单选题 Everyone experiences fear during major crisis—such as fires, automobile accidents, etc. Some people even feel very nervous when they fly in airplanes. No matter how hard they try, they cannot lower their anxiety. Some of them enjoy talking about their fears while others resent being asked to discuss their personal feelings. Many are aware that they feel anxious but only a few are conscious of the way they express their tension. Some people try to hide their nervousness: they try to disguise their anxiety by telling jokes. Others become loud and aggressive, attacking people by making them the butt of cruel jokes. Sometimes making someone else the target of jokes is an attempt to control one"s own fears—to master anxiety.
A number of factors can be mentioned as important in explaining why some people have a fear of flying: early childhood experiences, general sense of security, fear of heights, trust in others, percentage of alcohol in blood, etc. The memory of a bad experience can sometimes trigger the same fear caused by that experience. Thus, a child might be frightened by the sight of a dog even though he is safe, merely because he once had a bad experience with a dog. A bad experience can be the cue that triggers our fears. But the crucial factor seems to be a feeling of no control.
Usually we are able to suppress our feelings so that they do not affect our behavior. But sometimes the tension produced by our fears is so great that we cannot suppress it. At such time we need to discharge the tension by laughing or crying. By smiling foolishly and talking loudly, we are able to repress the rising feeling of fear so that it does not affect the way we behave.
Because it is necessary to recognize a problem before it can be solved, admitting that we are afraid is an integral part of the process of mastering our fears.

单选题 To make someone the butt of jokes means ______.

单选题 What is the positive purpose of people"s telling jokes?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 细节归纳题。根据题干关键词telling jokes定位到原文首段第五句至尾句。原文此处提到了几种telling jokes的情况，to hide their nervousness，attacking people by making them the butt of cruel jokes，to control one"s own fears—to master anxiety，只有在原文首段尾句中提到的为positive purpose。故答案为B。

单选题 To master anxiety means ______.

单选题 According to the author, which of the following is the most important factor triggering the feeling fear?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 细节判断题。根据题干关键词triggering the feeling fear定位到原文第二段。第二段提到了能引起feeling fear的情况有general sense of security，fear of heights，the memory of a bad experience等，但在第二段尾句提到the crucial factor与题干中的the most important factor对应，因此be a feeling of no control为答案。故答案为D。