Maricel Apatan，22，stands in the kitchen of the Edsa Shangri—La Hotel in Manila，preparing to decorate a cheesecake. It would seem to be  a（n）__ __ task for a pastry(糕点) chef，but Maricel is no __ __ chef－she has no hands．

“When I first saw Maricel, I was worried she might __ __ herself when using a chef’s knife __ __ that has never been a problem, ” says Maricel’s manager. “She doesn’t get __ __ treatment and works just as hard as the rest of the chefs.”

Despite financial __ __ from Archbishop Ledesma, a distant relative, Maricel __ __ to deal with her disability. “I was __ __ dependent on my mother and couldn’t do anything,” she recalls.

In 2004, Archbishop Ledesma __ __ for Maricel to live in the House with No Steps, a training centre for people with disabilities. She __ __ how to write and do regular tasks and, more importantly, __ __ her disability. She became more determined to __ __ hard to live a normal life.

Maricel __ __ graduated from high school and enrolled(注册) in a two-year Hotel and Restaurant Management course in Cagayan de Oro City. I have really enjoyed __ __ since I was seven years old,” she says.

After Maricel moved back to Manila to continue her studies, the media started reporting __ __ this determined young woman. She didn't shy away from the __ __.“I wanted others living with disabilities to believe it's __ __ to live a normal life,” Maricel says.

Later, Maricel's three younger brothers and sisters moved to Manila．She __ __ the rent of their small apartment, __ __ their parents look after the family farm in Mindanao．“It is difficult to make ends meet but I don't lose __ __. I believe anything is possible if you dream, and work hard．”

1.A.  impossible         B.      simple       C.      practical   D.      important

2.A.  ordinary   B.      admirable C.      talented    D.      gentle

3.A.  absorb      B.      express     C.      hurt  D.      forgive

4.A.  for    B.      or     C.      but   D.      and

5.A.  special      B.      equal         C.      official       D.      effective

6.A.  advice       B.      control      C.      information       D.      help

7.A.  hesitated  B.      disagreed C.      struggled  D.      pretended

8.A.  gradually  B.      hardly       C.      increasingly       D.      totally

9.A.  searched  B.      arranged  C.      applied     D.      begged

10.A.explained B.      realized    C.      wondered         D.     learned

11.A.accepted  B.      blessed     C.      cured        D.      forgot

12.A.think          B.      try    C.      listen         D.      relax

13.A.partly        B.      firstly         C.      eventually         D.      immediately

14.A.reading     B.      cooking     C.      writing      D.      drawing

15.A.beyond     B.      by     C.      against      D.      on

16.A.attention  B.      description        C.      decoration        D.      connection

17.A.successful          B.      difficult     C.      possible    D.      certain

18.A.raises        B.      pays C.      collects     D.      receives

19.A.unless       B.      once          C.      though      D.      while

20.A.memory    B.      weight       C.      hope         D.      patience

Gallows humor（黑色幽默）seem like a mistake, or at least in poor taste. But psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress. “Humor makes you feel in control and it can give you that feeling that everything is okay even when it's not,” says James M. Jones, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware.
Psychologists say that just because you're laughing doesn't mean you’re wasting time. Occasional teasing among colleagues, particularly if it revolves around things associated with the job, can boost creativity, departmental cohesiveness（凝聚力）and performance.
“There are a lot of stressors out there,” says Ed Dunkelblau, a psychologist with the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning in Chicago. “But gallows humor is a way of making difficult things a little less difficult.”
This is true as long as the humor is used for the right purpose. The main point of it should be inspiring people --- not laughing at them. “Anything that would lift morale（士气）in terms of the company would be good humor,” says Thierry Guedj, a professor of business and psychology at Boston University. “Before you say or do anything, think about, ‘How is this helping my employees’ morale?’”
You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance, or faith. If you have any doubt, it's appropriate, don't go through with it.
Or you can take aim at the one person you know won't be offended（冒犯）:Yourself. “If there's going to be a joke or story, it should be you,” Mr. Dunkelblau says. For example, if you're a marketing manager reviewing a failed campaign that you led, begin with a line like, “The guy who gave permission to this deal might just be looking for work next week.”
“People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves too,” Mr. Jones says. “And if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”
【小题1】According to the text, gallows humor has the following functions EXCEPT ________.

Gallows humor（黑色幽默）seem like a mistake, or at least in poor taste. But psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress. “Humor makes you feel in control and it can give you that feeling that everything is okay even when it's not,” says James M. Jones, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware.

Psychologists say that just because you're laughing doesn't mean you’re wasting time. Occasional teasing among colleagues, particularly if it revolves around things associated with the job, can boost creativity, departmental cohesiveness（凝聚力）and performance.

“There are a lot of stressors out there,” says Ed Dunkelblau, a psychologist with the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning in Chicago. “But gallows humor is a way of making difficult things a little less difficult.”

This is true as long as the humor is used for the right purpose. The main point of it should be inspiring people --- not laughing at them. “Anything that would lift morale（士气）in terms of the company would be good humor,” says Thierry Guedj, a professor of business and psychology at Boston University. “Before you say or do anything, think about, ‘How is this helping my employees’ morale?’”

You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance, or faith. If you have any doubt, it's appropriate, don't go through with it.

Or you can take aim at the one person you know won't be offended（冒犯）:Yourself. “If there's going to be a joke or story, it should be you,” Mr. Dunkelblau says. For example, if you're a marketing manager reviewing a failed campaign that you led, begin with a line like, “The guy who gave permission to this deal might just be looking for work next week.”

“People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves too,” Mr. Jones says. “And if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”

1.According to the text, gallows humor has the following functions EXCEPT ________.

