If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses" convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St.Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. "Who is that?" the new arrival asked St.Peter. "Oh, that"s God" came the reply, "but sometimes he thinks he"s a doctor."
If you are a part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it"ll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman"s notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn"t attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.
If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it"s the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote "If at first you don"t succeed, give up" or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatement. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.
单选题
To make your humor work, you should ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题问的是如何使你的幽默产生效果。原文第一段的第一句话，“...you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems.”指出，如果你想在谈话中用幽默使人发笑，就必须知道如何辨别共同的经历和共同的问题。该段的第三句“Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different.”表明，应该针对不同的听众，谈及不同的问题。可见，C选项“对不同的人谈不同的问题”与该段内容相符。因此，本题的正确答案为C。
单选题
The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题问的是关于医生的笑话表明了护士对医生的什么态度。原文的第二段讲述的是嘲笑医生的笑话。其中提到的上帝的动作rush to grab和stomp over都表明了上帝傲慢和目中无人的态度，而最后一句话“但是有时他(上帝)认为自己是一名医生”表明，医生与上帝有同样的特点：傲慢、无礼、自以为像上帝一样。可见，B选项符合原文意思。因此，本题的正确答案为B。
单选题
It can be inferred from the text that public services ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题问的是根据第三段的内容可推测出有关公共服务的什么信息。根据题干定位至原文的第三段。该段的第一句话说到，“If you are a part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you...”如果谈话者是听话者中的一分子，就可以用双方共同的经历作为幽默的素材，否则，这样做就不合适。最后一句话又指出，“You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.”如果拿邮局或者电话系统这样的公共服务行业作为替罪羊去评论，就比较安全。这说明，即使对不同的听众也可以以公共服务行业为笑料，由此可知，D选项“他们是大家经常谈论的笑料”符合原文意思。因此，本题的正确答案为D。
单选题
To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题问的是为了达到理想的效果，应该如何讲幽默笑话。原文第四段的第三句话说到，“Often it"s the delivery which causes the audience to smile, ...”让听众发笑的通常是讲述幽默的过程。而第一句话说到，如果在讲述幽默笑话时感到有些不自然，就必须加以练习，使之变得更自然。并且根据该段的一些关键词natural，relaxed，unforced和light-hearted等都可看出，幽默故事应该以最自然的方式来讲述。D选项与原文内容相符。因此，本题的正确答案为D。