Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Why do we laugh and get amusement from so many different things,from puns to pratfalls? Why are some things funny to some people and not to others? How is that while a successful joke can cause pleasure,a sick one can cause serious harm? Over the centuries,various scholars have attempted to produce a universally agreed-upon theory of humor.Plato and Aristotle introduced the superiority theory,the idea that people laugh at the misfortune of others.Their theory seems to explain teasing,but it doesn't work well for knock-knock jokes.Sigmund Freud argued for his relief theory,the concept that humor is a way for people to release psychological tension and reveal their inner fears and desires.His theory works well for dirty jokes,less well for most puns. The majority of humor expels today agree with the incongruity theory,the idea that humor arises when there's a gap between what people expect to happen and what actually happens.Incongruity has a lot going for it -- jokes with unexpected funny lines,for example,fit well.But scientists have found that in comedy,unexpectedness is overvalued. With the goal of developing a new,more satisfactory explanation,I produced "the gentle violation theory",the idea that humor arises when something seems wrong or threatening,but is actually OK or safe.A dirty joke,for example,trades on moral or social violations,but it's only going to get a laugh if the person listening is open enough to consider the subject OK to talk about.Similarly,puns can be seen as linguistic violations that still make grammatical sense. And while most humor theories have struggled to account for tickling ,or just avoided the phenomenon altogether,my theory accounts for even this kind of laughter.Tickling involves violating someone's physical space in a gentle way.People can't tickle themselves -- because it isn't a violation. Question: What is the author's main purpose of writing this passage? Options: A: To draw people's attention to the research of humor. B: To criticize people's misconceptions about humor. C: To explain what exactly causes people to laugh. D: To prove the sense of humor can be developed.
A: C

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Fifteen years ago, I entered the Boston Globe, which was a temple to me then. It wasn't easy getting hired. But once you were there, I found, you were in. Globe jobs were for life-guaranteed until retirement. For 15 years I had prospered there--moving from an ordinary reporter to senior editor. I would have a lifetime of security if I stuck with it. Instead, I had made a decision to leave. I entered my boss's office. Would he be angry? I wondered. He had a famous temper. "Matt, we have to have a talk," I began. "I came to the Globe when I was twenty-four. Now I' m forty. There' s a lot I want to do in life. I'm resigning. " "To another paper?" he asked. I reached into my coat pocket, but didn't say anything. I handed him a letter that explained everything. It said that I was leaving to start a new media company. We were at a rare turning point in history. I wanted to be directly engaged in the change. "I' m glad for you," he said, quite out of my expectation. "I just came from a board of directors meeting and it was seventy-five percent discouraging news. Some of that we can deal with. But much of it we can' t," he went on. "I wish you all the luck in the world," he concluded. "And if it doesn't work out, remember, there is always a place here for you." Then I went out of his office, walking through the newsroom for more good-byes. Everybody was saying congratulations. Everybody--even though I'd be risking all the financial security I had carefully built up. Later, I had a final talk with Bill Taylor, chairman and publisher of the Boston Globe. He had turned the Globe into a billion-dollar property. "I' m resigning, Bill," I said. He listened while I gave him the story. He wasn't looking angry either. After a pause, he said, "Golly, I wish I were in your shoes. " Question: When the writer decided to resign, the Globe was faced with _ . Options: A: a trouble with its staff members B: a shortage of qualified reporters C: an unfavorable business situation D: a good business situation
A: C

Q: I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: At a primary school in a small town in the east of South Carolina, second-grade teachers Carneau and Lynne are convinced that separating primary boys and girls produces immediate academic improvement in both genders David Chadwell, South Carolina's coordinator of single gender education says, " Boys and girls learn,hear and respond to their surroundings differently. We can teach boys and girls based on what we now know." Male and female eyes are not organized in the same way,he explains. The composition of the male eye makes it sensitive to motion and direction. " Boys interpret the world as objects moving through space," he says. The male eye is also drawn to cooler color1s like silver and black. It's no accident that boys tend to create pictures of moving objects instead of drawing the happy color1ful family,as girls do in class. The female eye,on the other hand,is drawn to warmer color1s like red, yellow and orange. To attract girls, Chadwell says, the teacher doesn't need to move as much as in boys' class. Using descriptive phrases and lots of color1s in presentations or on the blackboard gets their attention. Boys and girls also hear differently. " When someone speaks in a loud tone,girls interpret it as yelling, " says Chadwell. " They think you're mad and can shut down. " Girls are more sensitive to sounds. He advises girls' teachers to watch the tone of their voices. Boys' teachers should sound more forceful, even excited. A boy's nervous system causes him to be more cautious when he is standing, moving, and the room temperature is around 6.Stress in boys,he says, tends to increase blood flow to their brains, a process that helps them stay focused. Girls are more focused when they are seated in a warmer room around 75degF. Girls also respond to stress differently. When exposed to threat and conflict, blood goes to their guts ,leaving them feeling nervous or anxious. These differences can be applied in the classroom, Chadwell adds. " Single gender programs are about maximizing the learning." Question: What is David Chadwell's attitude towards separating primary boys and girls while learning? Options: A: Worried. B: Concerned. C: Supportive. D: Uninterested.
A: C