If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses’ convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rashes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. “Who is that?” the new arrival asked St. Peter. “Oh, that’s God,” came the reply, “but sometimes he thinks he’s a doctor.”
If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it’ll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman’s notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn’t attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.
If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural, include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it’s the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making alight-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote “If at first you don’t succeed, give up” or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.
1.To make your humor work, you should（ ）.
2.The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are（ ）.
3.It can be inferred from the text that public services（ ）.
4.To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered（ ）.
5.The best title for the text may be（ ）.
问题1选项
A.take advantage of different kinds of audience
B.make fun of the disorganized people
C.address different problems to different people
D.show sympathy for your listeners
问题2选项
A.impolite to new arrivals
B.very conscious of their godlike role
C.entitled to some privileges
D.very busy even during lunch hours
问题3选项
A.have benefited many people
B.are the focus of public attention
C.are an inappropriate subject for humor
D.have often been the laughing stock
问题4选项
A.in well-worded language
B.as awkwardly as possible
C.in exaggerated statement
D.as casually as possible
问题5选项
A.Use Humor Effectively
B.Various Kinds of Humor
C.Add Humor to Speech
D.Different Humor Strategies
第1题:C
第2题:B
第3题:D
第4题:D
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
To make your humor work, you should _____. 为了使你的幽默感发挥作用，你应该_____。
A. take advantage of different kinds of audience A. 利用不同种类的观众
B. make fun of the disorganized people B. 取笑那些没有条理的人
C. address different problems to different people C. 针对不同的人，解决不同的问题
D. show sympathy for your listeners D. 对你的听众表示同情
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】根据题干，通读全文，可以定位到文章第一段最后一句：Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different.（根据你的谈话对象，问题会有所不同）。可知C选项符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A、B选项在文中没有提及，属于无中生有；
D选项，文中第一段提到：Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view.（你的幽默必须与听众相关，并应有助于向他们表明你是他们中的一员，或者你理解他们的处境并与他们的观点相一致。）文中说的是in sympathy with their point of view（并对他们的观点表示同情）而不是对听众表示同情，属于偷换概念。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are _____. 关于医生的笑话暗示出在护士眼中，医生们_____。
A. impolite to new arrivals A. 对新来的人不礼貌
B. very conscious of their godlike role B. 非常清楚自己的神一样的角色
C. entitled to some privileges C. 有权享受一些特权
D. very busy even during lunch hours D. 即使在午餐时间也很忙
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】根据题干可以定位到第三段，最后一句：“Oh, that’s God.” came the reply, “but sometimes he thinks he’s a doctor.”（哦，那是上帝。他回答说，“但有时他认为自己是一名医生”）。这句话隐含着讽刺意味，暗示了，在护士眼里，他们自认为自己是上帝，因此B选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C选项，文章表面上看起来是对新人的不礼貌，以及可以不用排队，但其实这里利用了讽刺的手法，在护士眼中他们其实不是这样的，属于曲解原文；
D选项不能根据文章相关信息推理出来。
第3题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred from the text that public services _____. 从文中可以推断出公共服务_____。
A. have benefited many people A. 使许多人受益
B. are the focus of public attention B. 是公众关注的焦点
C. are an inappropriate subject for humor C. 不适合作为幽默的主题
D. have often been the laughing stock D. 经常成为笑柄
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】由题干可以定位到文中第四段第一句：If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it’ll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman’s notorious bad taste in ties.（如果你是你所演讲的团体的一部分，你就会知道你们所有人共同的经历和问题，你可以顺便说说食堂的食物不能吃，或者主席在领带上臭名昭著的坏品味。）因此可推测一些公共服务会被沦为话柄。故D选项符合文章内容。
【干扰项排除】
A、B选项在文中没有提及，属于无中生有；
C选项，文中第四段提到，对于其他听众，你不能试图以幽默的方式切入，因为他们会反感一个外人对他们的食堂或他们的主席说三道四。可知公共服务对于不是相关成员来说是不符合幽默主题的，但对于其成员是符合的，故选项属于以偏概全。
第4题:
【选项释义】
To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered _____. 为了达到预期的效果，幽默的故事应该_____。
A. in well-worded language A. 用措辞得当的语言
B. as awkwardly as possible B. 尽可能的笨拙
C.in exaggerated statement C. 以夸张的说法
D. as casually as possible D. 尽可能的随意
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】文中第五段第一句提到：If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural.（如果你在幽默时感到尴尬，你必须练习，使它变得更自然）。可知D选项正确。B选项“尽可能的笨拙”，文章没有提到这个内容，可排除。C选项“以夸张的说法”，文章没有提到这个内容，可排除。因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项，文章第四段提到：包括一些随意的、显然是脱口而出的话语，你可以以轻松和不失礼的方式说出来。可知即兴的幽默，不能有措辞巧妙的语言，属于曲解原文；
B、C选项在文中没有提及，属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The best title for the text may be _____. 该文的最佳标题可能是 _____。
A. Use Humor Effectively A. 有效地使用幽默
B. Various Kinds of Humor B. 幽默的各种类型
C. Add Humor to Speech C. 在演讲中增加幽默感
D. Different Humor Strategies D. 不同的幽默策略
【考查点】主旨大意题
【解题思路】纵览全文可知文章主要在讲如何去表达幽默。第一段提到使用幽默时要注意的事项，第二、三、四段举例子说明，最后一段进行了总结，故A选项“有效地使用幽默”，符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
B、C选项在文中没有提及，属于无中生有；
D选项，文章只在第四段提到了幽默的策略，不是文章主要内容，属于以偏概全。
