英語四級難度提升閱讀訓(xùn)練 Text 5

Text 5

If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.

Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses' convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. "Who is that?" the new arrival asked St. Peter. "Oh, that's God," came the reply, "but sometimes he thinks he's a doctor."

If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it'll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman's notorious taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn't attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the post office or the telephone system.

If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it's the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.

Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote "If at first you don't succeed, give up" or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggerations and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.

1.To make your humor work, you should_______.

A.take advantage of different kinds of audience

B.make fun of the disorganized people

C.address different problems to different people

D.show sympathy for your listeners

2.The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are_______.

A.impolite to new arrivals　　B.very conscious of their godlike role

C.entitled to some privileges　D.very busy even during lunch hours

3.It can be inferred from the passage that public services_______.

A.have benefited many people　　　　　B.are the focus of public attention

C.are an inappropriate subject for humor　D.have often been the laughing stock

4.To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered_______.

A.in well-worded language　　B.as awkwardly as possible

C.in exaggerated statements　　D.as casually as possible

5.The best title for the passage may be "________".

A.Use Humor Effectively　　B.Various Kinds of Humor

C.Add Humor to Speech　　D.Different Humor Strategies

長難例句分析

［長難例句］If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it'll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman's notorious taste in ties.

［結(jié)構(gòu)分析］本句中，主句是由and連接的兩個并列句。其中，第一個句子中的固定搭配in a position to do sth.的意思是“能夠做某事”，如：I regret I am not in a position to help you. 我很抱歉無力幫助你。which引導(dǎo)的是定語從句修飾experiences and problems，第二個句子中it為形式主語，動詞不定式to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman's notorious taste in ties為真正的主語。前面的if you are part of the group為條件狀語從句，which you are addressing為非限定性定語從句，修飾the group。

［參考譯文］如果你是聽你說話的聽眾中的一員，你就應(yīng)該知道對于你們來說都再熟悉不過的經(jīng)歷和難題，這時，評論一番難以下咽的食堂飯菜或者眾所周知的主席領(lǐng)帶的品位低下，這些都將會是非常合適的話題。

全文參考譯文

如果你想在交談中運用幽默逗人發(fā)笑，那你必須知道怎樣才能識別出和聽眾共同的經(jīng)歷和難題。你的幽默必須要與聽眾相關(guān)，并應(yīng)能夠向他們表明你是他們中的一員或者能夠表明你理解他們的處境并且認同他們的觀點。根據(jù)聽眾不同，你所談的問題也應(yīng)有所不同。如果你和一群經(jīng)理交談，你可以談?wù)撍麄兊拿貢s亂無章的工作方法；反過來，如果你和秘書們交談，你也許會評論一下他們老板雜亂無章的作風。

舉個例子來說，我曾在一次護士大會上聽到一個很恰當?shù)挠哪适?，因為所有的聽眾對醫(yī)生的看法相同。一位男士到了天堂，正由圣彼得帶著四處觀看。他看到華麗的房舍、美麗的花園、晴朗的天氣等等。每個人都十分和氣、禮貌和友善。到排隊吃中午飯時，新來的人突然被一個穿白大褂的人推到了一旁，他沖到隊伍的前面，抓起自己的食物，驕橫地走到桌邊。“那是誰？”新來的人問圣彼得?！斑溃鞘巧系??！彼卮?，“但是有時候他以為自己是個醫(yī)生?！?/p>

如果你是聽你說話的聽眾中的一員，你就會站在他們的角度了解對所有人來說都很普通的經(jīng)歷和難題，你可以評價一番難以下咽的食堂飯菜或主席領(lǐng)帶的品位低下。當和其他聽眾交談時，你一定不要試圖運用此類幽默，因為，他們會對一個局外人對他們的食堂或主席毀謗性的言論感到氣憤。如果你一直都說像郵局或電信系統(tǒng)這種“替罪羊”話題的笑話，你就不會得罪任何人。

如果你覺得自己幽默起來感覺很生硬，那你必須不斷練習以使其變得更加自然。你可以用一種輕松而不勉強的方式，夾帶一些隨意和顯然臨場發(fā)揮的評論。通常，幽默的表達過程使人發(fā)笑，所以，講得慢一些，揚眉或擺出一幅不相信的臉孔容易讓人知道你在開玩笑。

要善于發(fā)現(xiàn)幽默，它常常是在出其不意的時候出現(xiàn)。例如拿人們熟悉的諺語開玩笑，比如“假如一開始便不成功，那就放棄吧”，或者拿一出戲劇的對白或場景打趣。多思考一下夸大其詞或者平鋪直敘?？匆幌伦约旱恼Z言，找出一些詞匯或句子來，把它們反復(fù)琢磨，在其中注入幽默。

