From dancing geckos to the ‘Thriller¹’ cat – 2011 has brought plenty of smiles to readers.

The house that looks like Hitler

The elderly owner of an end-of-terrace house in Swansea was left bewildered when hundreds of thousands of twitter users compared his house to Hitler’s face.

The joke became a hit on social networking site Twitter when it was pointed² out that the features of the house matched the fringe, moustache and piercing eyes of the dictator.

Neighbour Lyn Thomas, 25, said: “I don’t know why it would be designed in such a way. It is uncanny.”

The ‘Thriller’ cat

A short clip of a cat rearing up its hind³ legs raised laughs for its resemblance to Michael Jackson's dance routine in his music video to hit 1980s pop song Thriller.

The dancing Geckos

Like a lizard⁴ version of Strictly⁵ Come Dancing, a group of geckos from Indonesia get us into the party season by ‘dancing’ for photographer Shikhei Goh.

The man who proposed as a dancing carrot

In an elaborate marriage proposal a lovestruck Chinese man and 48 of his friends dress in giant carrot costumes to get his girlfriend to say "yes".

The cat who inherited 10 million euros

A black cat in Italy inherited 10 million euros (?8.5 million) from his adoptive owner, a widowed heiress who married a property tycoon⁶.

The cat is now the proud owner of cash, shares and a property empire which includes flats and houses in Rome and Milan and land in Calabria.

The address of the cat’s new owners is being kept a secret out of fears that the newly-enriched moggy will be besieged⁷ by fortune hunters and con⁸ men.

The scooter-riding dog

A 20-month-old Briard named Norman became an internet sensation when his owners filmed him riding a scooter with his front paws on the handlebars and his hind leg pushing himself along.

The dancing granny

A grandmother from Beijing wowed viewers with her Michael Jackson-inspired dance routine on national television.

Mrs Bai, whose grandson is named Michael after the late pop star, has won plaudits for her self-taught dancing.

从跳舞的壁虎到“颤栗”猫，2011年给读者们带来了许多欢笑。

长得像希特勒的房子

当数万名Twitter用户将斯旺西联排屋尽头的一座房子和希特勒的脸作比较时，房子的主人感到很困惑。

有推友指出这座房屋外貌酷似这位独裁者的脸，“长着”希特勒的刘海、胡子和锐利的眼睛，于是这个笑话就在Twitter上火了起来。

房主的邻居、25岁的林?托马斯说：“我不知道为什么会把房屋设计成这样。看起来很怪异。”

“颤栗”猫

一段短视频中，一只猫抬起它的后腿，样子酷似20世纪80年代迈克尔?杰克逊在热门流行歌曲《颤栗》MV中的舞蹈动作，引人发笑。

跳舞的壁虎

就像是《舞动奇迹》的壁虎版，来自印尼的一群壁虎在摄影师史凯?戈的镜头前翩翩起舞，把我们带到了舞会的季节。

“跳舞的胡萝卜”求婚

一名热恋中的中国男子精心策划了一个特别的求婚方式，和他的48位朋友穿上巨大的胡萝卜装，向女友求婚。

继承了1000万欧元的猫

意大利一只黑猫从收养它的主人那里继承了1000万欧元（合850万英镑）。它的主人是一名地产大亨的寡妇，从先夫那里继承了巨额遗产。

这只猫现在拥有让人艳羡的金钱、股份和一个地产王国，包括罗马和米兰的公寓和房屋，以及在卡拉布里亚的土地。

这只猫的新主人的地址是保密的，因为害怕这只刚成为富豪的猫会遭到财富追求者和骗子的围攻。

骑踏板车的狗

一只名叫诺曼的布里犬被主人拍到骑踏板车，它用前爪搭在车把手上，用后腿推着车行进。这只20个月大的布里犬因这段视频而在网络上爆红。

跳舞的老奶奶

一位来自北京的老奶奶在中央电视台的节目上模仿迈克尔?杰克逊跳舞，震撼了观众。

白奶奶给孙子起名为Michael（迈克尔），和已故流行天王名字一样。白奶奶因舞蹈自学成才赢得了众人的喝彩。

gecko: 壁虎

fringe: （头发的）刘海

uncanny: 怪异的；不寻常的

moggy: <英俚> 猫

besiege: 围攻

con man: （以赢得受骗人信任而骗取钱财的）骗子scooter: （儿童游戏用的）踏板车

wow: 赢得……喝彩

plaudits: 拍手喝彩