Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is，not surprisingly，his sense of humor. As far as I can tell，he's the first American President to have one．

    That's because the term“sense of humor” really wasn't in common usage until the eighteen-sixties and seventies．In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has today. Back then，what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule（讥笑）．Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand．Of course，they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well．

    Lincoln’s humor was very different because，for one thing，it was actually "humor＂as what the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit（风趣）”and "humor”anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did．Wit was unpleasant and offensive while humor was pleasant and sympathetic．It’s the difference we note now when we distinguish between "laughing with”and“laughing at．”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than "laughing at．”And when“laughing at，”it was often himself he was teasing.

    In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates，when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced，Lincoln replied，referencing his plain looking，“Honestly，if I were two-faced，would I be showing you this one？”And，in a way，Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of humor．

    You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians，soldiers，and the like from Lincoln's time and not find a single smile．

    True, the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling difficult．Yet Lincoln alone，as far as I can tell，overcame that difficulty.

    Interestingly, while having a sense of humor，or at least the appearance of one provided by comedy writers has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time，in the nineteenth century，too much humor was considered problem.  And that was the case for Lincoln．A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a real personal liking to the man，owing to an inborn weakness. . .that he was extremely, fond of jokes，anecdotes，and stories．”

1.We can infer from Paragraph 2 that＿＿

A .the American President could influence the use of English

B. the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s

C .what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else

D. the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time

2.The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to＿＿．

A. Lincoln's unattractive face

B. Lincoln's sense of humor

C. the debate they were having

D.cruelty that went with funniness

3.We rarely see people from Lincoln's time wear smile in their photos because＿．

A. being humorous was considered inappropriate

B. they found it quite funny to smile before camera

C. not smiling for photographs was the fashion

D. photography technology then was not advanced

4.What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates？

A. His comment accurately reflected his time

B. He created a false picture of Lincoln

C. He was prejudiced and self-centered

D. He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness

Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is，not surprisingly，his sense of humor. As far as I can tell，he's the first American President to have one．
That's because the term“sense of humor” really wasn't in common usage until the eighteen-sixties and seventies．In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has today. Back then，what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule（讥笑）．Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand．Of course，they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well．
Lincoln’s humor was very different because，for one thing，it was actually "humor＂as what the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit（风趣）”and "humor”anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did．Wit was unpleasant and offensive while humor was pleasant and sympathetic．It’s the difference we note now when we distinguish between "laughing with”and“laughing at．”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than "laughing at．”And when“laughing at，”it was often himself he was teasing.
In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates，when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced，Lincoln replied，referencing his plain looking，“Honestly，if I were two-faced，would I be showing you this one？”And，in a way，Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of humor．
You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians，soldiers，and the like from Lincoln's time and not find a single smile．
True, the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling difficult．Yet Lincoln alone，as far as I can tell，overcame that difficulty.
Interestingly, while having a sense of humor，or at least the appearance of one provided by comedy writers has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time，in the nineteenth century，too much humor was considered problem.  And that was the case for Lincoln．A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a real personal liking to the man，owing to an inborn weakness. . .that he was extremely, fond of jokes，anecdotes，and stories．”

1. 1.

   We can infer from Paragraph 2 that＿＿

   1. A.
      the American President could influence the use of English
   2. B.
      the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s
   3. C.
      what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else
   4. D.
      the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time
2. 2.

   The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to＿＿．

   1. A.
      Lincoln's unattractive face
   2. B.
      Lincoln's sense of humor
   3. C.
      the debate they were having
   4. D.
      cruelty that went with funniness
3. 3.

   We rarely see people from Lincoln's time wear smile in their photos because＿．

   1. A.
      being humorous was considered inappropriate
   2. B.
      they found it quite funny to smile before camera
   3. C.
      not smiling for photographs was the fashion
   4. D.
      photography technology then was not advanced
4. 4.

   What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates？

   1. A.
      His comment accurately reflected his time
   2. B.
      He created a false picture of Lincoln
   3. C.
      He was prejudiced and self-centered
   4. D.
      He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness

    Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is，not surprisingly，his

sense of humor. As far as I can tell，he's the first American President to have one．

    That's because the term“sense of humor，， really wasn't in common usage until the

eighteen-sixties and seventies．In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the

ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has

oday. Back then，what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule（讥笑）．Funniness and cruelty

went hand in hand．Of course，they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well．

    Lincoln’s humor was very different because，for one thing，it was actually "humor＂as what

the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit（风趣）”and "humor”

anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did．Wit was unpleasant and offensive while

humor was pleasant and sympathetic．It’s。the difference we note now when we distinguish

between "laughing with”and“laughing at．”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than

"laughing at．”And when“laughing at，”it was often himself he was teasing.

