以下是小編整理的劍橋雅思15教材中，閱讀Test2Passage3譯文答案解析。希望能夠作為參考資料，幫助大家練習雅思閱讀喲！
01真題
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Having a laugh
The findings of psychological scientists reveal the importance of humour
Humans start developing a sense of humour as early as six weeks old, when babies begin to laugh and smile in response to stimuli. Laughter is universal across all human cultures and even exists in some form in rats, chimps, and bonobos. Like other human emotions and expressions, laughter and humour provide psychological scientists with rich resources for studying human psychology, ranging from the development of language to the neuroscience of social perception.
Theories focusing on the evolution of laughter point to it as an important adaptation for social communication. Take, for example, the recorded laughter in TV comedy shows. Back in 1950, US sound engineer Charley Douglass hated dealing with the unpredictable laughter of live audiences, so started recording his own 'laugh tracks'. These were intended to help people at home feel like they were in a social situation, such as a crowded theatre. Douglass even recorded various types of laughter, as well as mixtures of laughter from men, women, and children. In doing so, he picked up on a quality of laughter that is now interesting researchers: a simple 'haha' communicates a remarkable amount of socially relevant information.
In one study conducted in 2016, samples of laughter from pairs of English-speaking students were recorded at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A team made up of more than 30 psychological scientists, anthropologists, and biologists then played these recordings to listeners from 24 diverse societies, from indigenous tribes in New Guinea to city-dwellers in India and Europe. Participants were asked whether they thought the people laughing were friends or strangers. On average, the results were remarkably consistent: worldwide, people's guesses were correct approximately 60% of the time.
Researchers have also found that different types of laughter serve as codes to complex human social hierarchies. A team led by Christopher Oveis from the University of California, San Diego, found that high-status individuals had different laughs from low-status individuals, and that strangers' judgements of an individual's social status were influenced by the dominant or submissive quality of their laughter. In their study, 48 male college students were randomly assigned to groups of four, with each group composed of two low-status members, who had just joined their college fraternity group, and two high-status members, older students who had been active in the fraternity for at least two years. Laughter was recorded as each student took a turn at being teased by the others, involving the use of mildly insulting nicknames. Analysis revealed that, as expected, high-status individuals produced more dominant laughs and fewer submissive laughs relative to the low-status individuals. Meanwhile, low-status individuals were more likely to change their laughter based on their position of power; that is, the newcomers produced more dominant laughs when they were in the 4powerful5 role of teasers. Dominant laughter was higher in pitch, louder, and more variable in tone than submissive laughter.
A random group of volunteers then listened to an equal number of dominant and submissive laughs from both the high- and low-status individuals, and were asked to estimate the social status of the laugher. In line with predictions, laughers producing dominant laughs were perceived to be significantly higher in status than laughers producing submissive laughs. 'This was particularly true for low-status individuals, who were rated as significantly higher in status when displaying a dominant versus submissive laugh, ' Oveis and colleagues note. 'Thus, by strategically displaying more dominant laughter when the context allows, low-status individuals may achieve higher status in the eyes of others? However, high-status individuals were rated as high-status whether they produced their natural dominant laugh or tried to do a submissive one.
Another study, conducted by David Cheng and Lu Wang of Australian National University, was based on the hypothesis that humour might provide a respite from tedious situations in the workplace. This 'mental break5 might facilitate the replenishment of mental resources. To test this theory, the researchers recruited 74 business students, ostensibly for an experiment on perception. First, the students performed a tedious task in which they had to cross out every instance of the letter 'e' over two pages of text. The students then were randomly assigned to watch a video clip eliciting either humour, contentment, or neutral feelings. Some watched a clip of the BBC comedy Mr. Bean, others a relaxing scene with dolphins swimming in the ocean, and others a factual video about the management profession.
The students then completed a task requiring persistence in which they were asked to guess the potential performance of employees based on provided profiles, and were told that making 10 correct assessments in a row would lead to a win. However, the software was programmed such that it was nearly impossible to achieve 10 consecutive correct answers. Participants were allowed to quit the task at any point. Students who had watched the Mr. Bean video ended up spending significantly more time working on the task, making twice as many predictions as the other two groups.
Cheng and Wang then replicated these results in a second study, during which they had participants complete long multiplication questions by hand. Again, participants who watched the humorous video spent significantly more time working on this tedious task and completed more questions correctly than did the students in either of the other groups.
'Although humour has been found to help relieve stress and facilitate social relationships, the traditional view of task performance implies that individuals should avoid things such as humour that may distract them from the accomplishment of task goals/ Cheng and Wang conclude. 'We suggest that humour is not only enjoyable but more importantly, energizing.'
