Robert Provine studied people and laughter. He discovered that people laugh when they want to be friendly. He watched people in city walking and shopping. He found that 80 to 90 % of laughter came after sentences like “Yeah, I know” or “I’ll see you later”. People did not laugh because someone said something funny. People laughed because they wanted to be friendly with each other.
Many people say “Oh, I just don’t laugh very much. I can’t change that actually”. That’s not true. People can learn to laugh. First you need to see how small events can be funny. For example, you are carrying too many bags, and you drop one bag. Laugh at the situation. Second, you can learn to be funny and tell jokes. Watch funny TV shows and read jokes on the Internet. Give yourself more reasons to laugh. You can learn to bring laughter into your life.
Laughter happens at certain time in a conversation. People laugh more when they speak than when they listen. Pay attention to conversations around you. You will discover that the speaker in a conversation laughs more often. Also, laughter almost always comes at the end of a sentence or a thought. For example, a person might say “He went to the wrong store! Ha! Ha! Ha!”. “The person does not say, “He went – Ha! Ha! Ha! – to the wrong store!”
Decide if the statements below are true (T) or false (F) based on the previous reading
Robert Provine discovered that people laugh when they want to be friendy
......
Robert Provine watched television to see people in city walking and shoppiny
......[F]
He found that nearly 100 % of laughter came after sentences like “Yeah, I know” or “I’ll see you later”.
......
Many people cannot learn to laugh.
......[F]
People can learn to bring laughter into their life.
Hoan Kiem lake – a famous beauty spot - is considered the center or the heart of Hanoi. The water color of Hoan Kiem lake is not commonly found in other lakes elsewhere in the country: greenish, with dark or light shade depending on the reflection of the sky. There is the turtle tower in the middle of the lake. Hoan Kiem lake is a pride of all Hanoians. It is a place for many Hanoians: doing exercises on the shore or water-gazing on park benches. It is also near a shopping center in the Old quarter nearby. As you walk by, you can see the life style of the city. If you are going to visit Hanoi for a few days, you should visit Hoan Kiem Lake and some surrounding attractions as shown in the following table:
Attractions at Hoan Kiem lake:
Attractions
Location
Built in
Ngoc Son temple
Northern part of Hoan Kiem Lake
19 century
The Huc Bridge
Between Ngoc Son Temple & Hoan Kiem lake bank
1865
Brush Tower
Northern East of Hoan Kiem lake
1865
Ink pot
Northern East of Hoan Kiem lake
1865
Hoa Phong Tower
Eastern part of Hoan Kiem lake
1846
Decide if the statements below are true (T) or false (F) .
Read the passage and circle the correct choice (A, B, C or D)
Passage 1
In 1881, a new type of weed began spreading across the northern Great Plains. Unlike other weeds, the tumbleweed did not spend its life rooted to the soil; instead, it tumbled and rolled across fields in the wind. The weed had sharp, spiny leaves that could lacerate the flesh of ranchers and horses alike. It exploited the vast area of the plains, thriving in regions too barren to support other plants. With its ability to generate and disseminate numerous seeds quickly, it soon became the scourge of the prairies.
To present-day Americans, the tumbleweed symbolizes the Old West. They read the Zane Grey novels in which tumbleweeds drift across stark western landscapes and see classic western movies in which tumbleweeds share scenes with cowboys and covered wagons. Yet just over a century ago, the tumbleweed was a newcomer. The first sign of the invasion occurred in North and South Dakota in the late 1870s.
Farmers had noticed the sudden appearance of the new, unusual weed. One group of immigrants, however, did not find the weed at all unfamiliar. The tumbleweed, it turns out, was a native of southern Russia, where it was known as Tartar thistle. It was imported to the United States by unknown means.
Frontier settlers gave the plants various names: saltwort, Russian cactus, and wind witch. But botanists at the Department of Agriculture preferred the designation Russian thistle as the plant’s common name. However, these botanists had a much harder time agreeing on the plant’s scientific name. In general, botanists compare a plant to published accounts of similar plants, or to samples kept as specimens. Unfortunately, no book described the weed and no samples existed in herbaria in the United States.
The passage suggests that most present-day Americans
A. believe tumbleweeds are newcomers to the United States.
B. have never heard of tumbleweeds.
C. don’t know when tumbleweeds came to North America.
