專八閱讀訓(xùn)練：A Sense of Humor

　　Biologically, there is only one quality which distinguishes us from animals: the ability to laugh. In a universe which appears to be utterly devoid of humor, we enjoy this supreme luxury. And it is a luxury, for unlike any other bodily process, laughter does not seem to serve a biologically useful purpose. In a divide world, laughter is a unifying force. Human beings oppose each other on a great many issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political camps, but we all share the ability to laugh. And laughter, in turn, depends on that most complex and subtle of all human qualities: a sense of humor Certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal. This can best be seen from the world-wide popularity of Charlie Chaplin’s early films. The little man at odds with society 　never fails to amuse no matter which country we come from. As that great commentator on human affairs, Dr. Samuel Johnson, once remarked, ‘Men have been wise in very different modes; but they have always laughed in the same way.’

　　A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may be anything from a refined tingle to an earth quaking roar, but the effect is always the same. Humor helps us to maintain a correct sense of values. It is the one quality which political fanatics appear to lack. If we can see the funny side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get a lop sided view of things.

　　This is one of the chief functions of satire and irony. Human pain and suffering are so grim; we hover so often on the brink of war; political realities are usually enough to plunge us into total despair. In such circumstances, cartoons and satirical accounts of somber political events redress the balance. They take the wind out of pompous and arrogant politicians who have lost their sense of proportion. They enable us to see that many of our most profound actions are merely comic or absurd. We laugh when a great satirist like Swift writes about war in Gulliver’s Travels. The Lilliputians and their neighbors attack each other because they can’t agree which end to break an egg. We laugh because we meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. It is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish.

　　The sense of humor must be singled out as man’s most important quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in turn, is associated with happiness. Courage, determination, initiative – these are qualities we share with other forms of life. But the sense of humor is uniquely human. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that provides the key.

　　1. The most important of all human qualities is

　　[A] a sense of humor.

　　[B] A sense of satire.

　　[C] A sense of laughter.

　　[D] A sense of history.

　　2. The author mentions about Charlie Chaplin’s early films because

　　[A] they can amuse people.

　　[B] Human beings are different from animals.

　　[C] They show that certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal.

　　[D] They show that people have the same ability to laugh.

　　3. One of the chief functions of irony and satire is

　　[A] to show absurdity of actions.

　　[B] to redress balance.

　　[C] to take the wind out of politicians.

　　[D] to show too much grimness in the world.

　　4. What do we learn from the sentence ‘it is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish in totalitarian regimes?’

　　[A] It can reveal the truth of political events with satire.

　　[B] It can arouse people to riot.

　　[C] It shows tragedy and comedy are related.

　　[D] It can make people laugh.

　　5. Who is Swift?

　　[A] A novelist.

　　[B] A poet.

　　[C] A dramatist.

　　[D] A essayist.

　　答案詳解

　　1. A 幽默感。文章一開始就提出人類有別于動(dòng)物是人有笑的功能，世界紛爭(zhēng)繁雜、人際關(guān)系因意識(shí)觀點(diǎn)差異而對(duì)峙，國(guó)家制度不一，但人們都能笑。笑基于人類最復(fù)雜而又微妙的品質(zhì)――幽默感。反過(guò)來(lái)說(shuō)沒(méi)有幽默感的人恐怕難以笑。第二段正式指出：幽默感表現(xiàn)形式多種多樣，而笑可由微笑到狂笑種種，但其效果相同，幽默感有助于我們保持正確的價(jià)值觀。這是政治狂熱者所缺乏的特征。如果我們能看見滑稽可笑的一面，我們就不會(huì)犯過(guò)于看重自己的錯(cuò)誤。我們總會(huì)記得悲劇離喜劇不愿，因此，我們不會(huì)有偏重某一測(cè)的觀點(diǎn)。第四段畫龍點(diǎn)睛的指出幽默是人類最重要的特征，因?yàn)樗托β暯Y(jié)合在一起。而笑又是和幸福聯(lián)系在一起。勇氣、決心、創(chuàng)造力特征，我們和其他生命形式共享，而幽默感是人類所獨(dú)有的。如果幸福是我們生活的偉大目標(biāo)，那幽默感就是開啟幸福的鑰匙。

　　B.諷刺感。這是第三段講的內(nèi)容，諷刺的功能，但不是人類最重要的特征。C.笑感。D.歷史觀點(diǎn)。

　　2. C 作者提卓別林的電影的目的是證明某些喜劇模式對(duì)全世界都有吸引力。

　　A.它可以取悅?cè)魏稳恕.人類和動(dòng)物不同。D.證明人有同樣笑的功能。

　　3. B使各種事情重新相等和均衡。第三段著重講了這一點(diǎn)。人類在痛苦中掙扎，常處于戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的邊緣。政治實(shí)現(xiàn)令人絕望，在這種處境中，對(duì)某些政治事物的諷刺挖苦和漫畫可以使各種心理重新平衡，可使失去均衡感的政客地下高傲頭顱;可使我看見許多深邃的事情荒謬可笑。

