Question

There is an English saying : “ Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying very seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to study laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found facts that laughter really can improve people’s health.[

Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart rate and the rate of breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.

Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reducing the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produce pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produce pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group which tolerated(忍受) the pain for the longest time was the groups which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce endorphins in the brain. These are natural chemicals which diminish both stress and pain.

There is also some fact to suggest that laughter helps the body’s immune system, that is, the system which fights infection. In an experiment, one group of students watched a funny video while another group of students served as the control group ---- in other words, a group with which to compare the first group. Doctors checked the blood of the students in both groups and found that the people in the group that watch the video had an increase in the activity of their white blood cells, that is, the cells which fight infection.

As a result of these discoveries, some doctors and psychiatrists in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they try to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh.

They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.

1.It can be learnt from the passage that laughter can_______.

A. make people feel younger

B. change people’s habits

C. improve peoples health

D. make people love their lives

2.Smiling can produce____.

A. more effects than laughter

B. the same effects as laughter

C. less effects on the human body

D. no effects on the human body

3.The main idea of this passage is that ______.

A. there are several ways of studying the benefits of laughter

B. laughter and physical exercise have the same effects on human body

C. the doctors should learn how to make people laugh

D. tests show that laughter can produce beneficial effects on human body

Answer

They have found facts that laughter really can improve people’s health ☞D. tests show that laughter can produce beneficial effects on human body

【解析】试题分析：本文是一篇健康保健类说明文。文章通过举例说明笑是治疗疾病的良药，能减轻病人的痛苦，能够锻炼身体并提高人的免疫能力。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段第一句提到的谚语"Laughter is the best medicine"（笑是最好的良药）可知，笑声是治疗疾病的良药，可以改善人们的健康，故选C。

2.细节理解题。根据最后一段第一句They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce good effects similar to those caused by laughter.可知，他们发现即使他们的病人确实不想笑，仅是微笑也能产生和笑产生的相似的效果。故选B。

3.主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章的第一段的最后一句话点明了主题：实验说明笑能对人体产生积极的有益的作用，故选D。

【名师点睛】

主旨大意题是常考试题。概括主旨的方法是：先看首尾或各段开头再看全文找主题句，若无明显主题句，就通过关键词句来概括(如议论文中寻找表达作者观点态度的词句，记叙文寻找概括情节和中心的动词或反映人物特点的形容词)。文中出现两种或两种以上的不同观点时，务必牢记作者的观点才是体现全文中心的。此时，要注意一些转折词，如but, yet, however, although, in spite of, by contrast, on the contrary等。当文章中表示相反的观点时，往往用到这些词。答题时要弄清哪个是作者的观点，排除迷惑性信息，准确归纳主旨大意。例如：

小题3就属于主旨大意题。答案需要看第一段的最后一句找主题句。

【答案定位】第一段的最后一句话They have found facts that laughter really can improve people’s health.点明了主题：实验说明笑声真得能够改善人们的健康，即笑声能对人体产生积极的有益的作用。

【推理关系】题干The main idea of this passage is that ______.☞文章内容（中心句）laughter really can improve people’s health.