Dr. Wiseman started the “l(fā)augh lab” project in September 2001. It is the largest study of humor. Participants are invited to log on the laugh lab website, give a few personal details, tell their favorite jokes and judge the jokes told by other people.
Their project will last for a year, and the organizers hope to finally discover the world’s funniest joke. But there is also a serious purpose. The researchers want to know what people from different nations and cultures find funny. And they want to find out the differences between male’s and female’s sense of humor. The idea is that if we want to understand each other, we have to find out what makes us laugh.
This is a subject that has long interested psychologists (心理學(xué)家) and philosophers (哲學(xué)家). Most of the time, people are not completely honest. We do things that society expects us to and say things that help us get what we want. But laughing cannot be controlled. When we laugh, we tell the truth about ourselves.
By December 2001 over 10,000 jokes had been submitted (公認(rèn)的). This gave the scientists enough evidence to make early conclusions. It seems that men and women do have different senses of humor, for example.
“Our findings show the major differences in the ways in which males and females use humor,” said Dr Wiseman. “Males use humor to appear superior (高傲的，有優(yōu)越感的) to others, while women are more skilled in languages and prefer word play.”
Researchers also found that there really is such a thing as a national sense of humor. The British enjoy what is usually called “toilet humor”. But the French like their jokes short and sharp, “You’re a high priced lawyer. Will you answer two questions for $ 500?” “Yes. What’s the second question?”
The Germans are famous for not having a sense of humor. But the survey found that German participants were more likely to find submitted jokes funny than any other nationality. Perhaps that proves the point. Is this joke funny? I don’t know, but let’s say yes, just to be safe.
Dr Wiseman and his workmates also submitted jokes created by computer. But none of those who took part in the survey found any of them amusing. Perhaps this is relief (安慰). Computers already seem like they can do everything. But at least they should leave the funny things to us.
小題1:The scientist started the “l(fā)augh lab” project ________.
A．to find the funniest joke in European countries
B．to know what funny people are from different nations and cultures
C．to find out the differences between the male’s and female’s sense of humor
D．to get more personal details about participants
小題2:The writer gave the examples of the British, the French and the Germans_____.
A．to show that the French people have a better sense of humor
B．to prove the British people have a sense of “toilet humor”
C．to show people from different nations have different senses of humor
D．to prove that the Germans have no sense of humor
小題3:Which statement is true according to the passage?
A．The jokes by computer are less funny than those by humans.
B．The Germans cannot find the submitted jokes amusing.
C．Males are better at word play compared with women.
D．Females like to use humor to show that they are superior.

小題1:C
小題2:C
小題3:A

試題分析：文章介紹了由Dr. Wiseman進(jìn)行的一次有關(guān)幽默感的調(diào)查，調(diào)查者想了解世界上最幽默的笑話，了解來(lái)自于不同國(guó)家不同文化的人的幽默感，以及男士與女士之間幽默感的不同。同時(shí)通過(guò)對(duì)參與者的統(tǒng)計(jì)得出了一定的結(jié)論。
小題1:C細(xì)節(jié)理解題。Their project will last for a year, and the organizers hope to finally discover the world’s funniest joke.句意為：這項(xiàng)工程要持續(xù)一年，組織者希望找到世界上最有趣的笑話，由此可知A選項(xiàng)是錯(cuò)誤的；The researchers want to know what people from different nations and cultures find funny.句意為：研究者想知道來(lái)自于不同國(guó)家不同文化的人都有什么樣的樂(lè)趣，由此可知B選項(xiàng)是錯(cuò)誤的；研究者的目的是搜集世界上最有趣的笑話，調(diào)查不同的人有什么不同的幽默感以及男女之間幽默感的不同，并非想得到參與者的更多的個(gè)人信息故D選項(xiàng)是錯(cuò)誤的。因此答案為C。
小題2:C細(xì)節(jié)理解題。Researchers also found that there really is such a thing as a national sense of humor. 句意為：調(diào)查者也想知道諸如民族幽默感這樣的事情。下文通過(guò)舉例說(shuō)明英國(guó)，法國(guó)，德國(guó)不同的國(guó)家幽默的方式是不同的。故答案應(yīng)為C。
小題3:A細(xì)節(jié)理解題。Dr Wiseman and his workmates also submitted jokes created by computer. But none of those who took part in the survey found any of them amusing.句意為：Dr Wiseman和他的同事也搜集了由電腦創(chuàng)作的笑話，但是參與研究的人中，沒(méi)有人發(fā)現(xiàn)這些笑話很有樂(lè)趣，由此可知答案A是正確的，意思是由電腦創(chuàng)作的笑話沒(méi)有人創(chuàng)造的笑話有樂(lè)趣；But the survey found that German participants were more likely to find submitted jokes funny than any other nationality.句意為：調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，德國(guó)參與者似乎比其它任何國(guó)家都有幽默感故B是錯(cuò)誤的；“Males use humor to appear superior (高傲的，有優(yōu)越感的) to others, while women are more skilled in languages and prefer word play.” 句意為：男性用幽默去顯示出他的優(yōu)越感，而女性在語(yǔ)言方面更嫻熟，更喜歡語(yǔ)言游戲，由知可知C D是錯(cuò)誤的.
考點(diǎn):社會(huì)現(xiàn)現(xiàn)象類文章的閱讀理解。
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Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
小題1:What is the passage mainly about?
A．The problems faced by the old in society.
B．Why we should take responsibility for the old.
C．How we can improve the lives of the old.
D．Where the old can go to get their pensions.
小題2: The underlined word "viable" most probably means"       ".
A．impossibleB．practicalC．usefulD．important
小題3:What is the writer's main purpose in writing this article?
A．To point out the need for government support for old people.
B．To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.
C．To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.
D．To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.
小題4:The text is most likely to be found in a book about____.  
A．social scienceB．historical events
C．political problemD．political systems

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