Questions 27-31
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.
23 When referring to laughter in the first paragraph, the writer emphasises
A its impact on language.
B its function in human culture.
C its value to scientific research.
D its universality in animal societies.
24 What does the writer suggest about Charley Douglass?
A He understood the importance of enjoying humour in a group setting.
B He believed that TV viewers at home needed to be told when to laugh.
C He wanted his shows to appeal to audiences across the social spectrum.
D He preferred shows where audiences were present in the recording studio.
25 What makes the Santa Cruz study particularly significant?
A the various different types of laughter that were studied
B the similar results produced by a wide range of cultures
C the number of different academic disciplines involved
D the many kinds of people whose laughter was recorded
26 Which of the following happened in the San Diego study?
A Some participants became very upset.
B Participants exchanged roles.
C Participants who had not met before became friends.
D Some participants were unable to laugh.
27 In the fifth paragraph, what did the results of the San Diego study suggest?
A It is clear whether a dominant laugh is produced by a high- or low-status person.
B Low-status individuals in a position of power will still produce submissive laughs.
C The submissive laughs of low- and high-status individuals are surprisingly similar.
D High-status individuals can always be identified by their way of laughing.
Questions 32-36
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-H, below.
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet.
The benefits of humour
In one study at Australian National University, randomly chosen groups of participants were shown one of three videos, each designed to generate a different kind of 32………….. . When all participants were then given a deliberately frustrating task to do, it was found that those who had watched the 33………….. video persisted with the task for longer and tried harder to accomplish the task than either of the other two groups.
A second study in which participants were asked to perform a particularly 34………….. task produced similar results. According to researchers David Cheng and Lu Wang, these findings suggest that humour not only reduces 35………….. and helps build social connections but it may also have a 36………….. effect on the body and mind.
