Bill Gates and the president of General Motors have met for lunch, and Gates is going on and on about computer technology. "If automotive technology had kept pace with computer technology over the past few decades, you would now be driving a V-32 instead of a V-8, and it would have a top speed of 10, 000 miles per hour," says Gates. "Or, you could have an economy car that weighs 30 pounds and gets a thousand miles to a gallon of gas. In either case, the sticker price of a new car would be less than $50.Why haven't you guys kept up?"
The president of GM smiles and says, "Because the federal government won't let us build cars that crash four times a day."
Why is that funny (or not funny, as the case may be)? Human beings love to laugh, and the average adult laughs 17 times a day. Humans love to laugh so much that there are actually industries built around laughter. Jokes, sitcoms and comedians are all designed to get us laughing, because laughing feels good. For us it seems so natural, but the funny thing is that humans are one of the only species that laughs. Laughter is actually a complex response that involves many of the same skills used in solving problems.
Laughter is a great thing—that's why we've all heard the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine." There is strong evidence that laughter can actually improve health and help fight disease. In this article, we'll look at laughter—what it is, what happens in our brains when we laugh, what makes us laugh and how it can make us healthier and happier. You'll also learn that there's a tremendous amount that no one understands yet.
We interviewed two people, one who went from the country to the city and one who did the opposite.
Janet Lincoln is a salesgirl who moved to St. Louis five years ago. Here's what Janet told us:
"Five years ago I used to live in a small town called Lemon Falls. I grew up and went to high school there. After I graduated I worked in a supermarket. Lemon Falls had a population of about 800 people, and I knew every single one of them. They all knew everything about me, too. You couldn't do anything without everyone in town knowing about it. The first chance I got I moved to St. Louis and I love it. I don't know as many people now as I used to, but that's OK.I have a few good friends, and I see them when I want to. I kind of like being anonymous. I'd never go back to Lemon Falls."
Troy Henson had the opposite experience. He and his wife, Darla, and their two children moved from St. Louis to Bloomfield three years ago. Here's what Troy told us:
"The best thing we ever did was get out of St. Louis. Don't get me wrong; St. Louis is as good a place as any other city, I suppose—if you like cities, that is. We don't. Both Darla and I grew up in St. Louis. We met at college and got married. Then the kids came along and life got difficult. We didn't know any of our neighbors. We both had good jobs, but it always seemed like there was never enough money. That all changed when we moved to Bloomfield. I don't make as much money as I used to, but then we don't have as many expenses as we did. We know our neighbors. Life is good. We'd never leave Bloomfield."
注意：①每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
②只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
It was in Beijing which I attended a ten-day winter camp during Spring Festival this year. Not only do we visit many places of interest and we also listened to many lectures. How exciting I was when we visited a new sports stadium! It is ten times big than our school. Though everyone said the lectures were boring, but I enjoyed myself. I thought most of the activities, that expanded my knowledge and enriched my experience, was wonderful. Finally, I do hope that more outdoor activities will be organising so that we can learn more about Beijing.
