Eva Ullmann took her master’s degree in 2002 on the part that humour has to play in psychotherapy, and became hooked on the subj

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问题    Eva Ullmann took her master’s degree in 2002 on the part that humour has to play in psychotherapy, and became hooked on the subject. In 2005 she founded the German Institute for Humour in Leipzig. It is dedicated to "the combination of seriousness and humour". She offers lectures, seminars and personal coaching to managers, from small firms to such corporate giants as Deutsche Bank and Telekom. Her latest project is to help train medical students and doctors.
   There is nothing peculiarly German about humour training. It was John Morreall, an American, who showed that humour is a market segment in the ever-expanding American genre of self-help. In the past two decades, humour has gone global. An International Humour Congress was held in Amsterdam in 2000. And yet Germans know that the rest of the world considers them to be at a particular disadvantage.
   The issue is not comedy, of which Germany has plenty. The late Vicco von Buelow, alias Lori-ot, delighted the elite with his mockery of German seriousness and stiffness. Rhenish, Swabian and other regional flavours thrive—Gerhard Polt, a bad-tempered Bavarian, now 72, is a Shakespeare among them. There is lowbrow talent too, including Otto Waalkes, a Frisian buffoon. Most of this, however, is as foreigners always suspected: more embarrassing than funny.
   Germans can often be observed laughing, loudly. And they try hard. "They cannot produce good humour, but they can consume it," says James Parsons, an English man teaching business English in Leipzig. He once rented a theatre and got students, including Mrs Ullmann, to act out Monty Python skits, which they did with enthusiasm. The trouble, he says, is that whereas the English wait deadpan for the penny to drop, Germans invariably explain their punchline.
   At a deeper level, the problem has nothing to do with jokes. What is missing is the series of irony, overstatement and understatement in workaday conversations. Immigrants in Germany share soul-crushing stories of attempting a non-literal turn of phrase, to evoke a horrified expression in their German friends and a detailed explanation of the literal meaning, followed by a retreat into awkward politeness.
   Irony is not on the curriculum in Mrs Ullmann’s classes. Instead she focuses mostly on the basics of humorous spontaneity and surprise. Demand is strong, she says. It is a typical German answer to a shortcoming: work harder at it.
German comedy is mentioned to show that Germans______.

选项 A、are insensitive to humor
B、have a good sense of humor
C、always embarrass foreigners
D、are not good at performance

答案A

解析 例证题。根据关键词German comedy定位到第三段首句。该段首句先引出本段话题即德国喜剧,紧接着所有句子都在举例子,最后提出转折以突出观点,该句即为答案句:Most of this,however,is as foreigners always suspected:more embarrassing than funny.“然而,外国人往往对此质疑:尴尬大于乐趣。”由此可见外国人觉得德国喜剧并不幽默,即德国人“对幽默不敏感”,选项[A]are insensitive to humor一项正确。选项[B]have a good sense of humor“具有很好的幽默感”;该项与原文完全相反。选项[C]always embarrass foreigners“往往让外国人感到尴尬”;让人尴尬的是指德国喜剧,并非德国人,可以排除。选项[D]are not good at performance“不擅长表演”;该项在文章中没有体现。综上,本题选择[A]。
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