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：本文主要讲了根据英国医学杂志上的一篇文章，笑并不是最好的良药。伯明翰大学的教授，也是这项研究的作者Professor Robin Ferner，发现笑得太多的人，有时会发生不好的事情。笑有时会导致人们出现心跳问题，昏倒，下巴脱臼，甚至肺爆炸。但是，笑对人来说也有一些好的方面，比如说笑能够带动人体热量的燃烧，帮助人们减肥。在短暂的人生中，我们应该保持幽默感，常常保持微笑。

1. 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.”可知笑有时会导致人们信条停止，昏倒，下巴脱臼，甚至肺爆炸等问题，而笑并不能导致隔膜运动。故选A。

2. seems that laughing can be no laughing matter.意思是“看来笑并不是闹着玩的，就是说笑有时不注意会给人带来一些不好的事情。第三句Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing when you want to lose weighty意思是：Professor Ferner说当你想减肥的时候，笑还是有用的。因此说明笑并不只是带来负面的影响，还有一些积极的用处。一次此处But it’s not all doom and gloom，意思是：这并不都是厄运和忧郁。故选D。

3. if you laughed all day you’d use up about 2,000 calories,可知一整天都笑，会消耗2000卡路里，照此推算，那么半天的时间在笑的话，会消耗100卡路里。故选C。

4. give in to your sense of humor and keep smiling. Life is short anyway.意思是：所以释放你的幽默感吧，毕竟人生短暂，常常保持笑容吧。可知作者提倡人们多笑，对笑是一种支持的态度。故选B。

考点：考查说明文阅读