Text 4 Eva Ullmann took her master's degree in 2002 0n the part that humour has to play in psychotherapy,and became hooked on the subject.In 2005 she founded the German Insiitute 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 studenis 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 Intemational Humour Congress was held in Amsterdam in 2000.And yet Cermans 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 Biilow,alias Loriot,delighied the elite wiLh his mockery of German senousness and stiffness.Rhenish,Swabian and other regional flavours thrive-Gerhard Polt,a bad-tempered Bavarian,now 72,is a Shakespeare among Lhem.There is lowbrow talent ioo,including OLto Waalkes,a Frisian buffoon.Most of this,however,is as foreigners always suspected:more embanassing Lhan 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 wiLh 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 atlempting a non-literal turn of phrase,to evoke a hoffified expression in their Gennan friends and a detailed explanaiion 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 bas-ics of humorous spontaneiLy 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_____
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 emharrass 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]。
