Question

Next time you hear a funny joke you’d better not laugh too hard. According to a paper published by the British Medical Journal, laughter isn’t always the best medicine. Sometimes it can even be harmful. Professor Robin Ferner from the University of Birmingham, one of the authors of the study, found that bad things could happen to people who laughed too much. He says: “We found people with heartbeat problems which had stopped their heart, we found people who had fainted(昏倒), and we found people who’d dislocated their jaws or burst their lungs.”

It seems that laughing can be no laughing matter. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing when you want to lose weight, for example. Yes, that’s right: laugh and be slimmer! Professor Ferner explains that: “You use energy when you laugh, you move your diaphragm(横膈膜), you expand your lungs, and both those things can be helpful.”

According to the research, laughing for a quarter of an hour can burn up to 40 calories, and if you laughed all day you’d use up about 2,000 calories, which is what most people consume in a day. But don’t do that or you might end up with a painful jaw. Ouch! Or you might find people looking at you in a funny way.

But I don’t want to finish this article leaving you feeling desperate. Laughter comes naturally for most of us. Babies begin to laugh at around 3-6 months. So give in to your sense of humor and keep smiling. Life is short anyway.

1.Laughing too much may cause the following harmful results EXCEPT_________.

A. diaphragm movement B. heart stop

C. lung burst D. jaw dislocation

2.The underlined phrase “doom and gloom” in Paragraph 2 probably means_______.

A. nervous B. funny C. painful D. hopeless

3.How many calories can you use if you laugh for half a day?

A. About 40. B. About 2,000.

C. About 1,000. D. About 2,040.

4.What is the author’s attitude towards laughing in the last paragraph?

A. Uninterested. B. Favorable.

C. Worried. D. Disapproving.

Answer 1

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析:本文提到最后一项研究表明，笑并不是最好的良药，有时可能是有害的。但笑可以消耗很多热量，尽管如何不要放弃微笑，毕竟生活是短暂的。

1. 细节题。根据第一段He says: “We found people with heartbeat problems which had stopped their heart, we found people who had fainted(昏倒), and we found people who’d dislocated their jaws or burst their lungs可知危害性有心脏骤停，昏倒，脱臼，伤到肺，故A项没有提到。故选A.

2. 猜测词意题。根据第二段It seems that laughing can be no laughing matter. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing when you want to lose weight, for example.可知好象笑并不是玩笑的事情，但它也不是无用，教授说当你想减肥时，笑是非常有效的。故选D.

3. 推断题。根据第三段if you laughed all day you’d use up about 2,000 calories, which is what most people consume in a day.可知一天消耗2000，那么半天大概消耗1000.故选C.

4. 推断题。根据最后一段So give in to your sense of humour and keep smiling. Life is short anyway.可知不要放弃幽默，保持微笑，毕竟生命是短暂的。故选D.

考点：考查科普类短文阅读