His laughter，which was infectious，broke the silence.

M: This saying has been scientifically proven! According to our research, laughter strengthens the immune system and lowers the levels of stress hormones...

W: Can you be more specific？

M: Well, (23)after a bout of laughter, blood pressure drops to a lower, healthier level than when the laughter began. Dr. William Fry of Stanford University found that "twenty seconds of guffawing gives the heart the same workout as three minutes of hard rowing".

W: What else？

M: Another year-long study of heart attack victims done at the Oakhurst Health Research Institute in California found that of those patients who spent half an hour a day watching comedy videos, 10 percent had a second heart attack, whereas 30 percent of those who did not watch had a second attack.

W: Wow! Laughter is really a good medicine to patients. So do we have to learn to laugh？

M: Not necessarily. (24)Since laughing is something people can do sitting down, costs no money, and requires no special exercise equipment or skill, it's the perfect workout for anyone who doesn't have the time or desire to participate in a regular fitness program.

W: Oh, I see. What about the situation in which you aren't in a mood to laugh？

M: OK, remember, (25)even when you fake a smile or laugh, you get the same physiological benefits as when it's the real thing, because your mind is smart, but your body is stupid and can't tel1 the difference.

W: Great! I've learned it. Thank you very much!

M: My pleasure.

(20)

A．The levels of his stress hormones will be lowered.

B．His blood pressure will drop to a lower level.

C．He will have a better appetite.

D．His body temperature will rise.

Which of the following statements is not true according to paragraph 2？

A．The time and place of the film is nearly based on Coens' background.

B．The more the man has suffered, the more he is tired of his life.

C．The more we know about the film, the more we feel it is not about a comedy.

D．When the pain turns to be real, the laughter becomes our only choice.

听力原文：M: Well, you seemed to be having fun watching the movie？

W: Yeah, it was good fun. I think it kept me in stitches right from the start.

M: You know, whenever I watch comedy, I always like to know why it is that people like to laugh. I mean, why does it feel so good to laugh？

W: Yeah, I heard from my biology professor that even after centuries of scientific research, no one knows for sure why human beings and just a few other primates laugh.

M: I read somewhere that Charles Darwin thought that laughter, which begins with small babies, was like an evolutionary "reward" to the mother and father. Baby's laughter sounded and felt so different from crying, he believed, that even prehistoric parents must have interpreted it as a sign of well-being, kind of like the purring of a kitten. The parents enjoyed the laughter, which encouraged them to continue caring for the child.

W: Yes, apparently researchers have also found that it has a positive effect on many patients and that it produces certain hormones that actually switch on the body's immune system and actually help fight off diseases. So it could be to help fight off disease.

M: I also heard that some psychology professor from the University of Maryland, studied the laughter that takes place in conversations between men and women and found that most laughter takes place when males are talking and females are listening. Men are more likely to make jokes than women are, and women are more likely to laugh at them than men are.

W: If only your jokes were funny, I might laugh more and lit that pattern.

M: Well, I've heard that apes also like laughing.

W: I heard that too. Chimpanzees, apes, orangutans and a few other primates laugh, but no other animals do. I've seen them laugh at zoos, when tickling each other, and when playing chasing games. Their laugh sounds like rapid panting, but I've been assured it's a kind of laughing.

M: Which reminds me I'd better go back before my roommates eat all the chicken I left out in the kitchen!

(23)

A．The purpose of laughter.

B．The cause of laughter and its effects.

C．Who and when people laugh.

D．The origins of laughter.

Why Are You Laughing？

Man is the only animal that laughs. Wily is this true？ What makes us respond as we do to pleasurable experiences？ What is the history of this "happy convulsion(痉挛)", as someone once termed it, and just what is its function？

We are not short of theories to explain the mystery; for centuries, biologists, philosophers, psychologists and medical men have sought a definitive explanation of laughter. One writer theorized that its function is to intimidate others or to gain stature over them by humiliating them. Another took the opposite view: that we laugh in order not to cry. A psychologist offered the explanation that laughter functions as a remedy for painful experiences, and that it serves to defend a person against what the psychologist termed: "the many minor pains to which man is exposed". In the seventeenth century a writer set forth the theory that we laugh when we compare ourselves with others and find ourselves superior: in effect, we laugh at the frailty of others.

