Before I studied psychology, I used to think that people would laugh when funny things occurred. While I was right about that, I discovered there are lots of other psychological factors that make people laugh other than the funny part of a joke. When someone laughs at a joke, there will usually be more than one reason that makes him laugh—and the more reasons there are, the more powerful the joke will be.
I was attending a stand-up comedy show in Egypt, and when the man started to make fun of pedestrians crossing streets, everyone laughed their hearts out. The main reason those people strongly laughed was that almost all of them felt angry towards pedestrians who crossed streets carelessly. The joke wasn’t only funny, it also made the audience feel that they were right about being angry at those pedestrians. That is, people were laughing both because of the funny joke and because of the happiness experienced as a result of the psychological support they got.
The better a joke makes a person feel, and the more it includes other psychological factors, the more the person will like it. For example, if you envy one of your friends, and someone tells a joke that is funny and, at the same time, makes your friend seem stupid, then you will probably laugh at it louder than if you weren’t jealous of him.
In short, we don’t laugh only when we hear something funny; we also laugh when we experience some kind of happiness that results from the other psychological factors involved in the joke. I strongly discourage making fun of anyone or belittling someone to make someone else laugh. All I want to explain is that if your joke supports a person’s emotions, he will certainly like it a lot.
1.What did the author find out after studying psychology?
A. Only good jokes make people laugh
B. Many factors lead to people laughing.
C. Funny things can make people laugh
D. Laughter can make people healthy.
2.Why did the audience laugh loud at the pedestrians?
A. They played a trick on the pedestrians.
B. The pedestrians behaved in a funny way.
C. They could feel the pedestrians’ happiness.
D. Their emotion was approved of by the show.
3.What does the underlined word “belittling” probably mean?
A. Annoy B. Blame
C. Look down on D. Make up to
4.Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?
Last year my summer holiday was spoiled by my bringing along a modern convenience that was too convenient for my own good: the iPad. Instead of looking at nature, I checked my e-mail. Instead of paddling a small boat, I followed my Twitter feed（推特简讯）. Instead of reading great novels, I stuck to reading four newspapers each morning. I was behaving as if I were still in the office. My body was on vacation, but my head wasn’t.
So this year I made up my mind to try something different: withdrawal from the Internet. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, since I’m bad at self-control. But I was determined. I started by giving the iPad to my wife.
The cellphone signal at our house was worse than in the past, making my attempts at cheating an experience in frustration （沮丧）. I was trapped, forced to go through with my plan. Largely breaking away from e-mail, Twitter and my favorite newspaper websites, I had few ways to connect to the world except for the radio—and how much radio can one listen to, really? I had to do what I had planned to do all along: read books.
This experience has had a happy ending. With determination and the strong support of my wife, I won in my vacation struggle against the Internet, realizing finally that it was I, not the iPad, that was the problem. I knew I had won when we passed a Starbucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi. “I don’t need it,” I said.
However, as we return to post-vacation life, a harder test begins: Can I continue when I’m back at work?
There are times when the need to know what’s being said right now is great. I have no intention of giving up my convenience completely. But I hope to resist the temptation to check my e-mail every five minutes, which leads to checking my Twitter feed and a website or two.
I think a vacation is supposed to help you rest your brain to become more productive. Here I hope this one worked.
1. What do we know about the author’s last summer vacation?
A. He was determined to enjoy the beautiful view.
B. His iPad ruined his plan of finishing a great novel.
C. He hated himself for acting as if he were working on vacation.
D. He felt satisfied that he had stuck to his usual timetable.
2.What did the author do to keep away from the Internet this year?
A. He cut off his cellphone signal.
B. He handed his iPad to his wife.
C. He refused to cheat in his house.
D. He listened to the radio most of the time.
3. When back at work, the author will probably choose to ________.
A. keep control of when and how to use the Internet
B. continue to road more and more books
C. stay away from the Internet for ever
D. stop checking what is being said right now completely
4.What is the author’s opinion of a great vacation in the passage?
A. A vacation is having nothing to do but read all day.
B. A vacation proves that a life of pleasure is overvalued.
C. A vacation means a change of pace to make one more creative.
D. A vacation is a period of time to do whatever one wishes to.
It was a hot, humid day, and my brother Walt and I had decided that the only way to survive it would be to go swimming in a deep swimming hole across Mr.Blickez’s pasture(牧场) and through some woods.
The only problem with our plan was that this pasture was guarded by a huge, mean Hereford bull. Mr.Blickez had told us that Elsie was the meanest bull in the township, maybe even the county, and we believed him. But the hotter it got, the more we thought there was something fishy about his claim. For one thing, we remembered Mr.Blickez liked telling tall tales; for another, Elsie seemed like an odd name for a bull.