　　A.表現(xiàn)行為的荒唐。C.使政治家氣餒。D.表現(xiàn)世界上太多的令人沮喪之事。

　　4. A它可以以諷刺的手法解釋政治時(shí)間的真相。

　　B.這可促使人民暴動(dòng)。C.它表示了悲劇和喜劇相聯(lián)系。D.它能使人哭。

　　5. A小說(shuō)家。

　　B.詩(shī)人。C.戲劇家。D.散文家。

　　Vocabulary

　　1. devoid 沒(méi)有，缺乏

　　2. plague n.瘟疫，惹人煩惱的人和事v.給……造成麻煩，痛苦，困難

　　3. faction 派別

　　4. comic stereotype 可笑/滑稽的模式

　　5. commentator (集注)作者，評(píng)論員，解說(shuō)員

　　6. tinkle n.一連串的丁零聲，電話聲，v.使發(fā)出丁零聲

　　7. fanatic 狂熱者(尤指宗教、政治的狂熱)

　　8. lop-sided 不均勻的

　　9. hover 翱翔，盤旋;彷徨

　　10. somber 低沉的，暗淡的，嚴(yán)峻的

　　11. redress 糾正，補(bǔ)償

　　12. pompous 自大的，浮夸的

　　13. arrogant 傲慢的

　　14. proportion 均衡，勻稱，平衡，比例

　　15. Lilliputian 微型的，極小的，源自《格列佛游記》中的小人國(guó)里的人

　　16. totalitarian 極權(quán)主義的

　　17. regime 政體，政權(quán)，統(tǒng)治方式或制度

　　難句譯注

　　1. In a divided world, laughter is a unifying force.

　　【參考譯文】在分裂的世界中，笑是一種促成一致(團(tuán)結(jié))的力量。

　　2. Human relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political camps,

　　【參考譯文】人際關(guān)系可能因思想意識(shí)派別和政治陣營(yíng)的不同而受侵?jǐn)_。

　　3. Certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal.

　　【參考譯文】某些滑稽的模式具有全球性的效果。

　　4. Charlie Chaplin查理•卓別林1889-1977，英國(guó)諷刺滑稽劇及電影演員，導(dǎo)演及制片人。

　　5. At odds with society和社會(huì)格格不入。

　　6. Dr. Samuel Johnson撒繆爾•約翰生，1709-1784，英國(guó)辭典編撰者及作家。

　　7. A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may be anything from a refined tinkle to an earth quaking roar.

　　【參考譯文】幽默感表現(xiàn)的方式多種多樣，笑也許是銀鈴般優(yōu)雅輕笑，也許是震耳欲聾的放聲大笑。

　　8. If we can see the funny side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously.

　　【參考譯文】如果我們能見到可笑的一面，我們就不會(huì)犯這種錯(cuò)誤：對(duì)自己看得過(guò)重(自以為了不起)。

　　9. We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get a lop-sided view of things.

　　【參考譯文】我們會(huì)經(jīng)常提醒自己禍兮福所伏(悲劇離喜劇實(shí)際并不遙遠(yuǎn))，那我們決不會(huì)偏執(zhí)一詞地看事物。

　　10. Take the wind out of sb’s sails使某人氣餒或泄氣。

　　11. Swift Jonathan swift喬納森•思維福特1667-1745，英國(guó)作家，生于都柏林，曾獲牛津大學(xué)碩士，三一學(xué)院神學(xué)博士學(xué)位，1688年到英國(guó)，后加入英國(guó)國(guó)教會(huì)。他同情英國(guó)統(tǒng)治下的愛爾蘭人民，積極參加他們?yōu)闋?zhēng)取自由和民族獨(dú)立的斗爭(zhēng)。他以政治諷刺文著世，其文筆犀利、諷刺尖銳、文章推理嚴(yán)密，用詞簡(jiǎn)潔、語(yǔ)言樸實(shí)清晰，被認(rèn)為是英語(yǔ)的典范，《格列佛游記》是他的代表作之一。

　　12. We laugh because we are meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too.

　　【結(jié)構(gòu)簡(jiǎn)析】mean to do是打算或注定要…，一般用于被動(dòng)。

　　【參考譯文】我們笑是因?yàn)橄胄?，可是我們也想哭。是指小人?guó)和鄰國(guó)僅僅為打雞蛋一類小事而打仗可笑，確實(shí)也是可悲。作者結(jié)合現(xiàn)實(shí)指出是人類悲劇之所在。

　　寫作方法與文章大意

　　文章以部部深入，一般到具體的寫作手法論及笑是人類特有的功能。

　　形式多種、效果一樣。天下人有各種觀點(diǎn)、制度、人際關(guān)系，對(duì)滑稽的東西都會(huì)報(bào)之以笑――一種一致的力量。

　　笑基于幽默感，有了它，人們會(huì)樂(lè)觀、愉快、輕松，不偏不倚地對(duì)待一切，悲劇中寓以喜劇，幽默感又是人類開啟幸福之門的鑰匙。

　　論及的同時(shí)作者佐以例子，卓別林的早期電影，《格列佛游記》中的小人國(guó)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)等。