Questions 37-40
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
37 Participants in the Santa Cruz study were more accurate at identifying the laughs of friends than those of strangers.
38 The researchers in the San Diego study were correct in their predictions regarding the behaviour of the high-status individuals.
39 The participants in the Australian National University study were given a fixed amount of time to complete the task focusing on employee profiles.
40 Cheng and Wang's conclusions were in line with established notions regarding task performance.
02譯文
來笑一笑吧
心理科學家們的研究發現揭示了幽默的重要性
人類早在六周大的時候就開始發展出了幽默感，此時的嬰兒開始用大笑和微笑回應外界的刺激。笑在所有人類文化中都普遍存在，甚至以某種形式出現在老鼠、黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩身上。就像其他人類情緒和表達那樣，笑與幽默為心理科學家們提供了研究人類心理學的豐富資源，從語言的發展到社會感知的神經科學，不一而足。
專注於研究笑的演變史的各種理論將它定位於一項社會交流的重要調適因素。我們用電視喜劇節目中事先錄好的笑聲來舉個例子。回溯到1950年，美國聲音工程師Charley Douglass對於要去處理現場觀眾不知道什麼時候會發出的笑聲這件事感到十分憎惡，於是開始錄製他自己的「笑聲背景音」。這些原本是為了幫助待在家裡的人們感覺到自己好像身處於一個社交場合之中，比如一個人頭攢動的劇場裡。Douglass甚至還錄了各種不同種類的笑聲，還有一些則將男人、女人和孩子的笑聲混合在了一起。在當時這個做法中，他注意到了一個現在正令研究者們感到興趣十足的有關笑的特點：一聲簡單的「哈哈」能傳達出數量驚人的社交信息。
2016年進行的一項研究中,錄下了加利福尼亞大學聖克魯茲分校幾對母語為英語的學生的笑聲樣本。由30多位心理科學家、人類學家和生物學家組成的團隊繼而將這些錄音播放給了來自24個不同社會——從紐幾內亞的原住民部落到印度和歐洲的城市居民——的聽眾。參與者被問到他們覺得這些正在笑的人是朋友還是素不相識的陌生人。平均來看，這些猜測結果驚人地一致：在全球範圍內，人們的猜測大約有60%的時候都是正確的。
研究者們還發現：不同類型的笑可以像密碼一樣代表複雜的人類社會階級分層。由加利福尼亞大學聖地牙哥分校的Christopher Oveis所帶領的一支團隊發現，社會地位高的人與社會地位低的人有著不同的笑法，而陌生人對於某個人社會地位的判斷會因為他們笑聲中支配性或服從性的感覺而受到影響。在他們的研究中，48名男大學生被隨機分成了四人小組，每一組裡有兩名身份地位低的成員，剛剛加入自己大學的兄弟會組織，另外兩名則是身份地位高的成員，是已經在兄弟會中活躍了至少有兩年的學長。每個學生輪流由其他人逗笑，方式手段中包含使用有著輕微冒犯意味的外號， 這些笑聲都被錄了下來。分析顯示，正如事先預料到的那樣，相比於身份地位低的人，那些高身份地位者發岀了更多的支配性笑聲和更少的服從性笑聲。同時，低身份地位者更有可能基於自己的權力位置而改變發出的笑聲;也就是說，新人在處於逗別人笑的「掌權」角色中時，會發出更多的支配性笑聲。支配性笑聲比服從性笑聲的音調更高、音量更大，語調起落變化方面也更多樣。
然後由一組志願者來聽同等數量的支配性和服從性笑聲，發出這些笑聲的既有高身份地位者也有低身份地位者，並要求志願者們通過笑聲來判斷發笑者的社會地位。與先前的預測毫無二致，發出支配性笑聲的人被認為在社會地位上遠高於那些發出服從性笑聲的人。「這一點在那些社會地位低的人身上尤其如此，他們在發出支配性笑聲時所得到的社會地位判定要比他們在發出服從性笑聲時的判定明顯更高。」Oveis及其同事們注意到。「因此，當情景允許的時候，通過策略性地展示出更多支配性笑聲，身份地位低的人就有可能在其他人的眼中營造出更高的身份地位感。」然而，身份地位高的人無論是發出他們順其自然的支配性笑聲，還是試著去發出服從性笑聲，都會被評估為高身份地位者。
另一項由澳大利亞國立大學的David Cheng和Lu Wang所主持的研究則基於這樣一個假想所展開：幽默也許能提供一個從工作場合的無聊乏味中暫時釋放出來的短時解脫。這一「頭腦間歇」也許可以促進思維能量的補充。為了測試這個理論，研究者們招募了74位商學院學生，表面上是為了做一個關於感知方面的實驗。首先，這些學生要完成一項乏味的工作，要把整整兩頁紙的文本中的每一個字母e都劃掉。接下來，這些學生被隨機指定觀看了一段視頻，引發要麼幽默、要麼滿足、要麼平淡無起伏的某種感受。有些人觀看的是BBC喜劇《憨豆先生》,另一些人看了海豚在廣闊海洋中遊泳的輕鬆畫面，還有一些人看的則是關於管理學專業的一部平鋪直敘的紀錄片。