題目答案與解析

1.要想讓你的幽默奏效，你應(yīng)該________。

A.利用不同的聽眾　　　　　B.取笑那些缺乏條理的人

C.對不同的人談不同的問題　D.向你的聽眾表示同情

【答案】C

【解析】本題可參照文章的第一段。從中可知，為了使你的幽默使人發(fā)笑，你應(yīng)該根據(jù)不同的談話對象談?wù)摬煌脑掝}。C項與文章的意思相符，因此為正確答案。

2.依照護士的觀點，關(guān)于醫(yī)生的笑話暗示了醫(yī)生________。

A.對新來者不禮貌　　B.非常了解自己神圣的角色

C.被授予某些特權(quán)　　D.甚至午餐期間都非常忙

【答案】B

【解析】本題可參照文章的第二段。從中可知，我曾在一次護士大會上聽到一個很恰當?shù)挠哪适拢驗樗械穆牨妼︶t(yī)生的看法相同。一位男士到了天堂，正由圣彼得帶著四處觀看。他看到華麗的房舍、美麗的花園、晴朗的天氣等等。每個人都十分和氣、禮貌和友善。到排隊吃中午飯時，新來的人突然被一個穿白大褂的人推到了一旁，他沖到隊伍的前面，抓起自己的食物，驕橫地走到桌邊?！澳鞘钦l？”新來的人問圣彼得?！斑?，那是上帝?！彼卮?，“但是有時候他以為自己是個醫(yī)生?！睋?jù)此可知，護士認為醫(yī)生自以為是上帝，可以耍威風，不講道理。B項與文章的意思相符，因此為正確答案。

3.從本文可以推知，公共服務(wù)________。

A.為許多人帶來了利益　　B.是公眾關(guān)注的焦點

C.不是幽默的合適話題　　D.常常被人當做笑料

【答案】D

【解析】從文章第三段的內(nèi)容可知，如果你是你的聽眾中的一員的話，你就會了解你們所有人的共同經(jīng)歷或問題，你就可以隨意評論食堂的飯菜難吃，或是評論領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的領(lǐng)帶沒有品味，這些都無可厚非；不過，同其他人交談時，你千萬不要嘗試插入這類幽默，因為他們反感一個局外人對他們的食堂或領(lǐng)導(dǎo)發(fā)表蔑視性的評論；如果你繼續(xù)調(diào)侃郵局或電信系統(tǒng)這類“替罪羊”，你就會平安無事。據(jù)此可知，郵局或電信系統(tǒng)等公共服務(wù)經(jīng)常被人調(diào)侃。D項與文中的意思相符，因此為正確答案。

4.要想達到想要的效果，應(yīng)該_______講幽默故事。

A.用恰當?shù)难哉Z　　B.以盡可能笨拙的表情

C.用夸張的陳述　　D.以盡可能隨意的表情

【答案】D

【解析】本題可參照文章的第四段。從中可知，如果你不擅長于使用幽默，你就必須練習，以使你的幽默顯得更加自然；內(nèi)容包括一些隨意、顯然是即興的評論，你能夠以悠閑、自然的方式發(fā)表這些評論；通常是發(fā)表評論的方式使聽眾發(fā)笑，所以，要慢慢地評論，要記住——揚揚眉或露出一副難以置信的表情有助于使你的評論顯得輕松愉快。D項與文章的意思相符，因此為正確答案。

5.本篇文章的最佳標題也許是“________”。

A.有效地使用幽默　　　B.各種各樣的幽默

C.在言語中添加幽默　　D.不同的幽默策略

【答案】A

【解析】從文章第一段的內(nèi)容可知，如果你想在談話中用幽默來使人發(fā)笑的話，你就必須知道如何確定你與其他人有相同的經(jīng)歷和問題；你的幽默一定要和聽眾有關(guān)，應(yīng)該有助于表明你是他們中間的一員，或者你了解他們的處境，贊同他們的觀點；針對不同的談話對象，你要談的問題就應(yīng)該有所不同；文章第二段舉例做了說明；從第三段的內(nèi)容可知，如果你是你的聽眾中的一員的話，你就會了解你們所有人的共同經(jīng)歷或問題，你就可以隨意評論食堂的飯菜難吃，或是評論領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的領(lǐng)帶沒有品味，這些都無可厚非；不過，同其他人交談時，你千萬不要嘗試運用這類幽默；從文章第四段的內(nèi)容可知，如果你不擅長于使用幽默，你就必須練習，以便你的幽默顯得更加自然；從最后一段的內(nèi)容可知，幽默常常來自于意料之外；不妨曲解人們熟知的引語，尋找夸張和掩飾用語；琢磨一下你的談話，從中挑出你能夠改動的幾個字或幾句話來，注入幽默。據(jù)此可知，本文主要談的是如何利用幽默來使人發(fā)笑。A項與文章的意思相符，因此為正確答案。