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 hearts out. The main reason those people strongly laughed was that almost all of them felt angry towards pedestrians who crossed streets carelessly. The joke wasn’t only funny, 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 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 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
The Indian government may use 3D paintings as virtual speed-breakers on major highways and roads, in an attempt to check speeding and careless driving，and eventually make its deadly roads a little safer. “We are trying out 3D paintings used as virtual speed breakers to avoid unnecessary requirements of speed breakers,” India’s transport minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted.
The visual illusions (幻象) are supposed to encourage drivers to slow down automatically. Earlier this month, India had ordered the removal of all speed breakers from highways, which are considered to be a danger to safety for high-speed vehicles.
India has the highest number of road accident deaths in the world. According to the World Health Organisation, over 200,00 people are killed by road accidents due to poor application of road safety laws. This is considerably higher than its official figures of 141,526 for 2014.
The use of visual illusions as speed breakers was first pioneered in the American city of Philadelphia in 2008, as part of a campaign against speeding motorists. The technique has also been tried out in China to create floating 3D crossings.
In India, cities such as Ahmedabad and Chennai have already experimented with 3D zebra crossings in the last one year. In Ahmedabad for instance, two artists, mother and daughter have painted 3D crosswalks in the first few months of this year. The artists say their motto is “to increase the attention of drivers”, and that the concept has been successfully tested in zones where accidents easily occur on a highway.
However, critics argue that once drivers know that these speed breakers are visual illusions, they may ignore them. Others also point out that India’s decision does not consider the safety of a large number of walkers. In the end, the new policy may be just one step towards improving road safety.
1.Accoding to the passage, 3D paintings as virtual speed breakers in India aims to ________.
A. replace all speed breakers from highways
B. encourage essential requirements of speed breakers
C. check speeding and careless driving on all highways
D. remind divers to speed down voluntarily for road safety
2.What caused the high number of road accident deaths in India?
A. Speeding motorists. B. Floating 3D crossings.
C. Free use of visual illusions. D. Bad application of traffic laws.
3.The author explains the experiment of 3D zebra crossings in India by ________.
A. giving examples B. analysing causes
C. providing figures D. making comparisons
4.What’s the author’s attitude towards 3D zebra crossings?
A. Subjective. B. Objective.
C. Supportive. D. Critical.
The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen is offering a free meal to any guest who is able to produce electricity for the hotel on an exercise bike linked to a generator (发电机). The idea is to get people fit and reduce their carbon footprint. Guests will have to produce at least 10 watt hours of electricity — roughly 15 minutes of cycling for someone of average fitness. Guests staying at Plaza Hotel will be given meal tickets worth $ 36 once they have produced 10 watt hours of electricity. The bicycles will have smart phones attached to the handlebars measuring how much power is being generated for the hotel.
The plan, a world-first, will start on 19 April and run for a year. Only guests staying at the hotel will be able to take part. Frederikke Toemmergaard，hotel spokeswoman, said, “Many of our visitors are business people who enjoy going to the gym. There might be people who will cycle just to get a free meal, but generally I don’t think people will take advantage of our programme.”
Copenhagen has a long-standing cycling tradition and 36 % of locals cycle to work each day, one of the highest percentages in the world, according to the website visitcopenhagen. dk. US environmental website treehugger. com recently voted Copenhagen the world’s best city for cyclists. “Because Copenhagen is strongly connected with cycling, we felt the bicycle would work well as a symbol of the hotel’s green profile (形象).”
If successful，the electric bicycle meal programme will be spread to all Crowne Plaza hotels in the UK, the hotel said in a statement.
1.What is the main purpose of the free meal programme?
A. To promote the hotel’s green concept.
B. To make the city known to the world.
C. To attract people to the hotel restaurant.
D. To get guests to stay longer at the hotel.
2.How can a participant get a free meal?
A. By becoming a professional cyclist.
B. By cycling to produce some electricity.
C. By linking a smart phone to a bicycle.
D. By monitoring his or her carbon footprint.
3.Who are most likely to enter for the programme?
A. The poor local people.
B. The environment activists.
C. Health-conscious hotel guests.
D. Visitors fond of Copenhagen food.
4.According to Paragraph 3, Copenhagen has one of the world’s .
A. best chain hotels
B. greenest natural environments
C. longest bike paths
D. highest rates of people cycling to work
Are you interested in movie musicals? Here are some best movie musicals you need to watch.
Singin’in the Rain (1952)
Debbie Reynolds (the heroine) is ultra-charming in this time-honored classic musical about the coming of the talking pictures in movie history. She plays a winning showgirl with a golden singing voice designed for Hollywood stars. You can also see how Gene Kelly (the hero) made a hit in the timeless “Singin’in the Rain”.
The Sound of Music (1965)
It hit the big screen in 1965 and became an early blockbuster. It’s one of those movies that everybody watches again and again. Whether you’re singing along to ‘‘Do-Re-Mi” or ‘‘My Favorite Things”, you’ll still think of the cute Von Trapp children and the beautiful Austrian setting. Christopher Plummer (the hero) is wonderful as the serious captain melts into gentleness when singing “Edelweiss”. And Julie Andrews (the heroine) shows her addictive voice in such songs as “I Have Confidence”.
Chicago (2002)
Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones sing and dance as criminals in this musical about fame, envy, and murderous love. Famous songs include “Cell Block Tango”, where female criminals sing about how they ended up in jail. It won Best Picture, Best Actress in a supporting role, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound in Oscar 2003.
La La Land (2016)
Struggling actress Mia (Emma Stone) and ambitious jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) begin a romance as they both follow their heart in the path of their dreams in Los Angeles. It won Best Performance by an Actress in a leading role, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, and Best Achievement in Production Design in Oscar 2017.
1.Which movie musical marks a change in the movie history?
A. Chicago. B. La ha Land.
C. Sin gin9 in the Rain. D. The Sound of Music.
2.In which song will you feel gentleness from a serious man?
A. “Do-Re-Mi”. B. “Edelweiss”.
C. “Singin’in the Rain”. D. “Cell Block Tango”.
3.What do Chicago and La La Land have in common?
A. They both won Best Picture. B. They both talk about crimes.
C. They both talk about dreams. D. They both won some Oscar Awards.
4.If you are interested in Jazz music, whose role will be your favorite?
A. Ryan Gosling’s. B. Renee Zellweger’s.
C. Catherine Zeta-Jones’. D. Christopher Plummer’s.
某英语报正在就中学生可不可以带手机上学这一话题开展讨论。假如你是李华，请你根据下表所提供的信息，向该报编辑写一封英文信，发表观点。
手机的优点 | 1.便于与父母和朋友联系；2.能增加乐趣。 |
带手机上学存在的问题 | 2.上课时使用手机干扰教学；2.用手机聊天、发短信费时费钱。 |
建议 | 1.上课时不许使用手机；2.贵重物品，个人宜妥善保管。 |
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头语和结束语已为你写好。
Dear Editor,
I’m a senior three student.I’m writing to tell you my opinion_______________________________________
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Your sincerely,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下短文。短文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
When I was a child,I hoped to live in the city.I think I would be happy there.Now I am living in a city,but I miss my home in countryside.There the air is clean or the mountains are green.Unfortunately,on the development of industrialization,the environment has been polluted.Lots of studies have been shown that global warming has already become a very seriously problem.The airs we breathe in is getting dirtier and dirtier.Much rare animals are dying out. We must found ways to protect your environment.If we fail to do so,we’ll live to regret it.
