Question

Gallows humor（黑色幽默）seem like a mistake, or at least in poor taste. But psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress. “Humor makes you feel in control and it can give you that feeling that everything is okay even when it's not,” says James M. Jones, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware.

Psychologists say that just because you're laughing doesn't mean you’re wasting time. Occasional teasing among colleagues, particularly if it revolves around things associated with the job, can boost creativity, departmental cohesiveness（凝聚力）and performance.

“There are a lot of stressors out there,” says Ed Dunkelblau, a psychologist with the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning in Chicago. “But gallows humor is a way of making difficult things a little less difficult.”

This is true as long as the humor is used for the right purpose. The main point of it should be inspiring people --- not laughing at them. “Anything that would lift morale（士氣）in terms of the company would be good humor,” says Thierry Guedj, a professor of business and psychology at Boston University. “Before you say or do anything, think about, ‘How is this helping my employees’ morale?’”

You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance, or faith. If you have any doubt, it's appropriate, don't go through with it.

Or you can take aim at the one person you know won't be offended（冒犯）:Yourself. “If there's going to be a joke or story, it should be you,” Mr. Dunkelblau says. For example, if you're a marketing manager reviewing a failed campaign that you led, begin with a line like, “The guy who gave permission to this deal might just be looking for work next week.”

“People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves too,” Mr. Jones says. “And if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”

1.According to the text, gallows humor has the following functions EXCEPT ________.

A. improving performance

B. reducing pressure

C. leading to a big mistake

D. making people more creative

2.What is Ed Dunkelblau’s attitude towards gallows humor?

A. Negative.          B. Positive.         C. Uncertain.          D. Neutral.

3.Which of the following would Dr. Guedj most probably agree with?

A. Gallows humor allows people to laugh at others.

B. Gallows humor is the basic source of morale.

C. Anything that may lift morale can be called gallows humor.  

D. Gallows humor may sometimes be used for the wrong purpose.

4.When people use gallows humor, they should ________.

A. show a sense of belonging

B. observe who is aggressive

C. try to avoid irritating others

D. doubt about the result of humors

5.What can we infer from the text?

A. Laughing at ourselves can help relieve the stress of others.

B. People tend to laugh at others rather than themselves.

C. People who laugh at themselves are hard to be friends with.

D. People can’t avoid offending others with gallows humor.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.C

5.A

【解析】

試題分析：文章講述了黑色幽默的作用，是釋放壓力的一種重要方式，適當的幽默可以增加團隊的凝聚力，也可以減少困難，鼓舞士氣。同時也講述了要適當的使用，如果方式和場合不正確可能會引起負面作用。

1.C細節判斷題。psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress boost creativity, departmental cohesiveness（凝聚力）and performance.心理學家說黑色幽默是釋放壓力的重要方式，也能夠促進創造力，各部門的凝聚力和他們的執行力，故答案C不屬于黑色幽默的功能。

2.B綜合理解題。第一自然段講述了黑色幽默是減少壓力的作用，可以讓你感覺到不好的事情也都一切順利了；第二自然段講述了黑色幽默可以激發人的創造力，凝聚力和執行力等；第三自然段說明可以使困難減少等說明作者對黑色幽默是肯定的。故答案應為B。

3.D細節推理題。You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance, or faith.本句的意思是：你要給你的員工和同事一種歸屬感，對人的外貌和失敗不要作評價等，因此是在說明黑色幽默要注意目的性和場合。故答案應為D.

4.C細節理解題。you can take aim at the one person you know won't be offended（冒犯）句意為不要對任何人有所冒犯，也就是說在黑色幽默時，不要刺激任何人。故答案應為C。

5.A 細節理解題。People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves too, 與if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”意思為：能夠自嘲的人也可以讓其它的人嘲笑他們自己，如果你能夠嘲笑自己，就就對自己感覺良好。因此自嘲也能夠減少他人的壓力。

考點:社會現象類文章的閱讀理解。