Virtually every theory has concerned with either the structure or the function of laughter, whereas relatively few have been devoted to the question of its origin. I propose to offer a theory which, so far as I am aware, has not previously been set forth, that only those animals capable of speech are capable of laughter, and that therefore man, being the only animal that speaks, is the only animal that laughs.

Those of us who have observed chimpanzees closely feel quite confident that the chimpanzee occasionally exhibits behavior. that looks very much like a primitive human laughter. This behavior, however, has been observed only in a human context; whether or not it occurs under natural conditions is dubious; but the very fact that under any conditions an ape is capable of such behavior. is more than passing interest—for does it not indicate that early man had the rudiments(初级阶段) of laughter？

Laughter is defined as an emotional response, expressive normally of joy, involving characteristic sounds of the voice and movements of the features and the body. The joy may take the form. of gladness, amusement, ridicule, and so on. Why should laughter be as intimately associated with the power of speech as I have suggested？ Speech is the verbal, or vocal, expression of symbols and the relations between symbols. Probably at about the same time speech evolved, laughter originated too, as a kind of semiverbalized social expression of pleasure. With the development of speech, the number of occasions producing sudden experiences of pleasure increased, and, since laughter was closely associated with speech, man had this means of expressing his pleasure. Having broken the "sound barrier", as it were, man could express with laughter what other animals could not. Since the lower animals had no speech, they encountered fewer pleasurable situations and, furthermore, were unable to laugh no matter what the stimulation.

Once the first laughter had been laughed by primitive man, with such apparently pleasurable effects all around, laughter began to take on an intrinsic value within the society of man. The person possessing the ability to communicate pleasure in a loud laugh began to enjoy social advantages over his more serious colleagues; he became a "good mixer", socially selected and liked by society. Thus the process of natural selection would tend to operate in favor of those able to express their pleasurable states in laughter, as compared with those not so able. Throughout the course of evolution, laughter would become established throughout the human species as a function of sociological and psychological value.

Thus laughter gradually became established as a capacity among virtually all human beings. In addition, laughter's infectious quality, helped distribute it as a characteristic common to all mankind. Laughter was advantageous; therefore it su

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

The laughter at his joke is never forced, but always ______.

A．homogeneous

B．simultaneous

C．spontaneous

D．instinctive

听力原文：W: I've never seen a sportsman like Thorpe.

M: For my part, I have not the slightest doubt as to either his courage or his honesty. As a matter of fact, he's really a man with a heart of gold.

Q: Which of the following statements is NOT true about Thorpe？

(18)

A．He wins a gold medal.

B．He's brave.

C．He's kind-hearted.

D．He's honest.

W: Are you kidding？ You can set your watch by the time he starts his class.

Q: What can be inferred about Professor Clark？

(18)

A．He is always punctual for his class.

B．He rarely notices which students are late.

C．He wants his students to be on time for class.

D．He doesn't allow his students to tell jokes in class.

听力原文：M: Is the boy who had the accident in a serious condition？

W: I am afraid he is, but they have kept the news from his mother.

Q: Which statement is correct？

(18)

A．The boy's mother has had an accident.

B．The boy's mother doesn't know of his condition.

C．The boy's mother is in serious condition.

D．The boy's mother has received the news.

听力原文：M: Do you think Phil can get a scholarship to Yale？

W: He doesn't stand a chance.

Q: What does the woman mean？

(16)

A．If Phil is lucky, he might get a scholarship.

B．There is no way in which Phil can win a scholarship.

C．Phil is not going to chance his luck and try for a scholarship.

D．Phil is not being given a chance to get a scholarship.

W：Oh，yes．We had a wallet brought in this morning．Let's see whether the features you said match the wallet or not．

Q：What will the woman probably do？

(19)

A．Show the man her family picture.

B．Give the man his wallet immediately.

C．Confirm the man's description with the wallet.

D．Ask the man for his driver license.