Dr. Wiseman started the “laugh lab” project in September 2001. It is the largest study of humor. Participants are invited to log on the laugh lab website, give a few personal details, tell their favorite jokes and judge the jokes told by other people.
Their project will last for a year, and the organizers hope to finally discover the world’s funniest joke. But there is also a serious purpose. The researchers want to know what people from different nations and cultures find funny. And they want to find out the differences between male’s and female’s sense of humor. The idea is that if we want to understand each other, we have to find out what makes us laugh.
This is a subject that has long interested psychologists (心理学家) and philosophers (哲学家). Most of the time, people are not pletely honest. We do things that society expects us to and say things that help us get what we want. But laughing cannot be controlled. When we laugh, we tell the truth about ourselves.
By December 2001 over 10,000 jokes had been submitted (公认的). This gave the scientists enough evidence to make early conclusions. It seems that men and women do have different senses of humor, for example.
“Our findings show the major differences in the ways in which males and females use humor,” said Dr Wiseman. “Males use humor to appear superior (高傲的，有优越感的) to others, while women are more skilled in languages and prefer word play.”
Researchers also found that there really is such a thing as a national sense of humor. The British enjoy what is usually called “toilet humor”. But the French like their jokes short and sharp, “You’re a high priced lawyer. Will you answer two questions for $ 500?” “Yes. What’s the second question?”
The Germans are famous for not having a sense of humor. But the survey found that German participants were more likely to find submitted jokes funny than any other nationality. Perhaps that proves the point. Is this joke funny? I don’t know, but let’s say yes, just to be safe.
Dr Wiseman and his workmates also submitted jokes created by puter. But none of those who took part in the survey found any of them amusing. Perhaps this is relief (安慰). Computers already seem like they can do everything. But at least they should leave the funny things to us.
【小题1】The scientist started the “laugh lab” project .A．to find the funniest joke in European countriesB．to know what funny people are from different nations and culturesC．to find out the differences between the male’s and female’s sense of humorD．to get more personal details about participants【小题2】The writer gave the examples of the British, the French and the Germans .A．to show that the French people have a better sense of humorB．to prove the British people have a sense of “toilet humor”C．to show people from different nations have different senses of humorD．to prove that the Germans have no sense of humor【小题3】Which statement is true according to the passage?A．The jokes by puter are less funny than those by humans.B．The Germans cannot find the submitted jokes amusing.C．Males are better at word play pared with women.D．Females like to use humor to show that they are superior.C
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(答案→)C
解析：文章介绍了由Dr. Wiseman进行的一次有关幽默感的调查，调查者想了解世界上最幽默的笑话，了解来自于不同国家不同文化的人的幽默感，以及男士与女士之间幽默感的不同。同时通过对参与者的统计得出了一定的结论。
【小题1】C细节理解题。Their project will last for a year, and the organizers hope to finally discover the world’s funniest joke.句意为：这项工程要持续一年，组织者希望找到世界上最有趣的笑话，由此可知A选项是错误的；The researchers want to know what people from different nations and cultures find funny.句意为：研究者想知道来自于不同国家不同文化的人都有什么样的乐趣，由此可知B选项是错误的；研究者的目的是搜集世界上最有趣的笑话，调查不同的人有什么不同的幽默感以及男女之间幽默感的不同，并非想得到参与者的更多的个人信息故D选项是错误的。因此答案为C。
【小题2】C细节理解题。Researchers also found that there really is such a thing as a national sense of humor. 句意为：调查者也想知道诸如民族幽默感这样的事情。下文通过举例说明英国，法国，德国不同的国家幽默的方式是不同的。故答案应为C。
【小题3】A细节理解题。Dr Wiseman and his workmates also submitted jokes created by puter. But none of those who took part in the survey found any of them amusing.句意为：Dr Wiseman和他的同事也搜集了由电脑创作的笑话，但是参与研究的人中，没有人发现这些笑话很有乐趣，由此可知答案A是正确的，意思是由电脑创作的笑话没有人创造的笑话有乐趣；But the survey found that German participants were more likely to find submitted jokes funny than any other nationality.句意为：调查发现，德国参与者似乎比其它任何国家都有幽默感故B是错误的；“Males use humor to appear superior (高傲的，有优越感的) to others, while women are more skilled in languages and prefer word play.” 句意为：男性用幽默去显示出他的优越感，而女性在语言方面更娴熟，更喜欢语言游戏，由知可知C D是错误的.
考点:社会现现象类文章的阅读理解。