2．A lot of us lose life's battles by starting a frontal （正面的） attack when a touch of humor might well enable us to win．Consider the case of a young friend of Sam，who hit a traffic jam on his way to work shortly after receiving an ultimatum （最后通牒） about being late．Although there was a good reason for Sam's being late-serious illness at home-he decided that the by-now-familiar excuse wouldn't work any longer．His boss was probably preparing a dismissal （解雇） speech．
Yes，the boss was．Sam entered the office at 9：35．The place was as quiet as a locker room．Everyone was hard at work．Sam's boss came up to him．Suddenly，Sam forced a smile and stretched out his hand．"How do you do!"he said，"I'm Sam Maynard．I'm applying for a job，which，I understand，became available just 35 minutes ago．Does the early bird get the worm？"
The room exploded in laughter．The bossclamped off a smile and walked back to his office．Sam Maynard had saved his job-with the only tool that could win a laugh．
Humor is a very effective means of handling the difficult situations in our life．It can be used for apologizing，saying"no"，getting someone to do what you want．For some jobs，it's the only tool that can succeed．It is a way to discuss subjects so sensitive that serious dialogues may start a quarrel．For example，many believe that comedians （喜劇演員） on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance than people in any other public places．
59．Why was Sam late for his job？C
A．Because he didn't like the job．
B．Because he got up late．
C．Because he was caught in a traffic jam．
D．Because he was busy applying for a new job．
60．The underlined phrase"clamped off"in Paragraph 3 most probably means"A"．
A．tried to hold back
B．tried to set aside
C．focused on
D．gave out
61．Which of the following can we infer from the text？B
A．People lose only battles because of lacking a sense of humor．
B．It wasn't the first time that Sam had been late for his work．
C．Sam was supposed to come to his office at 8：30．
D．Humor is the most effective way to solve problems．
62．The main idea of this text isB．
A．Sam saved his job with humor
B．humor is important in our life
C．the early bird gets the worm
D．humor can solve racial problems．
分析 本文通過一個小故事講述了幽默的重要性．
解答 59：C 細節(jié)題．根據(jù)who hit a traffic jam on his way to work可知，他遲到的原因是他碰上了交通堵塞．
60：A 詞義猜測題．前面提到老板連辭退他的話都想好了，而Sam開的這個玩笑使人們哄堂大笑．而老板為了樹立他的威嚴，仍然強忍住笑．故答案為A．
61：B 推斷題．根據(jù) …shortly after receiving an ultimatum（最后通牒） about being late on the job 我們可以了解到，Sam不止一次上班遲到了．
62．B 主旨題．根據(jù)短文第 1 句是主題句 A lot of us lose life's tough battles by starting a frontal（正面的） attack-when a touch of humor might well enable us to win （在人生很多場激烈的爭斗中，我們?nèi)绻c人硬碰硬正面交鋒的話，可能敗得一塌糊涂．而幽默往往使我們反敗為勝）和文章第 4 段第 1 句，可知整篇短文講的是幽默的重要性．
點評 做閱讀時經(jīng)常犯錯的主要原因是，僅憑讀過文章后殘留在腦海中的一絲印象來勾選答案，這樣便很容易掉入出題人故意設(shè)布下的題目陷阱．所謂閱讀理解，對于題目的理解一定要忠實于原文，因此，每一道題都應該與原文作全面的對比與核查，再得出答案．也就是說，閱讀理解的每一道題目，在原文都應該有明確的出處，我們把這一出處叫做原文相關(guān)句，（1）排除與原文相關(guān)句主題不一致的選項（2）排除與原文相關(guān)句態(tài)度相反的選項 （3）排除用于過于極端或負面的選項（4）注意結(jié)合文章主旨和主題去排除．
