NobodylaughedwhentheUKcomedyshowLittleBritaintouredtheU...

问题详情：

Nobody laughed when the UK comedy show Little Britain toured the US. Americans didn’t find the “British stereotypes(刻板印象)” funny. One character was a woman who was sick whenever she saw a foreigner. Another was a loud and rude 15-year-old girl cursing at her teachers. But back home, British people were laughing, thinking, “Yes! That’s exactly what we’re like!”

A laugh is a laugh in any language, but the reasons for it can be very different. Britons and Americans speak the same language, but humor does not always translate.

Take The Office as an example. This was originally a UK TV series but it was changed for the US. Both the US and UK series are set in a boring workplace in a boring town. But David Brent, the boss of the UK office, is not a nice guy like Michael Scott in the US version. “We had to make Michael Scott a slightly nicer guy,” wrote series creator Ricky Gervais. “He couldn’t be too mean.”

Gervais said British people are different from Americans because “ Britons cruelly make fun of people we like or dislike... and of ourselves”. He believes the differences between the American and British senses of humor are because of “our upbringing”.

“ Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States,” he wrote. “ Britons are told, ‘It won’t happen for you’.”

Things usually turn out fine at the end of every US Office episode(集). Even if they’re not perfect, the characters “learn a lesson” for the future.

But in David Brent’s office - and in lots of UK comedies -the last scene is often sad. You are often left with the feeling that things just couldn’t get worse. For British people, this seems truer to life and so much funnier.

It’s not just Britain and the US that have comic differences. Few foreigners would understand a Chinese cross-talk show, for example.

Cultural differences are no laughing matter. But comic differences can be a window into a Culture.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

28. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A. To show that British humor is not funny at all.

B. To show that American people don't understand British people.

C. To show that Britain and America have different stereotypes.

D. To show how humor may mean different things in different cultures.

29. Which of the following statements about The Office is TRUE according to the article?

A. David Brent is quite a nice guy.

B. Michael Scott is a rather mean guy.

C. Episodes in the UK version often end on a hopeless note.

D. Episodes in the US version often end in a boring way.

30. What can we infer from the article?

A. Brits do not like to make fun of others.

B. British comedy often has a moral message.

C. American people are brought up to be more positive.

D. Jokes are difficult to translate from one language into another.

31. What is the author's opinion of comic differences?

A. They are slight differences that can be ignored.

B. They can partly show cultural differences.

C. They show stereotypes of different cultures.

D. They help people communicate with each other.

【回答】

DCCB

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