What is it that makes people laugh? More than two thousand years ago the ancient Greek philosopher (哲学家) Aristotle defined (定义) jokes as the pleasure that results from a feeling of triumph by showing we’re better than someone else in a certain way. According to Aristotle and many other philosophers，all jokes depend mainly on showing inferiority in another person or group of persons — that is，putting it clearly，on showing that they are worse off than ourselves. Jokes raise our good opinion of ourselves at someone else’s expense.
Showing how much better than other people we are is only one reason we like jokes. Someone may also use a joke to express their anger or their cruelty （残酷）or any other kind of action that is not acceptable to us. We feel free to laugh when we hear about someone sliding on a banana skin. The joke lets us express those attitudes which are usually unacceptable to society. This is probably the reason why some of the jokes，especially those involving cruelty，are so popular with certain people.
Besides，all jokes depend on our enjoyment of laughing at something that is strange and out of place because it’s different from things which are happening around it. The same situation can be either sad or pleasant，depending entirely on how strange and out of place it is. If a girl in a bathing suit falls into a swimming pool，we don’t laugh because nothing unusual has happened. But if a man in a smart suit falls in，the situation is at once unusual in a pleasant way and we laugh. A good joke-teller will always try to build up a situation in which one thing is expected until something unexpected suddenly happens，and so we laugh.
【小题1】The underlined word “inferiority” (in Paragraph 1) means ______.

The old shopkeeper led me through to the back of the shop. The room was filled with boxes and photographs of people dressed in old-fashioned clothes, holding packages in their hands.
“Who are these people?” I asked.
“Satisfied customers,” answered young Mr. Hopkins. “We have a very wide choice of items for sale. Whenever I serve a new customer, I always take their picture.” Mr. Hopkins pointed to an ancient camera standing next to one wall. “Now, how can I serve you?” he added.
By this time, I had started to trust Mr. Hopkins and had begun to appreciate the lovely items on sale. I needed to buy Christmas presents for my family and friends, and this seemed to be the perfect place to purchase them. I spent a very pleasant hour being shown the commodities in Mr. Hopkins’shop. No matter what I asked for, Mr. Hopkins found it for me. Finally, I bought an antique jewelry box, a pair of riding boots, a leather-bound edition of the Complete Works of Mark Twain, and a sewing machine.
I was very excited that I had found such a good little shop. I promised Mr. Hopkins that I would come back soon. “I will tell all my friends about your lovely place,” I told the shopkeeper.
“Please do not do that, sir”, said Mr. Hopkins. “This is a special place for special people. You must keep this shop a secret.” Then he took my photograph, and handed me the picture straight away.
“That was quick!” I exclaimed. I looked at the photograph. In the picture I looked proud and excited holding the presents I had bought in Mr. Hopkins’ dusty shop.
On Christmas Day, my friends and relatives were delighted with the presents I had bought for them. For weeks, my brother begged me to show him where to find this wonderful little shop. I finally agreed to take him to London to show him.
When we arrived in London, we walked along Oxford Street, past the department store and found...nothing. The little shop was no longer there. In its place was an empty space being used as a car park. I checked the area again. There was the music shop, and there was the department store. In between should have been Hopkins and Son, but it wasn’t there.
As I was staring at the place where the shop should have been, an old policeman came along. “Are you looking for something sir?” he asked.
I turned and said “I am looking for a little shop called Hopkins and Son. I thought it was here.”
“Oh yes,” said the policeman. “There was a shop here once called Hopkins and Son. It sold all sorts of things, but it was knocked down over 30 years ago.”
I looked again at the place where the shop had been. Then I reached into my pocket and took out the photograph that Mr. Hopkins had taken of me holding my presents in the little shop.
“How strange” I exclaimed.
【小题1】How did the writer like the shop?

I looked for my pen for a long time last night，but it ______ in my pocket this morning.How strange!

A．turned out

B．turned on

C．turned up

D．turned down

How strange! These years my birthday always falls _____.

A. on the Sunday   B. on a Sunday  C. on Sunday     D. at a Sunday

When I was a boy，I belonged to the Boy Scouts（童子军），so I used to go camping every summer，and once something happened which I have never been able to explain.

     We were camping in a place above a river. After arriving，we all rushed down to the river and had a swim. Standing by the river，we noticed that it was surrounded（环绕）by cliffs（悬崖）。If someone wanted to reach the river at this point，he had to walk past our camp.

    Several days later，the scoutmaster had to he away for a day. That afternoon，we had supper early. We were sitting round the fire，eating and talking，when a man walked past and went down towards the river. We all felt that this man looked very strange，but，because each of us was afraid of looking very stupid，no one said anything.

    We ate rather slowly，taking as long as possible. After finishing，we collected our plates together so that we could take them to the river where we always washed them. But no one moved towards the river— we stood looking at each other ashamed. Then all shouting at once， we began talking about the man who had walked past us. We agreed how strange he looked and we wondered what he could be doing by the river. We knew that he could only return by passing through our camp.

    An hour passed. Then one of the boys suggested we should creep（悄悄移动）down by the river so that we could see what the man was doing. Moving very slowly and keeping in the shadow， we crept down towards the bank. One boy climbed a tree so that he could see everything clearly. He called to us that there was no one there，so we ran down to the bank， looking every-where carefully. We could not understand where the man had gone.

    When it got dark，we went back to our camp feeling bewildered. We told the scoutmaster what had happened in the evening. Smiling，he doubted that we had seen the man，but finally suggested we go and look again. We did，but there was no one there.

Many years have passed，but I still remember it as if it were yesterday. What did we see？I do not know.

1. The writer in the text mainly tells us _________.

A. the story of his childhood       B. a strange camping experience

C. about a stranger by the river      D. about a good place for camping.

2.Why did the boys eat their supper slowly？

A. They wanted to delay going to the river bank.

B. They were sailing for their scoutmaster.

C. They had a supper earlier than usual.

D. They were taking while eating.

3. The word “bewildered” in the text probably means _________.

 A. ashamed               B. nervous

 C. unable to understand     D. eager to know something

4. The writer still remembers the event because________.

 A. the boys acted foolishly

 B. the camping place is beautiful

 C. there has been no explanation for the event

 D. he particularly enjoyed his camping that summer.