Text 4 Eva Ullmann took her master's degree in 2002 0n the part that humour has to play in psychotherapy,and became hooked on the subject.In 2005 she founded the German Insiitute for Humour in Leipzig.It is dedicated to"the combination of seriousness and humour".She offers lectures,seminars and personal coaching to managers,from small firms tO such corporate giants as Deutsche Bank and Telekom.Her latest project is to help train medical studenis and doctors.There is nothing peculiarly German about humour training.It was John Morreall,an American,who showed that humour is a market segment in the ever-expanding American genre of self-help.In the past two decades,humour has gone global.An Intemational Humour Congress was held in Amsterdam in 2000.And yet Cermans know that the rest of the world considers them to be at a particular disadvantage.The issue is not comedy.of which Germany has plenty.The late Vicco von Biilow,alias Loriot,delighied the elite wiLh his mockery of German senousness and stiffness.Rhenish,Swabian and other regional flavours thrive-Gerhard Polt,a bad-tempered Bavarian,now 72,is a Shakespeare among Lhem.There is lowbrow talent ioo,including OLto Waalkes,a Frisian buffoon.Most of this,however,is as foreigners always suspected:more embanassing Lhan funny.Germans can often be observed laughing,loudly.And they try hard."They cannot produce good humour,but they can consume it,"says James Parsons,an English man teaching business English in Leipzig.He once rented a theatre and got students,including Mrs Ullmann,to act out Monty Python skits,which they did wiLh enthusiasm.The trouble,he says,is that whereas the English wait deadpan for the penny to drop,Germans invariably explain their punchline.At a deeper level,the problem has nothing to do with jokes.What is missing is the series of irony,overstatement and understatement in workaday conversations.Immigrants in Germany share soul-crushing stories of atlempting a non-literal turn of phrase,to evoke a hoffified expression in their Gennan friends and a detailed explanaiion of the literal meaning,followed by a retreat into awkward politeness.Irony is not on the curriculum in Mrs Ullmann's classes.Instead she focuses mostly on the bas-ics of humorous spontaneiLy and surprise.Demand is strong,she says.It is a typical German answer to a shortcoming:work harder at it.According to the last paragraph,Germans seem to believe that_____
- A.sense of humor is vital
- B.humor can be insiructed
- C.demand decides everything
- D.humor derives from spontaneity
正确答案及解析
正确答案
解析
观点题。定位到最后一段。该段的classes、humorous等词说明Mrs Ullmann在课堂上教授幽默；German、Demand is strong“需求很大”等信息说明许多德国人参加了Ullmann的幽默课堂，暗示了德国人认为humor can be instncted“幽默可以被传授”，即[B]正确。选项[A]sense of humor is vital“幽默感很重要”；该项在原文无直接说明，相比[B]项，[B]更加准确。选项[C]demand decides everything“需求决定一切”；该项原文没有提到，也无法推断出来，故排除。选项[D]humor derives trom spontaneity“幽默是自发的”：原文说“she focuses mostly on the basics of humorous spontaneity and surpnse”，虽然提到了“humorous spontaneity”，但是并没提到德国人认为“幽默是自发的”，故该项不选。综上，本题选择[B]。
