滥竽充数

时间：2012-08-09 02:25:22

（单词翻译:单击）

During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), the King of the State of Qi was very fond of listening to yu ensembles¹. He often got together 300 yu players to form a grand music. The king treated his musician very well. A man named Nanguo heard about that and he managed to become a member of the band, even though he wan² not good at playing the instrument at all. Whenever the band played for the king, Nanguo just stood in the line and pretended to play. Nobody realized he was making no sound at all. As a result, he enjoyed his treatment just as the other musician did. When the king died, his son became the new ruler who also liked the music played on the yu. However, he preferred solos³ so that he ordered the musicians to play the yu one by one. Therefore, Nanguo had to run out of the palace.

The idiom "Be there just to make up the number" is used to mock⁴ someone who passes for a specialist. You can also hear people saying it about themselves to show their modesty⁵.

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1 ensembles
整体( ensemble的名词复数 )；合奏；乐团；全套服装（尤指女装）
参考例句：
I love to play in all types of ensembles. 我喜欢参与吹奏各种各样的合奏曲。 The 5th Brigade is now taking 895 Land Warrior ensembles to Afghanistan. 第五旅现在携带895套陆地勇士装备去阿富汗。

2 wan
(wide area network)广域网
参考例句：
The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

3 solos
n.独唱（曲），独奏（曲）( solo的名词复数 )；单飞
参考例句：
There are some wonderful trumpet and trombone solos in the piece. 这支乐曲中有一些美妙的小号和长号的独奏。来自《简明英汉词典》 In the concert, there are three piano solos. 在音乐会上，有三首钢琴独奏曲。来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mock
n.嘲笑，戏弄，模仿；adj.假的，伪造的；vt.嘲弄，模仿，轻视；vi.嘲弄
参考例句：
Those who mock history will be mocked by history.嘲弄历史的人必将被历史所嘲弄。 The students have done mock A levels at school.学生们在学校参加过模拟高级考试。

5 modesty
n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素
参考例句：
Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。 As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。