A. improving performance

B. reducing pressure

C. leading to a big mistake

D. making people more creative

2.What is Ed Dunkelblau’s attitude towards gallows humor?

A. Negative.          B. Positive.         C. Uncertain.          D. Neutral.

3.Which of the following would Dr. Guedj most probably agree with?

A. Gallows humor allows people to laugh at others.

B. Gallows humor is the basic source of morale.

C. Anything that may lift morale can be called gallows humor.  

D. Gallows humor may sometimes be used for the wrong purpose.

4.When people use gallows humor, they should ________.

A. show a sense of belonging

B. observe who is aggressive

C. try to avoid irritating others

D. doubt about the result of humors

5.What can we infer from the text?

A. Laughing at ourselves can help relieve the stress of others.

B. People tend to laugh at others rather than themselves.

C. People who laugh at themselves are hard to be friends with.

D. People can’t avoid offending others with gallows humor.

Gallows humor（黑色幽默）seem like a mistake, or at least in poor taste. But psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress. “Humor makes you feel in control and it can give you that feeling that everything is okay even when it's not,” says James M. Jones, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware.

Psychologists say that just because you're laughing doesn't mean you’re wasting time. Occasional teasing among colleagues, particularly if it revolves around things associated with the job, can boost creativity, departmental cohesiveness（凝聚力）and performance.

“There are a lot of stressors out there,” says Ed Dunkelblau, a psychologist with the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning in Chicago. “But gallows humor is a way of making difficult things a little less difficult.”

This is true as long as the humor is used for the right purpose. The main point of it should be inspiring people --- not laughing at them. “Anything that would lift morale（士气）in terms of the company would be good humor,” says Thierry Guedj, a professor of business and psychology at Boston University. “Before you say or do anything, think about, ‘How is this helping my employees’ morale?’”

You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance, or faith. If you have any doubt, it's appropriate, don't go through with it.

Or you can take aim at the one person you know won't be offended（冒犯）:Yourself. “If there's going to be a joke or story, it should be you,” Mr. Dunkelblau says. For example, if you're a marketing manager reviewing a failed campaign that you led, begin with a line like, “The guy who gave permission to this deal might just be looking for work next week.”

“People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves too,” Mr. Jones says. “And if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”

1.According to the text, gallows humor has the following functions EXCEPT ________.

A．reducing pressure

B．improving performance

C．making people more creative

D．leading to a big mistake

2.What is Ed Dunkelblau’s attitude towards gallows humor?

A．Positive.          B．Negative.          C．Neutral.           D．Uncertain.

3.Which of the following would Dr. Guedj most probably agree with?

A．Gallows humor is the basic source of morale.

B．Gallows humor allows people to laugh at others.

C．Gallows humor may sometimes be used for the wrong purpose.

D．Anything that may lift morale can be called gallows humor.

4.When people use gallows humor, they should ________.

A．observe who is aggressive

B．show a sense of belonging

C．doubt about the result of humors

D．try to avoid irritating others

5.What can we infer from the text?

A．People tend to laugh at others rather than themselves.

B．Laughing at ourselves can help relieve the stress of others.

C．People can’t avoid offending others with gallows humor.

D．People who laugh at themselves are hard to be friends with.

Gallows humor（黑色幽默）seem like a mistake, or at least in poor taste. But psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress. “Humor makes you feel in control and it can give you that feeling that everything is okay even when it's not,” says James M. Jones, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware.
Psychologists say that just because you're laughing doesn't mean you’re wasting time. Occasional teasing among colleagues, particularly if it revolves around things associated with the job, can boost creativity, departmental cohesiveness（凝聚力）and performance.
“There are a lot of stressors out there,” says Ed Dunkelblau, a psychologist with the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning in Chicago. “But gallows humor is a way of making difficult things a little less difficult.”
This is true as long as the humor is used for the right purpose. The main point of it should be inspiring people --- not laughing at them. “Anything that would lift morale（士气）in terms of the company would be good humor,” says Thierry Guedj, a professor of business and psychology at Boston University. “Before you say or do anything, think about, ‘How is this helping my employees’ morale?’”
You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance, or faith. If you have any doubt, it's appropriate, don't go through with it.
Or you can take aim at the one person you know won't be offended（冒犯）:Yourself. “If there's going to be a joke or story, it should be you,” Mr. Dunkelblau says. For example, if you're a marketing manager reviewing a failed campaign that you led, begin with a line like, “The guy who gave permission to this deal might just be looking for work next week.”
“People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves too,” Mr. Jones says. “And if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”

1. 1.

   According to the text, gallows humor has the following functions EXCEPT ________

   1. A.
      reducing pressure
   2. B.
      improving performance
   3. C.
      making people more creative
   4. D.
      leading to a big mistake
2. 2.

   What is Ed Dunkelblau’s attitude towards gallows humor?

   1. A.
      Positive
   2. B.
      Negative
   3. C.
      Neutral
   4. D.
      Uncertain
3. 3.

   Which of the following would Dr. Guedj most probably agree with?

   1. A.
      Gallows humor is the basic source of morale
   2. B.
      Gallows humor allows people to laugh at others
   3. C.
      Gallows humor may sometimes be used for the wrong purpose
   4. D.
      Anything that may lift morale can be called gallows humor
4. 4.

   When people use gallows humor, they should ________

   1. A.
      observe who is aggressive
   2. B.
      show a sense of belonging
   3. C.
      doubt about the result of humors
   4. D.
      try to avoid irritating others
5. 5.

   What can we infer from the text?

   1. A.
      People tend to laugh at others rather than themselves
   2. B.
      Laughing at ourselves can help relieve the stress of others
   3. C.
      People can’t avoid offending others with gallows humor
   4. D.
      People who laugh at themselves are hard to be friends with