Unit 3 A taste of English humour
单元加餐练
Ⅰ.阅读理解
A
A culture's values can be mirrored by its humor. Humor has been evaluated by many great minds such as Thomas Hobbes, who disliked humor, “Laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden thought of feeling far better than others.” He thought humor to be a negative quality of human narrowmindedness.
However, Mordechai Gordon, PhD of Education, insists, “Humor allows us to view the world from an angle that is amusing rather than serious.” I agree with Gordon. Learning to look at the world through humor is important.
In the United States, every four years an election occurs. Without humor as a way to express their feelings, how else would Americans keep from clawing their eyes out and going the way of lemming? Television shows like “The Daily Show” have become important parts of American culture. They are mothering the masses by metaphorically (隐喻地) airplane-ing politics into our mouths. They make politics fun.
Of course, politics is only one type of humor. Social humor helps people through the twists and turns of the human condition. American pop culture promotes an unhealthy self-image. On the topic of self-image, Hari Kondabolu stands out. He has a joke about the popular musical group “The Pussycat Dolls”， describing their hit song “Don't Cha” as a negative representation of women. He points out an obvious offence in American culture.
A study from Loyola University of Maryland has shown that humor is one determining factor for selecting a mating partner. Amongst other things, mates look for an outstanding funny bone in a potential partner.
Of course, humor is not always used for good purposes. Humor can be linked to vulgarity (庸俗) and racism, but, like everything else, it has potential to unite human beings by allowing us to laugh at ourselves, our failures and our connection with one another.
Though life may seem tough and depressing at times, all I have to do is look in the mirror at my increased wrinkles (皱纹) to know that there is a comedy out there that even Chaplin wasn't aware of.
With that in mind, remember to laugh with humanity and sometimes at humanity. 篇章导读：本文是一篇议论文。本文作者通过论证认为，一种文化的价值观可以通过其幽默反映出来，并决定用幽默的态度来面对生活。
1．Hobbes believed that humor ________ .
A．was only a way to laugh at others to make oneself feel better B．resulted in narrow-mindedness of human beings
C．had the power to mirror personal glory and national values
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D．was for people to view the world from another angle
答案：A 细节理解题。根据文章第一段可知，Thomas Hobbes不喜欢幽默，并从他的话“Laughter is nothing else but ... thought of feeling far better than others.”可知，他认为幽默仅仅是嘲笑别人并让自己感觉更好的一种方法而已。应选A。
2．What is the author's attitude towards political humor? A．Worried. C．Curious.
B．Disappointed. D．Appreciative.
答案：D 观点态度题。根据文章第三段中的“Without humor as a way to express their feelings, how else would Americans keep from clawing their eyes out and going the way of lemming？”及“They make politics fun.”可知，作者对于政治幽默持赞赏的态度。appreciative “欣赏的，赏识的”。
3．The fourth paragraph is developed mainly ________ . A．by example C．by comparison 来支撑自己的观点的。故选A。
4．What can we learn from the last two paragraphs? A．Chaplin wasn't aware of being laughed at.
B．The author feels helpless and sad about getting older. C．Never be the one who laughs at other people.
D．The author is determined to face life with a sense of humor.
答案：D 推理判断题。根据倒数第二段中的“to know that there is a comedy out there”和最后一段中的“remember to laugh with humanity”可知，作者积极肯定幽默的价值，决定以幽默的态度来面对生活。故选D。
B
Whether you're eating at a fancy restaurant or dining in someone's home, proper table manners are likely to help you make a good impression. According to a US expert, Emily Post, “All rules of table manners are made to avoid ugliness.”
While Henry Hitchings of the Los Angeles Times admits that good manners can reduce social conflicts, he points out that mostly their purpose is protective—they turn our natural warrior-like selves into more elegant ones.
So where did table manners come from?
In medieval England, a writer named Petrus Alfonsi took the lead to urge people not to speak with their mouths full. And King David Ⅰ of Scotland also proposed that any of his people who learned to eat more neatly be given a tax deduction (扣除)．
Disappointingly, that idea never caught_on. It was during the Renaissance, when there were real technical developments, that opinions of correct behavior changed for good. “None of these was more significant than the introduction of the table fork，” wrote Hitchings. “Gradually, as forks became popular, they brought the new
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B．by process D．by classification
答案：A 细节理解题。根据第四段中的第四句及下文中的解释可知，作者是通过举例子
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