英文阅读：纸牌的名字是怎么来的？

英语自学网

　　扑克牌可谓经久不衰、影响深远。恐怕很少有人不知道这些纸牌的名字：红桃，梅花，大王，小王……那么，你知道这些名字是怎么来的吗?下面这篇短文将告诉你纸牌名字的起源。
        　　Today's playing cards got their names from a combination of names in
Italian and Frenchdecksof cards.
        　　The Frenchtrimmedthe Italian deck from 78 cards to 52 cards, kept certain
aspects of the Italian deck, and combined it with aspects of their deck. The
British adopted the new French deck, the Americans followed suit, and the
product of the changes the French made to their deck is the modern deck of
cards.
        　　Certain cards in today's playing cards, Italy'starots, or picture cards,
were used for both fortune telling and for card games, and made up 22 of the
Italian deck of 78 cards. The remaining 56 cards were number cards. One tarot
card named "il matto," or the fool, is present in today's deck as thejoker.
        　　The Italian deck had four suits, which represented thechalice, the sword,
money, and thebaton, and four "court" cards, the king, queen, knight,
andknave.
        　　Of the 56 cards in the Italian deck, the French kept 52, which included the
king, queen, knave, and 10 number cards in each of the four suits. They renamed
the suits thespade, heart, diamond,andcluband the deck they created is the most
common deck in use today.
        　　deck: 一副(纸牌)
        　　trim: 整理，修整
        　　tarots: 塔罗牌，占卜用的纸牌
        　　joker: 纸牌中的王牌
        　　baton: 权杖
        　　knave: 流氓
        　　chalice: 圣餐杯
        　　spade: 黑桃
        　　heart: 红桃
        　　diamond: 方片
        　　club：梅花