Do you want to live a happier, less stressful life? Try laughing for no reason at all. That’s how thousands of people start their day at Laughter Clubs around the world.
The first Laughter Club was started in Mumbai, India, in 1995, by Dr Madan Kataria. “Children laugh about 300 times a day. Adults laugh between 7 and 15 times a day,” says Dr Kataria. “Everyone’s naturally good at laughing — it’s the universal (共同的) language.” There are now more than 500 Laughter Clubs in India and over 1,300 worldwide.
Many doctors are also interested in the effects (影響)of laughter on our health. According to a 5-year study at the UCLS School of Medicine in California, with laughing there is less stress in the body. Laughter improves our health against illness by about 40%.
So what happens at a Laughter Club? I went along to the nearest club in the south of London to find out. I was quite nervous at the beginning of the class. I had no interest in laughing with a group of strangers, and I was worried about looking stupid (愚蠢的). Our laughter teacher told us to clap our hands (拍手) and say “ho ho ho, ha ha ha” while looking at each other. Although we couldn’t tell the differences between
fake laughter and real laughter, they still produced the same healthy effects.
Surprisingly, it worked! After ten minutes, everybody there was laughing for real and some people just couldn’t stop! At the end of the class I was shocked by how relaxed and comfortable I felt. So if you’re under stress, then start laughing.
小題1:The passage is probably taken from
.
| A．a storybook | B．a health magazine | C．a comic book | D．a travel magazine |
小題2:The writer was nervous at the beginning of the class because
.
| A．he was not clever enough |
| B．he wasn’t interested in laughing at all |
| C．he wasn’t good at getting along with others |
| D．he knew no one there and was afraid it would look silly to laugh for no reason |
小題3:The underlined word “fake” probably means “
” in Chinese.
小題4:According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．People feel less stressed when they laugh. |
| B．Adults don’t laugh as often as children. |
| C．People who often laugh never fall ill in their lives. |
| D．The first Laughter Club was set up in Asia. |
小題5:Which is the BEST title for the passage?
| A．A 5-year study | B．Try laughing at Laughter Clubs |
| C．The first Laughter Club | D．A difficult language to learn |
