首页 -> 2008年第3期
英语的脑筋急转弯
作者：李俊霞
这是最常见的脑筋急转弯形式，其窍门就是回答时要打破常规思维，对问句的意思进行多角度的“非常规”联想。例如：
Questions：
1．Why are dogs afraid to sunbathe?(狗为什么害怕日光浴?)
2．Why are politicians no longer con-cerned with snowball fights?(政客们为什么不再关注打雪仗了?)
3．What's the longest word in the world?(世界上最长的单词是什么?)
4．An old woman has lived in one-story house before．Her body is very short．Afterwards，she moves into a big building and lives in the ninth story．However，when she comes back home each time，she always takes an elevator to the sixth story and gets off，then she walks to the ninth story．Why?(有位老妇人，从前住平房。她个子非常矮。后来她搬进了一个很高的楼里，住在第九层，但是每次回家，她总是乘电梯到第六层就下来，然后走到第九层。为什么?)
5．What will you break once you say it?(什么东西一说出来就打破了?)
6．Who works only one day every year?(谁一年只工作一天?)
Answers：
1．They don't want to be hot-dog．(因为它们不想变成热狗。)
2．The cold war is over．(冷战结束了。)
3．Smiles．Because there's a mile between the letter“s”．(微笑。因为两个“s”间有一英里长。)
4．Because she was too short to press the seventh，eighth and ninth buttons．(她太矮了，够不着第七、八、九层的按钮，只能够着第六层的。)
5．Silence．(沉默。)
6．Santa Claus．(圣诞老人。)
二、音“转”
音“转”，即通过一音多义制造脑筋急转弯效果。例如：
Questions：
1．Who is closer to you，your mom or your dad?(谁跟你比较亲密，你的妈妈还是你的爸爸?)
2．Why are young men unwilling to date the daughter of the Fortunes?(小伙子们为什么不愿意和福琼家的小姐约会?)
3．What letter is an animal?(什么字母是一种动物?)
4．What letter is a question?(什么字母是一个问题?)
5．What letter is a vegetable?(什么字母是一种蔬菜?)
Answers：
1．Mom is closer，because Dad is father．(“father”音同“farther”。)
2．句中所指“小姐”该称Miss，而“Miss Fortune”(福琼小姐)音同“misfortune”(不幸)，有哪个小伙子会愿意和“不幸”约会呢?
3．It's the letter B!(“B”，音同“bee”。)
4．It's the letter Y!(“Y”，音同“why”。)
5．It's the letter P!(“P”，音同“pea”。)
三、义“转”
义“转”，即通过一词多义或一语双关制造脑筋急转弯效果。例如：
Questions：
1．How do you feel today?(由于feel的多义，此问可有两种理解：一是最常见的理解，即“你今天感觉如何?”再一就是“你今天如何(用什么)摸?”后面的理解应该说是很“偏”，但也正因为如此，便有了脑筋急转弯的效果。)
2．What month do soldiers hate?(士兵憎恨哪个月?)
3．Why is the library the highest building?(为什么图书馆是最高的建筑物?)
4．What stays hot even if it is put in a fridge?(什么东西即使放在冰箱里也热?)
5．How many feet are there in a yard?(此处应理解为“院子里有多少只脚?”而不是“一码(或一个院子)有多少英尺?”。)
6．Will liars be honest after they die?(骗子死了之后会诚实吗?)
Answers：
1．With my hands，of course!(当然是用手了!)
2．March．(三月，也有“行军”义。)
3．It has the most stories．(它的里面藏着的“story”(故事，又有楼层义)最多。)
4．Hot pepper辣椒。(其中“hot”有两个意思：热或者辣。即使把辣椒放在冰箱里它也辣。)
5．It depends on how many people stand in the yard．(这取决于院子里有多少人。)
6．No，they won't．They lie still after they die．(不会，他们依旧撒谎。lie still可理解为“躺着不动”，或“依旧撒谎”。)