A
There is an English saying: “Laughter is the best medicine. ” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter had similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programmes. The group that tolerated (忍耐) the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny programme. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce chemicals in the brain which diminish both stress and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.
【语篇概述】本文是一篇议论文。论述了笑是最好的药,文中通过医生做的一些实验得出,笑能够使人的身体产生一种化学物质,能够改善人的身体健康,减少压力和痛苦。
1. Doctors have proved the following EXCEPT that_______.
A. laughter does good to health
B. laughter can be tolerated
C. there is a way to reduce pain
D. laughter can work the muscles in the feet
【解析】选B。细节理解题。They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health. 符合A;. . . laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. 符合C;. . . it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. 符合D。故选B。
2. The main idea of the passage is _______.
A. laughter and physical exercise have similar effects on the human body
B. smile can produce the same effects as laughter
C. pain can be reduced by laughter
D. laughter is the best medicine
【解析】选D。主旨大意题。根据There is an English saying: “Laughter is best medicine. ”和整篇短文的意思可知选D。
3. The students who _______tolerated the pain for the longest time.
A. listened to different radio programmes
B. could produce a kind of chemical
C. don’t have stress of pain
D. listened to a funny programme
【解析】选D。细节理解题。根据The group that tolerated the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny programme. 可知,听滑稽节目的人忍受疼痛的时间最长。故选D。
4. The underlined word “diminish” is similar to _______.
A. test B. stop C. reduce D. increase
【解析】选C。词义猜测题。根据The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce chemicals in the brain 可知笑能减少痛苦。故选C。
