20、

Scientists have discovered the world's funniest joke! Dr. Wiseman，from Oxford University in Britain，created a website with jokes on it．He then asked people to rate（定級(jí)）the jokes from 1（“not very funny”）to 5（“very funny”）．People could also tell their own jokes．At the end of one year，Wiseman had two million ratings and 40,000 jokes from around the world．

Why study jokes? Dr. Wiseman thinks humor can tell us a lot about people．In Wiseman’s experiment（實(shí)驗(yàn)），people from different countries did think different jokes were funny．For example，Europeans rated jokes about serious topic like death “very funny”．North Americans laughed most at jokes that made fun of people．So，what was the world’s funniest joke?

Two men are hunting（打獵）．Suddenly，one man falls down and isn't moving．The other man calls for help on his mobile phone．“Help!” the man says，“I think my friend is dead!” “I can help you，” says the woman on the phone．” “First，are you sure your friend is dead?” It's quiet for a minute．Then the woman hears a gunshot（槍聲）．The man returns to the phone．“Yes，he’s dead．Now what?”

In Dr. Wiseman's experiment，people from a number of countries，old and young，men and women，all thought this joke was very funny．What about you?

1．How did Dr. Wiseman find the funniest joke in the world?

A．He asked different scientists for their ideas．

B．He asked people to rate jokes on the website．

C．He asked his students about their favorite jokes．

D．He searched the Internet and chose it by himself．

2．What kinds of jokes made Europeans laugh most?

A．Jokes about hunting．                              B．Jokes about people．

C．Jokes about telephoning．                           D．Jokes about death．

3．Which of the following can best describe the man calling for help in the joke?

A．He is foolish．                                         B．He is confident．

C．He is clever．                                            D．He is dishonest．

4．What can we learn from the passage?

A．The woman told the man to kill his friend．

B．Dr．Wiseman wasn't interested in Asian jokes．

C．All the people in the world liked jokes about death．

D．Dr．Wiseman studied jokes to know about people．