    In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates，when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced，

Lincoln replied，referencing his plain looking，“Honestly，if I were two-faced，would I be

showing you this one？”And，in a way，Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of

humor．

    You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians，soldiers，and the like from

Lincoln's time and not find a single smile．

    True, the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling

difficult．Yet Lincoln alone，as far as I can tell，overcame that difficulty.

    Interestingly ．while having a sense of humor，or at least the appearance of one provided by

comedy writers ．has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time，in

the。ineteenth century，too much humor was considered。problem. -And that was the case for

Lincoln．A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a

real personal liking to the man，owing to an inborn weakness…that he was extremely, fond of

iokes，anecdotes，and stories．”

67．We can infer from Paragraph 2 that＿＿

    A ．the American President could influence the use of English

    E. the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s

    C ．what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else

    D ．the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time

68 ．The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to＿＿．

    A. Lincoln's unattractive face

    B. Lincoln's sense of humor

    C.debate they were having

    D.cruelty that went with funniness

69 We rarely s(。people from Lincoln's time wear smile：in their photos because＿．

  A. being humorous was considered inappropriate

  B. they found it quite funny to smile before camera

  C. not smiling for photographs was the fashion

  D. photography technology then was not advanced

70．What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates？

  A. His comment accurately reflected his time，

  B. He created a false picture of Lincoln．

  C. He was prejudiced and self-centered．

D. He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness．

　　Why doesn’t the unemployment rate ever reach zero? Economists, who generally believe that supply tends to meet demand, have long thought about this question. Even in good times, i.e. not now, there are people who can’t find work. And even in bad times, i.e. now, there are job openings. With over 14 million people out of work and looking for a job, you would think every available job would be filled. But that’s not the case. Not now and not ever.

　　On Monday, the Nobel Prize committee awarded the prize for economics to the three scholars who have done the most to explain this phenomenon. Two of the winners are Americans, Peter Diamond of MIT and Dale Mortensen of Northwestern. The third winner is Christopher Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics and was born on Cyprus.

　　Like most of economics, what they have found about why the jobless and ready-employers don’t find each other seems obvious. You have to find out there is job opening you are interested in. Employers need to get resumes （简历）. It takes a while for both employers and employees to make the decision that this is what they want. And these guys came up with a frame-work to study the problem of why people stay unemployed longer than they should and what can be done about it.

　　So what would today’s Nobel Prize winners do to solve the current problem of the unemployed? And does the awarding of the prize contribute to the politicians’ lowering joblessness?

　　Speaking from his north London home, Pissarides told The Associated Press the announcement came as “a complete surprise” though his work had already helped shape thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.

　　For example, the New Deal for Young People, a British government policy aimed at getting 18-24-year-olds back on the job market after long periods of unemployment, “is very much based on our work,” he said.

　　“One of the key things we found is that it is important to make sure that people do not stay unemployed too long so they don’t lose their feel for the labor force,” Pissarides told reporters in London. “The ways of dealing with this need not be expensive training – it could be as simple as providing work experience.”

According to the writer, which is true about finding jobs?

　　A. It is always difficult to find a job.

　　B. Everyone can find a job in good times.

　　C. Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to find a job in bad times.

　　D. It is possible to find a job even in times as bad as now.

What is it that leads to their winning the prize?

　　A. They have found the reason for unemployment.

　　B. They have put forward a set of ideas to deal with unemployment.

　　C. They have found out why people don’t want to be employed.

　　D. They have long studied the problem of unemployment.

Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

　　A. Pissarides thinks his work surprising.

　　B. The work of Pissarides has influenced many economists.

　　C. Some of the winners’ ideas have been put into practice.

　　D. It is probable that unemployed young people in Britain benefit from Pissarides’ work.

According to Pissarides, _________ is effrctive in dealing with unemployment.

　　A. spending large sums of money on training

　　B. teaching some knowledge of economics

　　C. providing work experience

　　D. keeping people unemployed for some time

—The terrible earthquake brought about $ 15 million in losses to this island country.

—________.

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