Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is，not surprisingly，his sense of humor. As far as I can tell，he's the first American President to have one．

    That's because the term“sense of humor” really wasn't in common usage until the eighteen-sixties and seventies．In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has today. Back then，what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule（讥笑）．Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand．Of course，they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well．

    Lincoln’s humor was very different because，for one thing，it was actually "humor＂as what the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit（风趣）”and "humor”anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did．Wit was unpleasant and offensive while humor was pleasant and sympathetic．It’s the difference we note now when we distinguish between "laughing with”and“laughing at．”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than "laughing at．”And when“laughing at，”it was often himself he was teasing.

    In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates，when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced，Lincoln replied，referencing his plain looking，“Honestly，if I were two-faced，would I be showing you this one？”And，in a way，Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of humor．

    You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians，soldiers，and the like from Lincoln's time and not find a single smile．

    True, the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling difficult．Yet Lincoln alone，as far as I can tell，overcame that difficulty.

    Interestingly, while having a sense of humor，or at least the appearance of one provided by comedy writers has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time，in the nineteenth century，too much humor was considered problem.  And that was the case for Lincoln．A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a real personal liking to the man，owing to an inborn weakness. . .that he was extremely, fond of jokes，anecdotes，and stories．”

1.We can infer from Paragraph 2 that＿＿

A .the American President could influence the use of English

B. the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s

C .what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else

D. the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time

2.The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to＿＿．

A. Lincoln's unattractive face

B. Lincoln's sense of humor

C. the debate they were having

D.cruelty that went with funniness

3.We rarely see people from Lincoln's time wear smile in their photos because＿．

A. being humorous was considered inappropriate

B. they found it quite funny to smile before camera

C. not smiling for photographs was the fashion

D. photography technology then was not advanced

4.What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates？

A. His comment accurately reflected his time

B. He created a false picture of Lincoln

C. He was prejudiced and self-centered

D. He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness

    Something that has always interested me about Abraham Lincoln is，not surprisingly，his

sense of humor. As far as I can tell，he's the first American President to have one．

    That's because the term“sense of humor，， really wasn't in common usage until the

eighteen-sixties and seventies．In the eighteen-forties and fifties，it was called“the sense of the

ridiculous," and didn't have the positive connotations（隐含意义）that“sense of humor" has

oday. Back then，what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule（讥笑）．Funniness and cruelty

went hand in hand．Of course，they still do a lot of arm-in-arm walking in our day as well．

    Lincoln’s humor was very different because，for one thing，it was actually "humor＂as what

the word meant in his time. We don't make the distinction between "wit（风趣）”and "humor”

anymore; but in the nineteenth century people did．Wit was unpleasant and offensive while

humor was pleasant and sympathetic．It’s。the difference we note now when we distinguish

between "laughing with”and“laughing at．”Lincoln was much more about "laughing with”than

"laughing at．”And when“laughing at，”it was often himself he was teasing.

    In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates，when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced，

Lincoln replied，referencing his plain looking，“Honestly，if I were two-faced，would I be

showing you this one？”And，in a way，Lincoln's face itself tells us much about his sense of

humor．

    You can comb through thousands of photographs of politicians，soldiers，and the like from

Lincoln's time and not find a single smile．

    True, the long exposures（曝光）required for photographs of that time made smiling

difficult．Yet Lincoln alone，as far as I can tell，overcame that difficulty.

    Interestingly ．while having a sense of humor，or at least the appearance of one provided by

comedy writers ．has become a necessary characteristic for an American President in our time，in

the。ineteenth century，too much humor was considered。problem. -And that was the case for

Lincoln．A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that“I could not take a

real personal liking to the man，owing to an inborn weakness…that he was extremely, fond of

iokes，anecdotes，and stories．”

67．We can infer from Paragraph 2 that＿＿

    A ．the American President could influence the use of English

    E. the term "sense of humor”wasn't invented until the 1860s

    C ．what is funny to someone might be offensive to someone else

    D ．the concept of humor remains the same despite the passing of time

68 ．The underlined words“this one”in Paragraph 4 refer to＿＿．

    A. Lincoln's unattractive face

    B. Lincoln's sense of humor

    C.debate they were having

    D.cruelty that went with funniness

69 We rarely s(。people from Lincoln's time wear smile：in their photos because＿．

  A. being humorous was considered inappropriate

  B. they found it quite funny to smile before camera

  C. not smiling for photographs was the fashion

  D. photography technology then was not advanced

70．What might the writer think of the journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates？

