Dr. Robert Scholz, an outstanding musician, born in Vienna, Austria, the land of music and spent twenty-five years teaching in New York City. Both he and his wife are endowed with a keen sense of humor. One wintry evening, the Scholz's were having dinner in a quaint little restaurant in Vienna. “Professor Bob,” as we call him with affection, said to the waiter, “Give me some hot soup.” As soon as the waiter brought a bowl of soup in, Bob said, “Take it back. I want hot soup.”
The waiter disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a fresh bowl of soup. The moment he walked to the Scholz's table, the professor said, “Didn't you hear me? I want hot soup.” The poor waiter had no choice but making another trip, mumbling to himself, “This time, the chef is going to kill me.” But as soon as he came out with a bowl of what he thought was steaming hot soup, unexpectedly, Dr. Scholz again demanded hot soup. The waiter couldn't hold his tongue any longer and talked back, “Sir, this is hot soup.” With a straight face, the dignified professor replied, “The soup can't be too hot, if you can keep both of your thumbs in it.”
罗伯特·肖尔茨博士是一位杰出的音乐家，他生于音乐之都——奥地利维也纳，在纽约市教书教了二十五年。他和妻子都有极强的幽默感。一个冬天的晚上，夫妇俩在维也纳一家古色古香的小餐馆吃饭。“鲍勃教授”(我们都这么亲切地称呼他)对服务员说：“给我来点儿热汤吧。”服务员刚端进来一碗汤，鲍勃就说：“你端回去吧。我要的是热汤。”
服务员进了厨房，重新端来一碗汤。他刚走到教授夫妇那桌，教授就说：“你没听我说吗？我要热汤。”可怜的服务员没办法，只能再跑一趟，嘴里嘟囔说：“这次大厨肯定要杀了我了。”但是，这次他自己觉得端出来的这碗已经是热气腾腾的汤了，想不到肖尔茨博士还是说要热的汤。服务员终于忍不住回嘴了：“先生，这就是热的汤。”教授面无表情，庄严地说：“这汤肯定不够热，你两个大拇指都还在汤里呢。”
-endow [ɪnˈdau] v. 赋予
-quaint [kweɪnt] adj. 古色古香的
-mumble [ˈmʌmbl] v. 咕哝
-dignified [ˈdɪɡnɪfaɪd] adj. 庄严的
美国小说家马克·吐温(Mark Twain,1835—1910)说过：“Humor has been well defined as thinking in fun while feeling in earnest.”(幽默被人正确地解释为“以诚挚表达感受，寓深思于嬉笑。”)