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Some people worry about being the target of laughter. These people are frightened. They suffer from an emotional disorder called gelotophobia. That long name comes from the Greek language. The word Gelos means laugh, while phobos means fear.
Victor Rubio is an expert on human behavior at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He says people laugh at others for many different reasons. He says being laughed at causes a fear response in the victim. That fear leads the victim to avoid social situations. Sadly, gelotophobia limits the way they lead their lives.
Victor Rubio was among researchers in a huge international study about laughter. The researchers wanted to understand the difference between normal shyness and true gelotophobia. Another goal was to measure the fear of being laughed at within different cultures.
A team from the University of Zurich led ninety-three researchers from many countries in search of answers.
The researchers surveyed more than twenty-two thousand people. They used questions provided in forty-two languages. Their findings were reported in the scientific publication Humor.
Some of the people questioned said they felt unsure of themselves in social situations. But they hid their feelings. Others said they avoided social situations where they had been laughed at before. People also admitted to differing levels of fear that they themselves were the targets of other people’s laughter. The researchers measured and compared all these reactions.
Fear of being laughed at, being made fun of, is a common emotion. But the researchers learned that these feelings differed from nation to nation.
For example, the study found that people in Turkmenistan and Cambodia are likely to hide insecure (不安) feelings when they are around others’ laughter. But people in Iraq, Egypt and Jordan who feel they have been victims before may avoid such situations.
People in Finland were the least likely to believe that people laughing in their presence were making fun of them. Only eight and a half percent of Finns said they would – compared to eighty percent of those questioned in Thailand.
1.The passage is mainly about______________.
A. a common emotion B. laughter 
shyness D. gelotophobia
2.In which country are people most likely to avoid social situations where they have been laughed at before?
A. Turkmenistan B. Iraq Finland D. Thailand
3.According to the text the following is true EXCEPT that ________.
A. people suffer from gelotophobia because they are shy
B. not all the people questioned hid their feelings in social situations
perhaps Humor is a magazine
D. people in Finland are the least likely to suffer from gelotophobia
4.A person who suffers from gelotophobia will probably ______.
A. be active in social activities B. be easily laughed at
like to laugh at others D. like to stay alone
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(2012·南京高二检测) Some people are worrying about the possibility _______ mobile phones could be responsible for a range of illnesses, from rashes (皮疹) to brain tumors.
A. that B. why
C. how D. whether
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Could your cellphone give you cancer? Whether it could or not，some people are worrying about the possibility that phones，powerlines and wi-fi could be responsible for a range of illnesses，from rashes to brain tumors.
For example，Camilla Rees，48，a former investment banker in the US，moved out of her apartment in San Francisco because of the radiation coming from next door．Rees told the Los Angeles Times that when her neighbors moved in and installed a wi-fi router she lost her ability to think clearly．“I would wake up dizzy in the morning．I’d fall to the floor．I had to leave to escape that nightmare，” she saiD． Since then，she’s been on a campaign against low-level electromagnetic fields，or EMFs（低频电磁场）.
And she’s not alone．Millions of people say they suffer from headaches，depression，nausea and rashes when they’re too close to cellphones or other sources of EMFs.
Although the World Health Organization has officially declared that EMFs seem to pose little threat，governments are still concerneD． In fact，last April，the European Parliament called for countries to take steps to reduce exposure to EMFs．The city of San Francisco and the state of Maine are currently considering requiring cancer-warning labels on cellphones.
If these fears are reasonable，then perhaps we should all be worried about the amount of time we spend talking on our phones or plugging into wi-fi hotpots.
Some say there is evidence to support the growing anxieties．David Carpenter，a professor of environmental health sciences at the University at Albany，in New York，thinks there’s a greater than 95% chance that power lines can cause childhood leukemiA． Also there’s a greater than 90% chance that cellphones can cause brain tumors.
But others believe these concerns are unreasonable paranoia (猜疑)．Dr．Martha Linet，the head of radiation epidemiology at the US National Cancer Institute，has looked at the same research as Carpenter but has reached a different conclusion．“I don’t support warning labels for cellphones，” said Linet．“We don’t have the evidence that there’s much danger.”
Studies so far suggest a weak connection between EMFs and illness — so weak that it might not exist at all．A multinational investigation of cellphones and brain cancer，in 13 countries outside the US，has been underway for several years．It’s funded in part by the European Union，in part by a cellphone industry group．
According to Robert Park，a professor of physics at the University of Maryland in the US，the magnetic waves aren’t nearly powerful enough to break apart DNA，which is now known threats，such as UV rays and X-rays，cause cancer.
Perhaps it’s just psychological．Some experts find that the electro-sensitivity syndrome seems to be similar to chemical sensitivity syndrome，which is a condition that’s considered to be psychological.
Whether EMFs are harmful or not，a break in the countryside，without the cellphone，would probably be good for all of us.
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These days everyone is worried about the size of their carbon footprint. In order to reduce global warming, we need to make our carbon footprints smaller. But how much CO are we responsible for?
A new book by Mike Berners-Lee (a leading expert in carbon foot-printing) might be able to help. The Carbon Foot print of Everything looks at the different things we do and buy, and calculates the amount of CO2 they produce, including the ingredients, the electricity, the equipment, the transport and the packaging. And it’s frightening how much carbon dioxide everything produces.
But all of this can help us decide which beer to drink. From Berners-Lee’s calculations, it’s clear that a pint (568 ml) of locally-brewed (酿制的) beer has a smaller carbon footprint than a bottle of imported beer. This is because the imported beer has been transported from far away, and it uses more packaging. The local beer only produces 300 g of CO2-but the imported beer produces 900 g! So, one pint of local beer is better for the environment than three cans of cheap foreign beer from the supermarket.
