Question

【題目】A man walks into a doctor’s office. He has a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear. “What’s the matter with me?” he asks the doctor. The doctor replies, “You’re not eating properly.”

This is a popular joke among British schoolchildren. It reflects Britain’s famous dry and satirical way of seeing the funny side of life. This unique sense of humor is often cited as one of Britain’s defining national characteristics.

“The famous British sense of humor has long been our most cherished national characteristic,” says the British journalist Leo Mckinstry. “We have valued it above historic military victories and great works of literature, above our rich scenic landscape and our talent for invention.”

The British sense of humor differs from other countries because it is generally more negative. When it comes to making the British laugh, there is nothing more effective than a socially inappropriate joke.

Popular British comedy shows such as Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and The office are full of sarcasm(諷刺), teasing and self-deprecation(自嘲). It reflects the culture where mocking, moaning and ridicule is part of everyday life.

While most Britons don’t take these jokes too seriously, foreigners are often puzzled by them. A recent survey found that most foreigners who visited Britain found that the British are “arrogant, unfriendly and have almost no sense of humor”.

Do foreigners not understand British humor or are the British just not as funny as they think they are? Mckinstry certainly thinks the British are funny. “Accusing the British of having no sense of humor is like telling Rolls-Royce that its cars are down-market.” he says.

【1】What does the doctor actually mean by the remark, “You’re not eating properly”?

A. What you have had is the cause of these problems.

B. You are not having the right food.

C. You don’t eat the way people usually do.

D. You eat with the wrong cutlery(餐具)

【2】The word “dry” in Paragraph 2 means _________.

A. without water or liquid inside

B. special and popular among school children

C. dull and meaningless

D. pretending to be serious when really joking

【3】Why do most visitors, who once visited Britain , think that the British are unfriendly?

A. Because the British always take things seriously.

B. Because the British have no sense of humor.

C. Because the British are cold and difficult to get along with

D. Because the British have a different sense of humor

【4】Which of the following are NOT the characteristics of British humor?

A. Dry and satirical B. Negative and mocking

C. Encouraging and gentle D. Clever and witty

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】D

【3】D

【4】C

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述的是英國(guó)幽默笑話的特點(diǎn)。英國(guó)著名的干燥和諷刺的逗樂方式被稱為英國(guó)的一個(gè)決定性的民族特征。

【1】C推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章第一段可知這句話是英國(guó)學(xué)生中流行的笑話。A項(xiàng)，你所擁有的是這些問(wèn)題的原因。包含面太大，不合題意；B項(xiàng)，你沒有在吃正確的食物。太片面，排除；D項(xiàng)，你用錯(cuò)誤的餐具吃飯。更不符合題意。只有C項(xiàng)，你沒有按著常人吃飯的方式去做。符合題意，故選C。

【2】D詞義猜測(cè)題。根據(jù)第二段中It reflects Britain’s famous dry and satirical way of seeing the funny side of life. 它反映了英國(guó)著名的干燥和諷刺的逗樂方式； This unique sense of humor is often cited as one of Britain’s defining national characteristics.這獨(dú)一無(wú)二的幽默方式被稱為英國(guó)的一個(gè)決定性的民族特征�？芍�是真正的逗樂，但假裝嚴(yán)肅，故選D。

【3】D推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段最后一句This unique sense of humor is often cited as one of Britain’s defining national characteristics. 這獨(dú)一無(wú)二的幽默方式被稱為英國(guó)的一個(gè)決定性的民族特征。故選D。

【4】C推理判斷題。根據(jù)It reflects Britain’s famous dry and satirical way of seeing the funny side of life. 它反映了英國(guó)著名的干燥和諷刺的逗樂方式排除A項(xiàng)；it is generally more negative. 一般都比較消極，排除B項(xiàng)； above our rich scenic landscape and our talent for invention.” 在我們豐富的風(fēng)景和我們天才的發(fā)明。排除D項(xiàng)。故選C鼓勵(lì)和溫柔。這不是英國(guó)幽默的特點(diǎn)。