阅读训练
　　Section B

　　Passage One

　　That particularly humorless boss or dour neighbor may not have a personality defect—but a different brain structure, research published Wednesday suggests. Scientists in Canada say they have found how brain damage can affect a person's sense of humor, adding to evidence that humor may be hard-wired into the brain.

　　A team at the University of Toronto and the Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care in Toronto found that people with damage to the right frontal lobe of their brains do not really "get" ironic jokes the way they should. Instead, they prefer slapstick humor. "We always thought of humor as an intangible part of our personality," Prathiba Shammi of the University of Toronto, a psychologist who worked on the study, said in a statement. "Now we know humor can be tested and scientifically scrutinized.”

　　Shammi compared the responses of 42 volunteers aged 18 to 70 to written and verbal jokes and cartoons. Half the group had a brain injury caused by stroke, tumor or surgical removal. People with damage to the right anterior frontal lobe were the least able to appreciate jokes and cartoons, Shammi reported in the journal Brain. Instead, they showed a preference for silly slapstick humor. Shammi gave an example of one of her jokes and the responses.

　　A teen-ager is being interviewed for a summer job. "You'll get $ 50 a week to start off," says his boss. "Then after a month you'll get a raise to $75 a week. "Volunteers were offered three possible punch lines:

　　a. "I'd like to take the job. When can I start?"

　　b. "That's great! I'll come back in a month."

　　c. "Hey boss, your nose is too big for your face!"

　　52. According to the passage a humorless person ______.

　　A) has a personality defect B) may have a different brain structure

　　C) has been injured in the brain D) does not understand any joke

　　53. Traditionally people believe that humor ______.

　　A) can be tested and scientifically scrutinized

　　B) has something to do with a person's brain

　　C) cannot be found in brain-damaged people

　　D) is an intangible part of a person's personality

　　54. Which of the following statement is true?

　　A) 42 volunteers were tested with both written and verbal jokes.

　　B) Only people with damage to the right anterior frontal lobe could not appreciate jokes.

　　C) Humorless people prefer silly slapstick humor.

　　D) The author had a humorless boss and a dour neighbor.

　　55. Which of the following statements about the volunteers in the experiment is NOT true?

　　A) The oldest volunteer was seventy years old.

　　B) They are tested with jokes both in written and spoken form.

　　C) The majority of the volunteers suffered from brain damage.

　　D) Comparatively people suffered from right anterior frontal lobe damage was most humorless.

　　56. Look at the joke in the last part of the passage. We can infer that most people with damage to the right anterior frontal lobe ______.

　　A) did not understand the joke B) would choose answer c

　　C) would choose answer b D) would choose answer a

阅读答案及解析

　　Section B

　　52--56 BDACB

　　Section B

　　52.细节判断题。由第一段开篇的“humorless boss or dour neighbor may not have a personality defect--but a different brain structure”可见本题答案为B项。由第三段“People with damage to the right anterior frontal lobe were the least able to appreciate jokes and cartoons...Instead，they showed a preference for silly slapstick humor.”推断选项C和D是错误的。

　　53.细节题。由第二段中的“We always thought of humor as an intangible part of our personality”可以判断出正确答案是D项。由第二段最后一句“Now we know humor can be tested and scientifically scrutinized”可以排除选项A。

　　54.细节判断题。由第三段开头的“responses of 42 volunteers aged 18 to 70 to written and verbal jokes and cartoons”可判断正确答案为A项。由第三段中的“People with damage to the right anterior frontal lobe were the least able to appreciate jokes and cartoons...Instead， they showed a preference for silly slapstick humor”可以断定选项B和C是错误的。

　　55.细节推断题。由第三段第一句“Shammi compared the responses of 42 volunteers aged 18 to 70 to written and verbal jokes and cartoons.”可见参与实验的志愿者是介于18到70岁之间。Shammi分析他们对书面的(written)和口头的(verbal)笑话和动画做出的回应。选项A和B都符合原文，可以排除。由第三段第二句“Half the group had a brain injury caused by stroke;tumor or surgical removal.”可见，半数的志愿者是由于中风、肿瘤或者手术而脑部受损。half和majority并不一致。因此，正确答案为C项。

　　56.逻辑推断题。原文中的选项A不存在任何幽默，只是现实中最常见的、正常的回应。原文中B选项的回应是幽默的：“既然现在周薪是50美金，一个月后是75美金，那我一个月后再来好了。”而原文中的选项C则是较为粗俗的玩笑。由最后一段的“People with damage to the right anterior frontal lobe were the least able to appreciate jokes and cartoons...Instead， they showed a preference for silly slapstick humor.”可推断正确答案是B项，他们会选择开粗俗的玩笑。