1 . On a recent trip to the island of Newfoundland, Canada, my husband asked our talkative cab driver what made him most proud to be from there.
“Our generosity and hospitality (好客),” he replied in a strong local accent. “Your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, someone will stop to help. People here are kind like that.”
His answer lingered in my mind during that ride with my husband and teenage kids, as we headed out to explore on the first day of our vacation.
Little did I know we were about to experience some of that remarkable Newfoundland kindness for ourselves.
We met Alma that same morning at the start of a long hike.
Our teenagers hurried ahead, and as we walked behind, admiring the scenery, two women in sunglasses and summer hiking gear stopped.
They’d heard us discussing different routes, then asked if we’d like suggestions.
They looked to be in their 40s, and were both enthusiastic to share their local expertise.
We listened eagerly, taking mental notes, until one of the women asked, “You have a car, right?”
I explained that there were no cars available during our week on the island, so we had to rely on cabs instead.
“Oh no,” she said, “you need a car.” And then, as casually as if offering a piece of chewing gum (口香糖), she said: “Take mine!”
Dumbfounded, my husband and I just smiled in disbelief.
“Why not?” She insisted. “You need a car to get to know all these places.”
“But you don’t even know us,” I said.
“That doesn’t matter,” she continued with absolute determination.
Stunned, I looked over at her friend, who shrugged and said, “That’s Alma.”
Forty minutes of talking later, my family climbed into Alma’s car.
We spent the rest of our vacation discovering different areas of this beautiful island.
But it wasn’t the groups of whales we saw, or the vast areas of woodland, that made this place so memorable.
Instead, it was the act of kindness from a complete stranger that made us realize how special Newfoundland really was.
Next year, there’s no doubt where we’ll be taking our summer vacation. Who knows what act of kindness we’ll meet then?
1. What problem did the author’s family have in Newfoundland?| A．They couldn’t understand the local accent. |
| B．Their car broke down on the first day. |
| C．They got lost during a hike. |
| D．They didn’t have a car. |
| A．shocked | B．satisfied |
| C．relieved | D．embarrassed |
| A．The talkative cab driver. |
| B．The whales swimming. |
| C．The beautiful scenery of the island. |
| D．The help from an enthusiastic stranger. |
| A．She is looking forward to meeting Alma once more. |
| B．She expects to visit Newfoundland again. |
| C．She hasn’t decided where to go next year. |
| D．She also wants to be kind to others during vacation. |
2 . Before I studied psychology, I used to think that people would laugh when funny things occurred. While I was right about that, I discovered there are lots of other psychological factors that make people laugh other than the funny part of a joke. When someone laughs at a joke, there will usually be more than one reason that makes him laugh—and the more reasons there are, the more powerful the joke will be.
I was attending a standup comedy show in Egypt, and when the man started to make fun of pedestrians crossing streets, everyone laughed their heads off. The main reason why those people strongly laughed was that almost all of them felt angry towards pedestrians who crossed streets carelessly. The joke wasn't only funny, but it also made the audience feel that they were right about being angry at those pedestrians. That is, people were laughing both because of the funny joke and because of the happiness experienced as a result of the psychological support they got.
The better a joke makes a person feel, and the more it includes other psychological factors, the more the person will like it. For example, if you envy one of your friends, and someone tells a joke that is funny and, at the same time, makes your friend seem stupid, then you will probably laugh at it louder than if you weren't jealous of him.
In short, we don't laugh only when we hear something funny; we also laugh when we experience some kind of happiness that results from the other psychological factors involved in the joke. I strongly discourage you from making fun of anyone or belittling someone to make someone else laugh. All I want to explain is that if your joke supports a person's emotions, he will certainly like it a lot.
1. What did the author find out after studying psychology?| A．Only good jokes make people laugh. |
| B．Many factors lead to people's laughing. |
| C．Funny things can make people laugh. |
| D．Laughter can make people healthy. |
| A．They played a trick on the pedestrians. |
| B．The pedestrians behaved in a funny way. |
| C．They could feel the pedestrians' happiness. |
| D．Their emotion was approved of by the show. |
| A．Annoy. | B．Blame. |
| C．Look down on. | D．Make up to. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
