4．A good joke can be the hardest thing to understand when studying a foreign language．As a recent article in The Guardian newspaper noted，"There's more to understanding a joke in a foreign language than understanding vocabulary and grammar．"
Being able to understand local jokes is often seen as an incredible ice-breaker for a language learner eager to form friendships with native speakers．"I always felt that humor was a ceiling that I could never break through，"Hannah Ashley，a public relations account manager in London，who once studied Spanish in Madrid．told The Guardian，"I could never speak to people on the same level as I would speak to a native English speaker．I almost came across as quite a boring person because all I could talk about was facts．"
In fact，most of the time，jokes are only funny for people who share a cultural background or understand humor in the same way．Chinese-American comedian Joe Wong found this out first-hand．He had achieved huge success in the US，but when he returned to China in 2008 for his first live show in Beijing，he discovered that people didn't think his Chinese jokes were as funny as his English ones．
In Australia，meanwhile many foreigners find understanding jokes about sports to be the biggest headache．"The hardest jokes are related to rugby because I know nothing about rugby，"said Melody Cao，who was once a student in Australia．"When I heard jokes I didn't get，I just laughed along．"
In the other two major English-speaking countries，the sense of humor is also different．British comedian Simon Pegg believes that while Britons use irony-basically，saying something they don't mean to make a joke-every day，people in the US don't see the point of using it so often．"British jokes tend to be more subtle and dark，while American jokes are more obvious with their meanings，a bit like Americans themselves，"he wrote in The Guardian．
67．The writer quoted the sentence，"There's more to understanding a joke in a foreign language than understanding vocabulary and grammar．"to show thatD．
A．making jokes can help you make friends with native speakers
B．local jokes can help you to understand the local culture better．
C．understanding jokes requires a good knowledge of vocabulary and grammar．
D．to understand its jokes，you'd better learn the culture．
68．What can we guess about Hannah Ashley？D
A．She feels confident in using Spanish．
B．She believes that one had better rely on facts when speaking a foreign language．
C．She thinks that Spanish people do not have much of a sense of humor．
D．She feels that not being able to share their humor makes her seem boring to Spanish people．
69．Joe Wong is used as an example toA．
A．show that there are cultural differences in humor
B．prove that it can be difficult to translate jokes
C．suggest that bilingual people have no problems in making people laugh
D．show that the expressing ability affects the sense of humor
70．From the article，we can learn thatC．
A．jokes about sports are the most difficult ones for foreign people who have different cultural backgrounds
B．Americans might not be able to enjoy British jokes
C．not all English native speakers can understand English jokes easily
D．British people's dark jokes often make people uncomfortable．
分析 本文主要介绍了人们在理解外语笑话方面存在的问题．作者认为要想很好地理解一则笑话，人们必须了解笑话中所蕴含的文化背景及讲笑话的人的幽默方式．
解答 67．D 细节理解题．结合文章第二段Hannah Ashley说的话"I could never speak to people on the same level as I would speak to a native English speaker．I almost came across as quite a boring person because all I could talk about was facts．"可知，Hannah Ashley在西班牙时，她从来不能像跟一个以英语为母语的人交流一样与西班牙人进行交流，她认为对于西班牙人来讲，她差不多是个相当无趣的人，因为她所能讲的都是事实，故选D．
68．D 细节理解题．根据第二段中的"I could never speak to people on the same level as I would speak to a native English speaker．I almost came across as quite a boring person because all I could talk about was facts．"可知Hannah Ashley在西班牙时，她从来不能像跟一个以英语为母语的人交流一样与西班牙人进行交流．她认为对于西班牙人来讲，她差不多是个相当无趣的人，因为她所能讲的都是事实．故选D．
69．A 细节理解题．根据第三段中的"He had achieved huge success in the US，but when he returned to China in 2008 for his first live show in Beijing，he discovered that people didn't think his Chinese jokes were as funny as his English ones．"可知华裔美国喜剧演员乔黄在美国相当地出名，但是在中国的演出却不被中国人买账，原因就在于中美幽默因为文化差异而存在不同．所以答案选A．
70．C 细节理解题．根据第三段中的"In fact，most of the time，jokes are only funny for people who share a cultural background or understand humor in the same way．"及第四段、第五段列举的澳大利亚、英国和美国人在理解笑话方面的问题，可推知不是所有以英语为母语的人都能容易地理解英语笑话．故选C．
点评 本文考查细节题为主，细节题可以在文章中直接找到与答案有关的信息？或是其变体．搜查信息在阅读中非常重要它包括理解作者在叙述某事时使用的具体事实、数据、图表等细节信息．在一篇短文里大部分篇幅都属于这类围绕主体展开的细节．做这类题一般采用寻读法？即先读题，然后带着问题快速阅读短文，找出与问题有关的词语或句子，再对相关部分进行分析对比，找出答案．
