Question

【题目】【改编】What is funny? The short answer is: Who knows? The joke that causes a burst of laughter from one listener might be met with a puzzled look from another.

In general, you should avoid jokes at any business or social gathering where there are more than two people in your conversational group. If there are only two people — and they consist of you and your best friend — go ahead and tell it.

Admittedly, a few people possess a perfect sense of timing, appropriateness, and joke delivery. You are probably not one of them. You might be quite funny and have many great jokes. But there’s a place for jokes — over dinner with family, hiking with friends, but business or social affairs with colleagues and acquaintances (熟人) are not it. It takes a whole other level of joke-telling ability to put a joke into the more formal conversations.

The best jokes come into the conversation so that by the time listeners realize a joke is in progress, the punchline that produces humour is being delivered — to their surprise and delight.

Jokes don’t translate well when you’re in a group with mixed backgrounds: those whose first language is not English, those who might not understand a special term or an “in” expression, young people who wouldn’t catch a reference to some bit of culture familiar to older people — and vice versa (反之亦然).

Never joke about another person in the group — about their name, habits, hometown, profession, appearance, or past. It’s not a question of whether the joke is cheery or appropriate. No one enjoys being singled out this way. When you are the subject of the joke, the laughter doesn’t feel good no matter how hard you try to tell yourself they’re not laughing at you. Because that’s what it feels like.

What do you say if you realize your joke upset someone? Apologize as briefly and as sincerely as you can, and hope that someone changes the subject. Try saying: “I’m sorry. I should have known better” or “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

What do you do if people don’t get your joke or don’t appear to find it as funny as you do? First, do not retell it, only louder this time, hoping the point of the joke will be seen. Second, don’t try to push people to get it. People do not like people whose jokes they don’t understand. They feel stupid and need to blame someone. If you want to leave with the goodwill of your listeners, say something to make them feel less foolish. You could say: “I don’t know why I tell jokes when I’m so poor at it.”

The world needs laughter, and good humour is a success wherever it goes, so this caveat (告诫) about joke-telling is not meant to dampen high spirits or to advocate dull conversation. If you’re a gifted story-teller and you know people love your jokes, go for it. We need your kind. The rest of us will save our jokes for family and close friends.

【1】From the first paragraph we can know______.

A. Not all jokes are funny.

B. Not all people like jokes.

C. No one knows what jokes are.

D. People may have different reactions to the same joke.

【2】Which occasion is appropriate for you to tell jokes?

A. At a business meeting.

B. At a social gathering.

C. Over dinner with your boss and colleagues.

D. At home with family..

【3】Which of the following statement is true?

A. Jokes are welcome in whatever situation.

B. People should repeat the joke when it isn’t understood well.

C. Not all jokes work well as expected.

D. Jokes have no borders.

【4】When you are the subject of a joke, you may feel _____.

A. uncomfortable B. worried

C. happy D. satisfied

【5】In the passage, the writer suggests that _____.

A. jokes are useful in any situation.

B. joke-telling is a very complex thing.

C. joke-telling can help people get along well.

D. jokes are forbidden in some areas.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】D

【3】C

【4】A

【5】B

【解析】

试题分析：什么是滑稽好笑的事呢?答案是 “谁知道呢?”。面对不同背景、不同经历、不同年龄的人群，你的笑话不一定会引起同样的反应。能让一个人捧腹的笑话可能只会引起另一个人的费解。在本文中作者就讲笑话这件事进行了深入的分析并且给读者提出了自己的建议.。

【1】D推理判断题。根据The joke that causes a burst of laughter from one listener might be met with a puzzled look from another.可知让一个人发笑的故事可能使另一个人困惑，也就是说人们对笑话的反应不同，故选D。

【2】D 细节理解题。根据文章第二段In general, you should avoid jokes at any business or social gathering和第三段内容But there’s a place for jokes — over dinner with family, hiking with friends可知适合讲笑话的地方是和家人在一起的时候，选D。

【3】C细节理解题。根据首段和文章第五段可知不同文化背景和不同年龄阶段的人们可能对笑话的理解不同，或者说不能理解，由此判断选C。

【4】A推理判断题。根据文章第六段内容When you are the subject of the joke, the laughter doesn’t feel good no matter how hard you try to tell yourself they’re not laughing at you.可以判断当人们是笑话的话题时，会感觉不舒服，甚至恼火，故选A。

【5】B 推理判断题。在本文中作者主要对讲笑话这件事进行了分析，认为笑话不是适用于任何场合，不同的人对笑话的反应不同，介绍了一些不适合讲笑话的场合等，由此判断作者认为讲笑话是一门复杂的艺术，故选B。