ″ was the reply. ″You're not coming empty-handed, are you? ″

【中文译文】

吝啬鬼的生日派对

一个出了名的吝啬鬼在向一个朋友解释怎么找到他家时说：“你上到五楼，找中间那个门，然后用你的胳膊肘按门铃。门开了之后，再用你的脚把门推开。”

“为什么要用我的肘和脚呢？”

“你的双手得拿礼物啊。天哪，你总不会空着手来吧？”吝啬鬼回答。

【词汇讲解】

1.mean吝啬的。也可以指“卑鄙的，不善良的”：It was mean of her to say that.她那样说是刻薄的。

2.notorious声名狼藉的。He is a notorious rake.他是个声名狼藉的浪子。
He was notorious as a gambler.他是臭名昭著的赌徒。

3.cheap skate吝啬鬼。

4.come up上去（来）。也有“发生”的含义：I expect something to come up soon.我预料很快就要出事的。“升起”：The sky was dark blue and clear when the moon came up.月亮出来时, 天空是深蓝色的, 非常晴朗。也可以指“提到, 提及”：The project came up in their conversation.他们在谈话中提到了这项工程。

5.doorbell门铃。He refused to answer the doorbell.门铃响了，但他拒绝去开门。

6.elbow肘部。Don't lay your elbows on the desk.不要把两肘放在书桌上。也可以作动词，指“用肘推, 用肘挤”：He elbowed right and left in the crowd.他在人群中左冲右撞。He elbowed me out of the way.他把我挤开了。