Question

    A lot of us lose life’s tough situations by mounting a frontal attack when a touch of humor might well enable us to chalk up a win. Consider the case of a young friend of mine, Sam, who hit a traffic jam on the way to work. Although there was a good reason for Sam’s constant lateness-serious illness at home, he decided that this by-now-familiar excuse wouldn’t work any longer. His boss was probably already pacing up and down with a dismissal speech prepared.

He was. Sam entered the office at 9:35. The place was as quiet as a locker room. Sam’s boss approached him. Suddenly, Sam reached out his hand. “How do you do!” he said. “I’ m Sam Maynard. I’m applying for a job which I understand became available just 35 minutes ago. Does the early bird get the worm?” The room exploded in laughter. The boss smiled and walked back to his office. Sam Maynard saved his job with the only tool that could win a laugh.

Here is another example. An English hostess was giving a formal dinner for eight distinguished guests. She had asked her son to serve a large roast turkey. The boy only succeeded in dropping the bird onto the dining-room floor. Moving only her head, the hostess smiled at her son, “No harm, Daniel,” she said, “just pick it up and take it back to the kitchen”, she said clearly so he would think about what she was saying and bring in the other one. Some humorous words changed the dinner from a red-faced embarrassment to a ton of fun.

Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected(忽视)means of handling the difficult situations in our lives. It can be used for making up differences, saying sorry, saying no, criticizing, and getting the other person to do what you want without his losing face. Also, many believe that comedians on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance than people are in any other places.

Of course, humor is often more than a laughing matter. In its potent guises(有效的伪装), it has a Trojan-horse(特洛伊木马)nature: no one goes on guard against a laugh; we let it in because it looks like a little wooden toy. Once inside, however, it can turn a city to reform, to rebellion(反抗), to resistance.

1.What can the underlined words “chalk up” in Paragraph 1 be replaced by?

A.pay for B.respond to C.think of recording D.succeed in getting

2.How does the author explain the power of humor?

A.By using examples. B.By making comparisons.

C.By introducing study results. D.By setting clown general rules.

3.What does the author mean by mentioning humor’s Trojan-horse nature?

A.It is but a toy. B.It catches us unaware.

C.We usually resist its effect. D.We seldom really understand it.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

【解析】

这是一篇夹叙夹议文。文章通过举例子来说明幽默在生活中解决一些问题时的重要性。

1.

短语猜测题。根据第二段中的“Sam Maynard saved his job with the only tool that could win a laugh.”和第三段中的“Some humorous words changed the dinner from a red-faced embarrassment to a ton of fun.”可知，幽默使汤姆保住了工作没有被解雇，幽默使得男孩在把火鸡弄到地板上之后没有出现尴尬的局面，因此when引导的从句意为：此时幽默感的运用很可能使我们赢得胜利，这与主句的内容（在人生很多场激烈的争斗中，我们如果与人硬碰硬正面交锋的话，可能会败得一塌糊涂。）形成了对比。即句子中的“chalk up”应该理解为“成功获得”。故选D。

2.

推理判断题。根据第二段中的“The boss smiled and walked back to his office. Sam Maynard saved his job with the only tool that could win a laugh. Sam Maynard saved his job with the only tool that could win a laugh.”和第三段中的““just pick it up and take it back to the kitchen”, she said clearly so he would think about what she was saying and bring in the other one. Some humorous words changed the dinner from a red-faced embarrassment to a ton of fun.”可知，老板笑着回到了办公室，汤姆的幽默感挽救了他，从而保住了工作；男孩把那只火鸡弄到了餐厅的地板上，女主人告诉他把它带回厨房，这样他就可以考虑一下她在说什么并带来另一只火鸡，这样避免了尴尬的出现。看得出幽默感在解决某些棘手的问题时是有作用的。即作者通过举例子来解释幽默的力量。故选A。

3.

推理判断题。由最后一段中的“Of course, humor is often more than a laughing matter. In its potent guises(有效的伪装), it has a Trojan-horse(特洛伊木马)nature: no one goes on guard against a laugh; we let it in because it looks like a little wooden toy. Once inside, however, it can turn a city to reform, to rebellion(反抗), to resistance.”可知，当然，幽默通常不只是让人笑出来。在其有效的伪装下，它具有特洛伊木马的效应：没有人对于笑会时刻保持警惕。我们让它进入城市，因为它看起来像个木制玩具而已。然而，一旦进入城市内部，它可以使城市变革，叛乱，反抗。由此可知，作者提到特洛伊木马效应是为了说明幽默感让人们开怀大笑从而使人们失去戒备心理，这就像特洛伊木马一样，人们没有关注内在实质的东西。即它使人们失去对某些问题的关注意识。故选B。