接下來這些學生要完成一項需要發揮毅力的任務，他們被要求根據一些提供的簡介來猜測這些員工可能的工作表現，並被告知如果能連續做出十次正確的評估就贏了。然而，軟體的設計會令連續答對十次這件事變得幾乎不可能。參與者可以隨時退出任務。先前看過《憨豆先生》的那些學生，最終花了明顯更多的時間在堅持進行任務上，比另外兩組的參與者們多做了一倍的預測。
Cheng和Wang接下來又在第二項研究中得到了完全相同的結果，這一回是要求參與者們手動完成長長的乘法運算。仍然是那些觀看了幽默視頻的參與者們在這項無聊乏味的工作上花了明顯更多的時間，正確地完成了更多運算，另外兩組中沒有任何一組的學生比得上他們。
「雖然幽默早已被發現可以幫助緩解壓力和推動社會關係，然而有關完成工作任務的傳統看法卻認為，人們應當避免諸如幽默這種可能會分散注意力、從而不能專注完成任務目標的事情。」Cheng 和Wang這樣總結道。「我們認為，幽默不但是令人享受的，而且更重要的是還能為人們賦能。」
03答案解析
Question 27
答案：C
關鍵詞：first paragraph, emphasises
解題思路：本題無論是題幹還是對應原文都不難找也不難看懂，唯一的挑戰來自於對考生耐心的考驗：第一段一共只有三句話，但考生需要完整看完這三句話，依次對比四個選項，才能在排除法的輔助下順利判定正確答案為選項C：它對於科學研究的價值。 A項說「它對於語言產生的影響」；B項說「它在人類文化中的功能」；D項說「它在動物社會中的普遍性」。不可否認，這三者中確實都包含若干個零星出現在原文第一段中的詞彙，但是對比選項意思的表達，卻都可以分別進行排除，因此迷惑性並不大。
Question 28
答案：A
關鍵詞：Charley Douglass
解題思路：雖然利用大寫人名Charley Douglass，考生可以迅速定位到第二段的第三句話，然而無論是單看這句話本身、發現沒有可以對應到任何一個選項的內容，還是再多看一句、覺得有可能是在說選項A的內容但又不敢肯定，都不是選擇題的最正確解答方式。如前文所說，考生還是需要比較準確地通讀全段或一段的大部分內容，對四個選項逐一對比和排除，才能比較肯定地確認答案為選項A：他能理解在一個群體環境中享受幽默的重要性。 B項說「他認為那些在家看電視的觀眾需要被告知什麼時候應該發笑」；C項說「他希望自己的節目能夠對社會各階層觀眾都具有吸引力」；第二段裡雖然確實有這兩個選項中的詞組或類似意思出現，但整句意思的表達卻都與選項所說不符；D項說「他更喜愛那些有觀眾出席在錄製工作室裡的節目」，這個信息則完全沒有岀現過，因此這三項都可以在對比後予以排除。
Question 29
答案：B
關鍵詞：Santa Cruz
解題思路：本題的情況與前兩題類似：考生依然可以依靠大寫Santa Cruz輕鬆定位到第三段的第一句話，但卻完全無法憑藉這句話本身鎖定正確選項，而是需要耐心再往下多看幾句，結合全段的共同意思表達來敲定正確答案為選項B：由一系列各種各樣的文化所得出的類似結果。 A項說「被研究的各種各樣不同類型的笑聲」，這是本段中不曾出現過的信息；C項說「所涉及的不同學術領域的數目」，雖然原文中確實提及了幾種不同的專家，算是來自不同的學術領域，但他們只是參與進行研究的團隊成員，既非被研究的對象，也不是使得研究重要的原因；D項說「被錄下來笑聲的許多種類的人們」，這就是個故意利用原文表達、試圖混淆視聽的偷換概念，因為「許多種類的人們」在原文表達中，是聽錄音的研究對象而非被錄下笑聲的錄音提供者。
Question 30
答案：B
關鍵詞：San Diego
解題思路：要解答本題所需的閱讀量比較大，尤其是在本段中包含了相對較多的結構略複雜的長難句的情況之下，考生需在平時注意練習精讀分析的速度和準確性，在用San Diego定位到段落第二句的情況下，至少連續讀到第四句，才能鎖定正確答案為選項B：參與者交換過角色。 A項說「一些參與者變得很不開心」；C項說「以前素未謀面的參與者變成了朋友」；D項說「一些參與者笑不出來」。這幾個選項無論從理解的難度上、還是從迷惑性上來看，其實都並不高，考生只要能完整及時讀過本段內容，就都能順利排除。
Question 31
答案：D
關鍵詞：fifth paragraph, results
解題思路：本題仍延續了前面幾題的特點：看似容易定位，卻無法只看某句作答，而是需要考生耐心閱讀定位段落的大部分內容來進行綜合理解，才能結合排除法鎖定正確答案為D項：高身份地位者總是能通過他們發笑的方式被辨認出來。 A項說「支配性笑聲到底是由一個身居高位還是低位的人發出來的，很明顯能看出來」，這個信息與原文中的「低身份地位者處於掌權位置時發出的笑聲會讓聽眾認為這是個身居高位者」相矛盾；B項說「低身份地位者處在掌權位置時還是會發出服從性笑聲」，這還是與原文相矛盾；C項說「無論身份地位高低的人發出的服從性笑聲都是驚人地類似」，這屬於原文中沒有明確提及的信息，迷惑性也不強。
Question 32
答案：F
關鍵詞：Australian National University, videos, generate
