英语听力精选进阶版 6468
时间：2019-03-04 作者：英语课 分类：英语听力精选进阶版
Let me tell you a joke: which aspect of the English language are boxers 1 best at? Don't you know? It's punch-uation (as in punctuation 2!)
Funny? Well, maybe you'd better not laugh too hard. According to a paper published by the British Medical Journal, laughter isn't always the best medicine. Sometimes it can even be harmful.
Professor Robin 3 Ferner from the University of Birmingham, one of the authors of the study, found that bad things could happen to people who laughed too much. He says: "We found people with heart rhythm disturbance 4 which had stopped their heart, we found people who had fainted, we found people whose gullets had burst, and we found people who'd dislocated their jaws 6 or burst their lungs."
It seems that laughing can be no laughing matter. But it's not all doom 7 and gloom. Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing… when you want to lose weight, for example. Yes, that's right: laugh and be slimmer!
Professor Ferner explains that: "You use energy when you laugh, you move your diaphragm, you expand your lungs, and both those things can be helpful."
According to the research, laughing for a quarter of an hour can burn up to 40 calories, and if you laughed all day you'd use up about 2,000 calories, which is what most people consume in a day. But don't do that or you might end up with a painful jaw 5. Ouch! Or you might find people looking at you in a funny way.
There's also one kind of laughter, described by the authors as "pathological", which can be caused by medical disorders 8 such as cerebral 9 tumours 10 and multiple sclerosis.
But I don't want to finish this article leaving you feeling desperate. Laughter comes naturally for most of us. Babies begin to laugh at around 3-6 months.
So give in to your sense of humour and… keep smiling. Life is short anyway.
Quiz 测验
1. According to the study, what happened to some people's lungs when they laughed?
They burst.
2. How many calories can you use if you laugh for half a day?
About 1,000. The research says if you laughed all day you'd use up about 2,000.
3. What do you call laughter caused by illness?
Pathological laughter.
4. When do babies start to laugh?
Between 3-6 months old.
5. Which word is used to mean 'a good effect arising from something'?
Benefit.
Glossary 词汇表
medicine 药品
harmful 有害的
to faint 晕倒
gullet 食道、食管
to dislocate 使（骨头、关节）脱位
jaw 下颚
(to be) no laughing matter 不是闹着玩的事情
it's not all doom and gloom 绝非那么悲观
to lose weight 减肥
diaphragm 横隔膜
painful 疼痛的
ouch （感叹语）哎哟
funny (here: strange) 稀奇的
pathological 由疾病引起的
cerebral tumour 脑肿瘤
multiple sclerosis 多发性硬化症
desperate 绝望的
sense of humour 幽默感
- The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The boxers slugged it out to the finish. 两名拳击手最后决出了胜负。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
- A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。
- The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
- We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。
- He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
- You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。
- He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
- A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。
- The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
- The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。
- The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
- The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。
- Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
- He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。