Unit 3 Inventors and inventions using language课时作业

Ⅰ.阅读理解

　　A

　　A culture's values can be mirrored by its humor. Humor has been evaluated by many great minds such as Thomas Hobbes, who disliked humor, "Laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden thought of feeling far better than others." He thought humor to be a negative quality of human narrowmindedness.

　　However, Mordechai Gordon, PhD of Education, insists, "Humor allows us to view the world from an angle that is amusing rather than serious." I agree with Gordon. Learning to look at the world through humor is important.

　　 In the United States, every four years an election occurs. Without humor as a way to express their feelings, how else would Americans keep from clawing their eyes out and going the way of lemming? Television shows like "The Daily Show" have become important parts of American culture. They are mothering the masses by metaphorically (隐喻地) airplane­ing politics into our mouths. They make politics fun.

　　Of course, politics is only one type of humor. Social humor helps people through the twists and turns of the human condition. American pop culture promotes an unhealthy self­image. On the topic of self­image, Hari Kondabolu stands out. He has a joke about the popular musical group "The Pussycat Dolls"， describing their hit song "Don't Cha" as a negative representation of women. He points out an obvious offence in American culture.

　　 A study from Loyola University of Maryland has shown that humor is one determining factor for selecting a mating partner. Amongst other things, mates look for an outstanding funny bone in a potential partner.

Of course, humor is not always used for good purposes. Humor can be linked to vulgarity (庸俗) and racism, but, like everything else, it has potential to unite human beings by allowing us to laugh at ourselves, our failures and our connection with one another.