Before I studied psychology,I used to think that people would laugh when funny things occurred.While I was right about that,I discovered there are lots of other psychological factors that make people laugh other than the funny part of a joke.When someone laughs at a joke,there will usually be more than one reason that makes him laugh—and the more reasons there are,the more powerful the joke will be.
I was attending a stand-up comedy show in Egypt,and when the man started to make fun of pedestrians crossing streets,everyone laughed their heads off.The main reason why those people strongly laughed was that almost all of them felt angry towards pedestrians who crossed streets carelessly.The joke wasn’t only funny,but it also made the audience feel that they were right about being angry at those pedestrians.That is,people were laughing both because of the funny joke and because of the happiness experienced as a result of the psychological support they got.
The better a joke makes a person feel,and the more it includes other psychological factors,the more the person will like it.For example,if you envy one of your friends,and someone tells a joke that is funny and,at the same time,makes your friend seem stupid,then you will probably laugh at it louder than if you weren’t jealous of him.
In short,we don’t laugh only when we hear something funny; we also laugh when we experience some kind of happiness that results from the other psychological factors involved in the joke.I strongly discourage you from making fun of anyone or belittling someone to make someone else laugh.All I want to explain is that if your joke supports a person’s emotions,he will certainly like it a lot.
1.What did the author find out after studying psychology?
A.Only good jokes make people laugh. B.Many factors lead to people’s laughing.
C.Funny things can make people laugh. D.Laughter can make people healthy.
2.Why did the audience laugh loud at the pedestrians?
A.They played a trick on the pedestrians.
B.The pedestrians behaved in a funny way.
C.They could feel the pedestrians’ happiness.
D.Their emotion was approved of by the show.
3.What does the underlined word “belittling” probably mean?
A.Annoy. B.Blame. C.Look down on. D.Make up to.
语篇解读:本文是一篇议论文,分析了人们笑的原因。
答案及剖析:
1.B 细节理解题。根据第一段第二句话可知,不仅是玩笑有意思的地方让人笑,除此以外还有很多其他心理因素能让人笑。
2.D 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句可知,人们对行人的行为大笑的原因不仅是因为玩笑本身,而且因为他们在心理上产生了共鸣。
3.C 词义猜测题。根据最后一段倒数第二句及语境可知,make fun of和belittle表达的意义应该是在相近的层面,结合选项annoy“使恼怒”;blame“责备”;look down on “蔑视,看轻”;make up to“接近,奉承”。可知,C项符合语境。
