Humour, which ought to give rise to only the most light-hearted and gay feelings, can often stir up vehemence and animosity. Evidently it is dearer to us than we realize. Men will take almost any kind of criticism except the observation that they have no sense of humour. A man will admit to being a coward or a liar or a thief or a poor mechanic or a bad swimmer, but tell him he has a dreadful sense of humour and you might as well have slandered his mother. Even if he is civilized enough to pretend to make light of your statement, he will still secretly believe that he has not only a good sense of humour but are superior to most. He has, in other words, a completely blind spot on the subject. This is all the more surprising when you consider that not one man in ten million can give you any kind of intelligent answer as to what humour is or why he laughs.One day when I was about twelve years old, it occurred to me to wonder about the phenomenon of laughter. At first I thought it is easy enough to see what I laugh at and why I am amused, but why at such times do I open my mouth and exhale in jerking gasps and wrinkle up my eyes and throw back my head and halloo like an animal Why do not I instead rap four times on the top of my head or whistle or whirl aboutThat was over twenty years ago and I am still wondering, except that I now no longer even take my first assumption for granted, I no longer clearly understand why I laugh at what amuses me nor why things are amusing. I have illustrious company in my confusion, of course. Many of the great minds of history have brought their power of concentration to bear on the mystery of humour, and, to date, their conclusions are so contradictory and ephemeral that they cannot possibly be classified as scientific.Many definitions of the comic are incomplete and many are simply rewording of things we already know. Aristotle, for example, defined the ridiculous as that which is incongruous but represents neither danger nor pain. But that seems to me to be a most inadequate sort of observation, for of at this minute I insert here the word rutabagas, I have introduced something in congruous, something not funny. Of course, it must be admitted that Aristotle did not claim that every painless in congruity is ridiculous but as soon as we have gone as far as this admission, we begin to see that we have come to grips with a ghost when we think have it pinned, it suddenly appears behind us, mocking us.An all-embracing definition of humour has been attempted by many philosophers, but no definition, no formula had ever been devised that is entirely satisfactory. Aristotle’s definition has come to be known loosely as the "disappointment" theory, or the "frustrated expectation", but he also, discussed another theory borrowed in part from Plato which states that the pleasure we derive in laughing is an enjoyment of the misfortune of others, due to a momentary feeling of superiority or gratified vanity in appreciation of the fact that we ourselves are not in the observed predicament. Which of the following can be inferred from the first paragraph().
A. People don’t like to be considered as one with no sense of humour.
B. People will give you a satisfactory answer to what humour is.
C. People would like to be a liar or a coward.
D. People can make light of other’s comment on their sense of humour.
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College sports in the United States are a huge deal. Almost all major American universities have football, baseball, basketball and hockey programs, and (21) millions of dollars each year to sports. Most of them earn millions (22) as well, in television revenues, sponsorships. They also benefit (23) from the added publicity they get via their teams. Big-name universities (24) each other in the most popular sports. Football games at Michigan regularly (25) crowds of over 90,000. Basketball’s national collegiate championship game is a TV (26) on a par with (与…相同或相似)any other sporting event in the United States, (27) perhaps the Super Bowl itself. At any given time during fall or winter one can (28) one’s TV set and see the top athletic programs--from schools like Michigan, UCLA, Duke and Stanford -- (29) in front of packed houses and national TV audiences.The athletes themselves are (30) and provided with scholarships. College coaches identify (31) teenagers and then go into high schools to (32) the country’s best players to attend their universities. There are strict rules about (33) coaches can recruit--no recruiting calls after 9 p. m., only one official visit to a campus--but they are often bent and sometimes (34) Top college football programs (35) scholarships to 20 or 30 players each year, and those student-athletes, when they arrive (36) campus, receive free housing, tuition, meals, books, etc.In return, the players (37) the program in their sport. Football players at top colleges (38) two hours a day, four days a week from January to April. In summer, it’s back to strength and agility training four days a week until mid-August, when camp (39) and preparation for the opening of the September-to-December season begins (40) . During the season, practices last two or three hours a day from Tuesday to Friday. Saturday is game day. Mondays are an officially mandated day of rest. 34().