  A. His comment accurately reflected his time，

  B. He created a false picture of Lincoln．

  C. He was prejudiced and self-centered．

D. He was brave to point out Lincoln's weakness．

Christmas Eve was tomorrow. I hoped one of the packages that held a camera had already been placed under the Christmas tree. It was the only thing I wanted. I had been dropping hints to my parents. I love taking photos. My bedroom walls are covered with photos I had taken with my mom’s old camera. I’m always trying to capture (捕捉) those perfect moments in which you can hear the laughter or touch the beautiful scene, but my camera has always seemed to fall short.
I knew Mom had put a few presents under the tree this morning, so I went on a hunt in my mom’s room. I opened the door and found my Christmas present was lying unwrapped on the floor — a big pink cat. I felt so disappointed.
Mom seemed to notice that, and she tried to cheer me up. “Stacy, I got your present today. I am so excited to surprise you!” “I can’t wait,” I said.
The next day I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to tell her.
“Mom, may I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure, dear. What do you need to talk about?” she asked.
And so it came — how upset I was that I was getting a cat.
“Stacy, that cat is for your sister Julia!” she said with a smile.
“Then what am I getting?” I asked.
She just smiled. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
Next morning, I happily got into the living room and sat next to the tree. I pulled out the box with my name on it and opened the wrapping paper to find ...
My camera! “Thank you!” I said to both Dad and Mom.
Dad picked up the camera and took a picture of Julia, Mom and me. It has become one of my favorite pictures. Just on that Christmas morning, I took lots of photos with my camera — my little sister making a face, my parents giving me a soft smile — and all of these photos have come to mean one thing to me: love.
【小题1】The underlined phrase “dropping hints” in Para-graph 1 means _____.

Christmas Eve was tomorrow. I hoped one of the packages that held a camera had already been placed under the Christmas tree. It was the only thing I wanted. I had been dropping hints to my parents. I love taking photos. My bedroom walls are covered with photos I had taken with my mom’s old camera. I’m always trying to capture (捕捉) those perfect moments in which you can hear the laughter or touch the beautiful scene, but my camera has always seemed to fall short.

I knew Mom had put a few presents under the tree this morning, so I went on a hunt in my mom’s room. I opened the door and found my Christmas present was lying unwrapped on the floor — a big pink cat. I felt so disappointed.

Mom seemed to notice that, and she tried to cheer me up. “Stacy, I got your present today. I am so excited to surprise you!” “I can’t wait,” I said.

The next day I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to tell her.

“Mom, may I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure, dear. What do you need to talk about?” she asked.

And so it came — how upset I was that I was getting a cat.

“Stacy, that cat is for your sister Julia!” she said with a smile.

“Then what am I getting?” I asked.

She just smiled. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Next morning, I happily got into the living room and sat next to the tree. I pulled out the box with my name on it and opened the wrapping paper to find ...

My camera! “Thank you!” I said to both Dad and Mom.

Dad picked up the camera and took a picture of Julia, Mom and me. It has become one of my favorite pictures. Just on that Christmas morning, I took lots of photos with my camera — my little sister making a face, my parents giving me a soft smile — and all of these photos have come to mean one thing to me: love.

1.The underlined phrase “dropping hints” in Para-graph 1 means _____.

A．talking often                           B．suggesting indirectly

C．sending presents                        D．taking pictures

2.Why did Stacy feel disappointed at first?

A．Her mother couldn’t understand her at all.

B．Her mother didn’t buy her any Christmas gift.

C．She mistook her sister’s Christmas gift for hers.

D．She didn’t find her present in her mom’s room.

3.We can learn from the passage that _____.

A．her mother bought Stacy a camera after discovering her disappointment

B．her mother knew what gift Stacy wanted for Christmas

C．Stacy thought it’s OK to have an old camera

D．Stacy finally got her gift on Christmas Eve

4.What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The family happiness captured by the camera.

B．The nice Christmas that Stacy spent.

C．The beautiful pictures that Stacy took.

D．The true love that Stacy got from her parents.

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．A Christmas gift as wished

B．Love is more important than gifts

C．A wonderful Christmas

D．Love can not be bought