Question

Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is，not surprisingly，his sense of humor. As far as I can tell，he's the first American President to have one．

    That's because the term“sense of humor” really wasn't in common usage until the eighteen-sixties and seventies．In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has today. Back then，what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule（讥笑）．Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand．Of course，they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well．

    Lincoln’s humor was very different because，for one thing，it was actually "humor＂as what the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit（风趣）”and "humor”anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did．Wit was unpleasant and offensive while humor was pleasant and sympathetic．It’s the difference we note now when we distinguish between "laughing with”and“laughing at．”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than "laughing at．”And when“laughing at，”it was often himself he was teasing.

    In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates，when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced，Lincoln replied，referencing his plain looking，“Honestly，if I were two-faced，would I be showing you this one？”And，in a way，Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of humor．

    You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians，soldiers，and the like from Lincoln's time and not find a single smile．

    True, the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling difficult．Yet Lincoln alone，as far as I can tell，overcame that difficulty.

    Interestingly, while having a sense of humor，or at least the appearance of one provided by comedy writers has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time，in the nineteenth century，too much humor was considered problem.  And that was the case for Lincoln．A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a real personal liking to the man，owing to an inborn weakness. . .that he was extremely, fond of jokes，anecdotes，and stories．”

1.We can infer from Paragraph 2 that＿＿

A .the American President could influence the use of English

B. the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s

C .what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else

D. the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time

2.The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to＿＿．

A. Lincoln's unattractive face

B. Lincoln's sense of humor

C. the debate they were having

D.cruelty that went with funniness

3.We rarely see people from Lincoln's time wear smile in their photos because＿．

A. being humorous was considered inappropriate

B. they found it quite funny to smile before camera

C. not smiling for photographs was the fashion

D. photography technology then was not advanced

4.What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates？

A. His comment accurately reflected his time

B. He created a false picture of Lincoln

C. He was prejudiced and self-centered

D. He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.D

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：

【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了林肯对英语幽默感的影响，在他之前幽默感没有那么不变。

1.C考查推理判断。根据文章第二段中的In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the

ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has today. Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand．可知，在19世纪40年代和50年代，嘲笑感不像现在的幽默感有积极的隐含意义。滑稽和残忍关系密切，所以很可能滑稽就变成了对某人侵害。故选C。

2.A考查猜测词义。根据文章第三段可知，this one指的是his plain looking，即是他平常的脸色。也就是说他不吸引人的脸。故选A。

3.D考查细节理解。根据文章第六段中的the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling difficult．可知，那时，长时间的曝光使那时的照片出现微笑的效果很困难。故选D。

4.A考查推理判断。根据文章最后一段中的in the nineteenth century，too much humor was considered problem.  And that was the case for Lincoln．可知，他的评论是对他那个时代的情况的反映。故选A。

考点：考查说明文的阅读。