“單詞背后的故事”是一個(gè)電臺(tái)節(jié)目，通過講故事和舉例子，讓英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)者更系統(tǒng)地了解到英語(yǔ)習(xí)語(yǔ)的意思與用法。當(dāng)然，要學(xué)以致用才能真正掌握這些習(xí)語(yǔ)哦。記得小編還小的時(shí)候家鄉(xiāng)來了一個(gè)馬戲團(tuán)，里面有黑熊、猴子、馬還有老虎，可就是沒看見小丑，這讓小編極其困惑——沒有小丑的馬戲團(tuán)能叫馬戲團(tuán)嗎？你是否也看過馬戲表演？一起來聽聽馬戲團(tuán)的故事吧。Ready? Go!

“Circus” is a word with a long， interesting

history. It is a Latin word that means “ring” or “circle.”

One of the most famous places in ancient Rome was the Circus Maximus. It was a kind of round stadium with rows of seats all around the

inside of it. Roman citizens gathered there to watch races， games and violent， bloody fights.

The modern circus developed in the 19th

century. It was a travelling show of animals and people working under a large tent， later known as the Big Top.

Travelling circuses were popular in the United States and Britain before 1830. A circus moved from town to town， putting on shows with trained animals， acrobats[雜技演員] doing difficult tricks， and funny， colorful clowns.

Circuses still travel from place to place. And they still have trained animal acts，

acrobats and clowns.

Today’s circuses usually have three rings. Something different takes place in each of the three rings at the same time. The heads of people watching a circus turn back and forth as they try to see every exciting act in each ring.

The circus has been popular for so long that it is not surprising that words and expressions connected with it are part of everyday speech.

For example， the word “1)circus” is used to describe any noisy place with a lot of

activities going on.

A teacher may use it when she walks into a room where the students are playing and talking， instead of studying. She might say， “This place is a circus. Calm down and get your work done.” And if the room is really noisy， she may say it is a 2)three-ring circus.

Clowns are a very special part of the circus. They look funny with their big red noses， painted faces and clothes that are much too large for them. Everyone at a circus loves to watch the clowns do tricks on each other. Clowns have a real purpose: to make people laugh. They always succeed.

We use the expression “to 3)clown around” when we talk about someone playing tricks and making jokes. Usually， a person is clowning around if he is being funny when he should be serious. In that case， you may get angry and say， “Stop

clowning around. This is a serious situation.”

The most celebrated American circus in the 1800s was P. T. Barnum注’s “Greatest Show on Earth.” Barnum’s circus had many new acts. He began finding and training unusual animals， not just dogs and horses.

One of the most popular of Barnum’s animals was a huge elephant named Jumbo. Jumbo was very large， much larger than other elephants. Soon， anything that was the largest of its kind was called “4)jumbo.”

Today， there are jumbo drinks， jumbo boxes of soap， and jumbo sales of cars.

1) circus 馬戲團(tuán)，競(jìng)技場(chǎng)，（俚）熙熙攘攘的熱鬧場(chǎng)面，做某種有趣表演的一群人

2) three-ring circus 熱鬧壯觀的場(chǎng)面，嘈雜喧鬧的處所

3) clown around 胡鬧

4) jumbo （口）體大而笨拙的人/物，龐然大物，顯赫的人，大受歡迎的人，[Jumbo]（倫敦動(dòng)物園的）大象

注：P·T·巴納姆（1810-1891），美國(guó)馬戲團(tuán)節(jié)目演出經(jīng)理人，建立了世界大馬戲團(tuán)（1871年），1881年與其主要競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手合并成巴納姆貝利馬戲團(tuán)。