The power of humor and laughter is numerous. They entertain us and make us feel good. But, above all, we have discovered that humor and laughter are the best medicine. They relieve pain, reduce stress and anxiety, and are anti-aging and longevity facilitators.

They are extremely necessary for helping us to find and maintain a balance between life and work. However, they are slipping away from us. We have become far too serious. The only ones who still enjoy humor, laughter, fun and play to the fullest are young children. Children tend to laugh an average of 200 times a day. For adults, however, it is a totally different story.

In the 1950s people laughed on average 18 times a day. Today, we are lucky if we average between 4-6 times a day.

As a matter of fact, a recent study found that people laugh 6 more times in the presence of one person but 30 more times in a group of people. You can get a chuckle(咯咯笑) from jokes you get on the Internet, but it is not the same as belly jiggling laughter (a deep laugh) you get when you interact with others.

Socializing with friends and relatives was much looked forward to. However, this is no longer the case. In fact, the majority of people can hardly find time, nor do they have the inclination towards socializing outside home. They turn to electronic media such as television, computers, the Internet, videos, CDs, and audio equipment, which can provide them with instant self-entertainment at the push of a button.

The workplace does not fare(进展) much better. Due to the pressures to produce more in the same or fewer hours available and to compete, for example, in a manufacturing field with cheaper labor elsewhere in the world, humor and laughter in the workplace have gradually eroded(逐渐毁坏) away.

I have developed a real appreciation, perhaps closer to a strong desire for the power of humor and laughter. This encouraged me to write my first book titled “The Power of Humor” and subsequently my second book titled “Kids Say the Goggonest Things” based on the natural humor, laughter, play and fun that kids experience and they freely share with parents, grandparents and teachers.

From writing about humor and laughter, people start to ask me to speak up for them. To date, I have developed a number of humor-laughter topics that I use in my keynote presentations. You are invited to subscribe to my free monthly e-magazine “The Humormeister’s Forum” by clicking on the Free Humor E-zine navigation button on the website.

1. According to the author, laughter is leaving us partly because ________.

A. we treat everything in a serious way

B. it relieves pain, reduces stress and anxiety

C. we fail to maintain balance between life and work

D. the pace of change in our lives is becoming faster

2.The fourth paragraph mainly tells us that ________.

A. getting a deep laugh nowadays is difficult

B. we can entertain ourselves with the help of the Internet

C. people laugh more heartily when spending time with others

D. researchers have made a new discovery about the effect of laughter

3. The underlined word “inclination” in Paragraph 5 most probably means “________”.

A. destination B. tendency

C. attitude D. approach

4.Which of the following articles can we most probably find in “The Humormeister’s Forum”?

A. The power of honesty.

B. Don’t be your own worst enemy.

C. Live life purposefully: The relationship within.

D. Funny Christmas stories to share with your loved ones.

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项

Summer is slipping away from me.Some days, it makes me want to cry.Other days, I feel a sense of expectation within me just thinking about fall that makes me want to burst.Tonight, all five of us were in the family room doing our own things.

At this moment, my littlest kid is my number one trouble and my number one joy.He has a tooth on the way and although it’s such a tiny thing, it’s causing so much grief.I’m holding him a lot and I’m not going to lie.I live for his afternoon nap(小睡) so I’m able to actually get dressed and use the restroom.

The big E is starting school soon.The other day, I found myself a bit depressed about the end of summer and the beginning of another school year.I looked out of our front window with eyes that were heavy and a bit teary.Then, I suddenly realized just how silly this end of summer depression of mine is.I can’t change time.But, I can change my emotions and my thoughts.I decided not to spend my final days of summer vacation walking around with a sad face.I decided to hug the last few days of summer and remind myself that before I know it, we will be back in our school routine and all will go well.

This week we plan on meeting teachers.I’m taking my girl to have her nails done before her first day of kindergarten.We want to bake a few dozen cookies.We’ll take our evening walks as usual and stay up late.And last but not least, I’ll get school clothes ready, I’ll pack lunches and write lunch notes, we’ll read “The Kissing Hand,” like we normally do, and I’ll tuck(掖好被子) my third grader and kindergartener in their little beds before the big first day.

Thank you summer, you’ve been warm and wonderful, you’ve been sweet and sticky, you’ve been refreshing and exactly what we need.And your sunsets have been amazing, so thank you.

1.According to Paragraph 1, the author ______.

A.feels excited

B.has mixed feelings

C.feels worried

D.has bad feelings

2.How will the author spend the final days of the summer vacation?

A.Live a simple life.

B.Stay at home and relax herself.

C.Treasure the vacation.

D.Walk around with a depressed face.

3.From the passage, we can learn that the author ______.

A.is fond of reading novels

B.has two annoying children

C.often takes evening walks

D.has no time to get dressed

According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS),the U.K.has about 7.7 million families with dependent children,of which 3.7 million have just one child,compared to 3 million with two and 1.1 million with three children or more.The number of families today with just one dependent child is now 47 percent and will likely rise to more than 50 percent in a decade.As the ONS confirms,“It appears that families are getting smaller.”

One obvious reason for this could be that women are putting off having children until they have established careers when they are bound to be less fertile.But it could just as well be a matter of choice.Parents must consider the rising cost of living,combined with economic uncertainty and an increasingly difficult job market.And this trend may continue growing as having an only child becomes more normal,which seems to be the mood on the mothers’ online forum Mumsnet,where one member announced that she “just wanted to start a positive thread about how fab it is to have an only child”.

She had received 231 replies,overwhelmingly in the same upbeat spirit.Parents of only children insist there are plenty of benefits.Nicola Kelly,a writer and lecturer who grew up as an only child and is now a married mother of one,says her 15 year old son seems more grown up in many ways than his contemporaries.

Not all products of single child families are as keen to repeat the experience.In a moving recent account journalist Janice Turner wrote about her own keenness to “squeeze out two sons just 22 months apart”as a reaction to her only child upbringing.

She was placed on a pedestal by her doting parents,whom she punished with a “brattish,wilful” rejection of everything they stood for.Desperate for a close friend she was repeatedly shattered by rejection and refers to her childhood as being “misery”.

Writer and clinician Dr.Dorothy Rowe,a member of the British Psychological Society,says that we all interpret events in our own individual way and there are some children who no matter what their circumstances feel slighted,while other children see the advantages of their situation.

However,the one part of life that is unlikely to get any easier for only children is when they grow up and find themselves looking after their own parents as they become older.

1.The passage is written with the purpose of ________.

A.illustrating the strength and weakness of having an only child

B.analyzing the reasons why having an only child becomes popular

C.presenting us with different opinions about having an only child

D.guiding people to look at the same issue from different perspectives

2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 mean?

A.Nearly half of families intend to have just one child.

B.All people don’t stand for the idea of having an only child.

C.Some people fail to recognize the advantage of having an only child.

D.People brought up in an only child family resist downsizing the family.

3.From what Dr.Dorothy Rowe said,we know that ________.

A.journalist Janice Turner experienced a miserable childhood

B.she has a positive attitude towards Janice Turner’s reaction

C.it’s necessary for us to look at the event from our own angle

D.some are unable to make an objective assessment of their conditions

4.What can be inferred from the passage?

A.It’s normal to see the imperfection in character in only children.

B.Mumsnet is an online forum which promotes having an only child.

C.Economic development plays a determining role in the family size.

D.Only children will have difficulty in attending to their parents.

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