Berners-Lee has even calculated the carbon footprint of cycling to work. Nothing is more environmentally - friendly than riding a bike, surely? Well, it depends on what you’ve had to eat before. To ride a bike we need energy and for energy we need food. So, if we eat a banana and then ride a kilometer and a half, our footprint is 65 g of CO2. However, if we eat bacon before the bike ride, it’s 200 g. In fact, bananas are good in general because they don’t need packaging. They can be transported by boat and they grow in natural sunlight.
So, does this mean that cycling is bad for the environment? Absolutely not. If you cycle, you don t use your car; and the fewer cars on the road, the fewer traffic jams. And cars in traffic jams produce three times more CO2 than cars travelling at speed. Cycling also makes you healthy and less likely to go to a hospital. And hospitals have very big carbon footprints!
So, maybe it’s time for us all to start making some changes. Pass me a banana and a pint of local beer, please.
1.Which of the followings produces the smallest carbon footprints?
A. A pint of local beer.
B. A bottle of imported beer.
C. A banana before a 1.5 km bike ride.
D. Bacon before a 1.5 km bike ride.
2.According to the article, the author suggests choosing the local food because it is ________.
A. more tasty B. easier to buy
C. better packaged D. more energy-saving
3.The purpose of writing this article is to ________.
A. promote a new book
B. advertise the imported beer
C. instruct how to measure the carbon footprint
D. encourage people to reduce the production of CO2
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Most people are worried about the health of economy. But does the economy also affect your body health?
It does, but not always the ways you might expect. The data(数据) on how an economic downturn influences an individual’s health is mixed.
It’s clear that a long-term economic rise leads to improvements in a population’s overall health, in developing and developed societies alike.
But whether the short-term economic fall will damage your own health depends on your health habits when times are good. And economic studies suggest that people usually do not take care of themselves in good times—drinking too much, dining on fattier restaurant meals and skipping exercises.
“The value of time is higher during good economic times,” said Grant Miller, a professor of medicine at Stanford. “so people work more and do less of the things that are good for them, like cooking at home and exercising. ”
Similar patterns have been seen in some developing nations. Dr. Miller, who is studying the effects of fluctuating coffee prices on health in Colombia where coffee plays an important role in economy development, says that although falling prices are bad for the economy, they appear to improve the population’s overall health. When prices are low, laborers have time to enjoy their own life such as doing housework, exercising and taking care of their children, etc.
“When coffee prices suddenly rise, people work harder on their coffee fields and spend less time doing things around the home, including things that are good for their children,” he said.
Christopher J. Rohm, professor of economics at University of North Carolina. US shares similar ideas.
57. What would be the best title?
A. Does the economy affect your body health?
B. Does your life habit play an important role in economy development?
C. Economic rise leads to improvement in people’s health.
D. Coffee prices affect people’s health.
58. According to Grant Miller, it is implied that_______.
A. a long-term economic rise can damage your body health
B. a long-term economic fall can damage people’s body health
C. a short-term economic rise can improve people’s body health
D. a short-term economic fall can improve your body health
59. What does the underlined word “fluctuating” in the sixth paragraph mean?
A. lasting B. changing C. rising D. falling\
60. Professor Christopher J. Rohm thinks that_________.
A. people work harder when it is in long-term good economy times
B. people work less when it is in short-term good economy times
C. people have more time to enjoy their own life in short-term bad economy times
D. people do less of the things around the home in long-term bad economy times
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Of the two-child policy，_________ some see the bright side，others worry about a baby
boom in China．
A．while B．when C．since D．once
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In the past 10 years people have become more______ the safety of their privacy.
A. worrying about B. cared about
C. concerned about D. paid attention to
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Many people believe that there is some truth in the saying Laughter is the best medicine.1. Laughter helps relieve pain, strengthen the immune system and reduce stress. Laughter stimulates(激发) hormones which make us feel happy. Laughter also increases the flow of blood throughout the body and has benefits which are similar to the ones you get by doing exercise.
2.Children exposed to funny films and cartoons before major medical procedures are able to cope better with pain and anxiety.3.. These are professional clowns who are sent to hospitals and wards to entertain and distract sick children.
Laughter therapy has become very popular in recent years and as a result, more and more laughter clubs are starting to open up in cities and towns all over the world. At a laughter session, a trained therapist instructs the group to perform a series of exercises which are designed to produce laughter. 4.And it takes them some time to get rid of their inhibitions（心理抑制）.They might even start off with fake laughter, but this doesn’t matter because our bodies can’t tell the difference, and the results are the same. Moreover, laughter is contagious（传染的).5.
So next time you feel ill, stressed out or depressed, try watching a funny film or try remembering an amusing incident in your life. You will soon feel better.
A. If one person starts giggling, it is unavoidable that everyone else will be drawn in.
B. Laughter helps you focus.
C. This finding has led to so-called clown doctors.
D. In fact, research done by scientists has shown that laughter has a lot of health benefits.
E. Laughter makes the world a better and more colorful place.
F. Some people may find the idea embarrassing at first.
G. Using laughter therapy in children’s hospitals has proven to be invaluable.
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Why do some governments spend billions of dollars on military expansion ________ the people of these countries are still suffering from starvation and poverty?
A. whether B. though C. unless D. when
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These stories are about the everyday life of ordinary people who the great dangers in China over the past few years.
A. have experienced B. are experiencing
C. have been experiencing D. experienced
shyness D. gelotophobia