A. ignored
B. neglected
C. remembered
D. noticed
M: United World Colleges. Can I help youW: Yes, I’d like some information about the college, please.M: What would you like to knowW: My name’s Julia Harris and I have a friend in Spain who’s interested in applying for a place at one of the colleges. There are one or two questions that she’d like me to ask you.M: Go ahead.W: Thanks. What language is used for most lessonsM: Well, the main language of instruction in all the college is English. But at Pacific College in Canada some subjects are taught in French.W: Right. Is it expensive to go to one of the collegesM: Students’ parents don’t have to be rich, if that’s what you mean. There are scholarships for all colleges, but we do ask the parents to pay what they can afford. It’s $ 2400 per year.W: Good. Now she wants to know something about getting into a college. Does she have to get high marks in her examinationsM: Ah, yes, well she will have to do well, but academic ability is not the only thing that’s important. We also look at personal qualities.W: What sort of things do you meanM: Maturity, the ability to get along well with people from different countries, that sort of thing.W: I understand what you mean. The last question is about her other interests. Can she take painting or modern dancing, for exampleM: Yes, probably. It depends on the staff at the college she enters. Each college has its own special activities, such as theatre studies or environmental work, in which students can take part.W: Good. I think that’s all. Thank you very much for your help.M: You’re welcome. Goodbye.W: Goodbye. Apart from academic ability, what should be considered when one applies for scholarship()
A. Hobby
B. Special activities
C. Maturity
D. Nationality
Megan Della Selva, a sophomore at George Washington University, has already traded e-mail messages with her morn, just to say hi, Maria Minkarah, the friend she is having lunch with, has just talked to her dad, to report on a doctor’s visit and her latest thoughts about studying abroad. The young women keep in close touch with their families, discussing matters big and small, academic and personal. Interviews with students on a variety of campuses suggest that many turn to their parents for help with everything from roommate troubles to how to improve the paper they e-mailed home. Perhaps the most striking thing was the tone students had when talking about their parents: fond, warm and admiring. The sense of parents as people to be admired was widespread.Not all college students are this closely connected with their parents. But university officials, students and their families say that the generation gap is nothing like what it used to be, now that baby boomers, once so alienated from their parents, have become parents themselves. "This generation of parents is more involved," said Jennifer Bell, coordinator of the parents office at North Carolina State University. "Thirty years ago, parents were content to drive their kids to college, drop them off, and pick them up at graduation. Now there are different expectations, because they’ve been involved in their kids’ lives all through school. "Cellphones and e-mail have a lot to do with what university administrators and parents alike say has been a big change over the last decade. Hundreds of colleges nationwide have recognized the new reality by giving parents a stronger presence on campus, through a host of offices created to deal with parents queries and concerns. Which has a lot to do with what university administrators and parents alike say has been a big change over the last decade, besides cellphones().
A. Web access
B. Stronger presence of parents on campus
C. Offices created to deal with parents’ queries and concerns
D. Email
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal welfare group, begins a global boycott of KFC to seek an improvement in the lives and deaths of 700 million chickens who become the chain’s fried meals every year. The group plans to start a campaign pressing the chain to change how chickens are raised in large farms in the United States and around the world. Among the suggestions are to improve the diets of hens and to gas chickens to sleep before they are slaughtered.This is not the group’s first campaign to improve chickens’ lives--it has won concessions from McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s. But it is the group’s first effort to focus on restaurants worldwide.With fat people trying to sue fast-food restaurants for helping to cause their obesity, the group hopes to tap into the growing public criticism of a fast-food diet as well as the concern over farm animal welfare. Instead of following the slow path of pushing for changes in regulations, the group wants restaurants to enforce immediate changes by telling farmers they will not buy chickens raised and killed under current conditions."If people knew what happened to those chickens, raising them in their own filth and then dumping them on an assembly line to have their throats cut when they’re still alive, they wouldn’t go to Kentucky Fried Chicken," a spokesman for the group, Bruce Friedrich, said.Officials of the KFC Corporation declined a request for an interview and would not respond to the accusations from the group. Instead they issued a statement. "KFC is committed to the well being and humane treatment of chickens and we require all of our suppliers to follow welfare guidelines developed by us with leading experts on our Animal Welfare Advisory Council," the statement said. "Our suppliers ensure strict compliance with our guidelines. "Ian Duncan, a member of the advisory council and chairman of animal welfare in the department of animal and poultry sciences at the University of Guelph in Canada, said the animal welfare group may have a point. "I’ve been doing research into chicken welfare since 1965 and change has been slow, very slow," Mr. Duncan said in a telephone interview. ".PETA is very extreme and they exaggerate, but maybe that’s what it takes," he said. "I used to be very much against them, but I can see they are getting things done. " What is Ian Duncan’s attitude towards the Ethical Treatment of Animals now().
A. Positive
B. Negative
C. Indifferent
D. No specific idea