解題思路：本題乍一看好似容易定位，有Australian National University這個大寫信息可以幫助較快地找到第六段第一句，但是接下來，考生卻需要連續閱讀尋找若干個句子，才能最終在本段倒數第二句裡找到與video有關的表述。也許題幹中generate 一詞在原文中的對應詞elicit對於考生來說略顯陌生，但是根據題幹句子大意其實也可以推理知道，空格中應該是填「觀看了視頻後觀眾所產生的感受」，也就是對應原文中的feelings 一詞，進而用這個詞與詞庫選項比對，可以得出答案為：F. emotion。
Question 33
答案：H
關鍵詞：longer, harder, the other two groups
解題思路：本題的定位比較困難，主要原因在於距離上一道題的岀處跨度範圍較大，且表述比較隱晦，可以說是這部分摘要填空題中難度最高的一個。分析題幹可知，此處需尋找三組人完成任務結果的對比，按照這個思路來逐句閱讀原文，可以最終在第七段的最後一句裡了解到，那些先前觀看了《憨豆先生》的參與者堅持得最久最努力;而從前文第六段最後一句的原文表述中，考生即使之前並沒有聽說過或看過《憨豆先生》，也能從句子列舉三種內容的順序對應中看出來，《憨豆先生》對應的是humour這種感受，海豚在海洋中遊泳對應的是contentment這種感受，而講管理學專業的內容則是對應neutral feelings，這樣一來，便可知道答案應該是humour在詞庫中的對應選項。同時，分析題幹可知，此處空格內需填寫一個修飾video的形容詞，二者結合可以幫助考生得出答案為：H. amusing。
Question 34
答案：C
關鍵詞：second study
解題思路：相比於前兩道題來說，本題的難度相對低一些。首先，考生可以利用題幹中的second study直接定位到第八段第一句話;其次，即使並不熟悉原文中的replicate這個詞，看不出來這就是對produce similar results的同義替換，考生只需看懂第一句的大致意思，就能明白本句中並沒有包含題幹所需的信息。此時，只需再耐心向下多看一句，就能找到第二句中對於任務性質的描述：tedious，進而對應詞庫選項得出答案為：C. boring。
Question 35
答案：D
關鍵詞：Lu Wang，David Cheng
解題思路：由於填空題一般都是順序出題為主，因此考生可以利用上一題的定位提示，預測本題和下一題大概率的出處都會在文章最後一段，從而更加安心地閱讀答題。題幹中reduce與原文中relieve的同義替換關係也比較清晰，從而得出減少或緩解的對象是stress,進而對比詞庫可得答案為：D. anxiety。
Question 36
答案：E
關鍵詞：David Cheng，Lu Wang
解題思路：本題因為與上一道題位置接近，所以定位並不困難;但閱讀原文後會發現，原文中的enjoyable和energising這兩個詞，似乎都可以填進題幹的空格處。此時詞庫的另一個作用也就體現出來了：題幹要求空格中需為一個形容詞，而詞庫選項中既符合詞性要求，也能與enjoyable或energising進行同義替換的，只有唯一的一個選項：E. stimulating。
Question 37
答案：NOT GIVEN
解題思路：本題的定位非常簡單，憑藉題幹中的專有名詞Santa Cruz就能迅速找到第三段第一句；但是本句並沒有直接說到「參與者在猜測友人還是路人的哪一種方面更準確」這個題幹信息，因此考生需耐心再向後文看看；直到讀完全段，發現文章只說了參與者們猜測的結果非常一致，大概都有60%的命中率，但沒有提及在猜測朋友和陌生人這個方面參與者哪種猜得更正確，可知答案為NOT GIVEN。
Question 38
答案：YES
解題思路：本題要定位不難，憑藉非常顯眼的大寫San Diego即可找到第四段第二句話；然而無論是只讀這句話本身，還是繼續向後文又多讀了兩句，似乎都沒有看到關於題幹中「研究人員的推測是否準確」這個表述。此時考生很容易舉棋不定，或得出結論為「原文並未提及」；但如果是在運用平行閱讀、逐句掃讀原文每一句話和對比每一種題型，便會在更從容的心態下，在本段第五句話中看到as expected這個對於題幹進行了同義表述的描寫，從而準確得出答案為YES。
Question 39
答案：NO
關鍵詞：Australian National University
解題思路：如果是單獨只做本題，考生需要完成的閱讀量就會相當大，因為雖然Australian National University這個大寫信息好找，在第六段第一句話裡就出現了，但正確答案卻位於第七段的末尾，考生需要有足夠的耐力才能最終敲定正確答案為NO。 但是，如果運用平行閱讀的方法來解題，則考生在閱讀此部分文章內容時，是在同時對比尋找上一個題型（即詞庫摘要填空題）和本題型中的相關內容，於是可以一箭三雕：首先，是較好地掌握了這部分文章的行文邏輯和內容背景；其次，是可以得出填空題第32和33題的對應答案；然後，結合二者可知，既然在實驗過程中，先看了幽默視頻的一組實驗者比另外兩組都堅持了更長時間、進行了更努力的嘗試，可見實驗時間並非給定的固定量，可知文章信息與題幹相矛盾。
Question 40
答案：NO
關鍵詞：Cheng and Wang
解題思路：本題同樣可以運用平行閱讀的方法，結合上一個題型同時在文章中定位和對比做題，可以根據第九段第一句得出結論：題幹中的established notions正是原文中所說的traditional view；但是本句並沒有直接提及Cheng和Wang的研究結論是否與此相符，考生仍需耐心讀到下一句，才能根據兩人對幽默的高度評價，看出兩位研究者其實並不贊同傳統觀念，從而確定正確答案為NO。