Finally, I talked Mom into asking permission for us to walk through the pasture, but then another problem surfaced. Mom said she would talk to Mr.Blickez if we would take our cousin Joanie along with us. Joanie was almost two years older than me and a head taller. If her teasing ever got around my grade school, it would be all over for me. In fact, I still had a headache from a quarrel with her that morning. “I’m not going swimming with that dumb girl cousin.” I told my mom.
“Either Joanie goes with, or you stay home alone,” Mom said in her serious tone. I gave in and we set out. On our way across the pasture, Walt yelled suddenly. Elsie had approached him quietly and was licking(舔) his back. Joanie and I dove under the wire fence, but while I was on the ground I looked up and saw that Elsie wasn’t a big mean bull after all. She was going to keep licking my brother’s back as long as he stood still.
We had many good days growing up and visiting our secret swimming hole guarded by the so-called “big mean bull”. And as it turned out, for a girl cousin, Joanie hasn’t been too bad. She’s been one of my best friends over the years.
1.What’s the meaning of the underline word “fishy” in Paragraph 2?
A. Funny. B. Interesting.
C. Doubtful. D. Believable.
2.What’s the second problem the author has to face?
A. His mother insisted on his cousin going with him.
B. His cousin made jokes on him in his grade school.
C. He quarreled with his cousin and had a headache.
D. His mother failed to ask permission for him.
3.What does the author think of Elsie in the end?
A. Aggressive. B. Unkind.
C. Bad-tempered. D. Friendly.
4. What’s the passage mainly about?
A. The bull guarding Mr.Blickez’s farm.
B. The story of visiting the swimming hole.
C. How friendly the so-called mean bull was.
D. How the author changed his attitude to Joanie.
Guided Walking Week April 2016
Dates: April 30th-May 7th 2016
Location: Abdet, Costa Blanca
A week of guided walking in the mountains around Abdet. Highlights include the climbing of Valencia’s highest summit (Sierra de Aitana), traveling completely around the impressive Puig Campana, and several explorations in the Sierra de Aitana. Ancient trails lead through spectacular canyons(峡谷) to abandoned settlements situated high in the mountains. You will discover the snow trader routes which lead from the incredible snow holes high in the mountains down to the villages and towns on the coast. These years, golden eagles have made a return to this area, and you may also see other animals—wild goats, foxes, wild pigs and red squirrels.
As part of the week you are invited to help clear some local walking paths. This involves clearing collapsed walls and rocks, cutting back fallen trees. This is of course optional and is just for half a day, it’s actually great fun!
Price:$499
Includes:
Accommodation in the beautiful mountain village of Abdet
All food-good home cooking
Beer, wine, soft drinks
Snacks and post walk treats
Packed lunches & drinks(except café/bar visits)
Expert guiding
Photos/Videos of your days in the mountains
Airport pick-up/return $25 each way(fly to Alicante)
Single room supplement $75
To book or get further information, please contact info@abdet.com.
1. What will you find during the guided walking?
A. Climbing Sierra de Aitana is the most exciting
B. Ancient trails have changed into highways.
C. The environment in Abdet is getting better.
D. Traders live in incredible snow holes.
2. What may you enjoy if you pay $499?
A. Packed lunches including bar visits.
B. Good home cooking breakfast only.
C. Bus stop pick-up/return each way.
D. Pictures and professional guiding
3.What do the details presented in the ad suggest?
A. Clearing walking paths is a must
B. People can book the walking online.
C. Accommodation conditions are tough.
D. The walking ends on April 30th 2016
书面表达
某天你收到如下一封来自笔友的电子邮件，请根据邮件内容回复一封100字左右的邮件，表示对Tom的欢迎，并询问他来长沙的具体时间、住宿安排、课程时间并说明你需要了解这些的原因。
Dear Li Hua,
Surprise! I enrolled in a camp organized by Chinese Bridge in August and will spend about a week in Changsha. So, we can finally see each other. Learning the Chinese language and visiting some places of interest like Shaoshan Mountain will be part of the camp. I just can’t wait to see you.
Tom.
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加，删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（Λ），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
The first day we go to high school, our head teacher told us the news which we needed to take the military training. We were all surprising at the news, because of it was so hot outside. How terribly it was! The next day, we met our training instructor, who were young and handsome. He was strict, but humorous, telling him jokes when we rested. At night, he asked us sing military songs. We even competed with other teams. The days of the military trainings were beautiful, and we found a training was not that hard. We became stronger and made friends with our military instructor.
