If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it’s the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote “If at first you don’t succeed, give up" or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pickout a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.
43. It can be inferred from the text that public services.
[A] have benefited many people.
[B] are the focus of public attention.
[C] are an inappropriate subject for humor.
[D] have often been the laughing stock.
[答案] D
[解题思路]
本题对应信息在第三段的最后一句话“You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system”(如果你选择去评论邮局或电话局这样的替罪羊，那就比较安全)。既然这些像邮局或电话局这些关于公共服务的话题用作幽默的素材很安全，可见这些话题都是常见的笑料，答案自然为D。要把握原文中“scapegoat”(替罪羊)这个词的意思，那么会更加有助于判断。C选项与原文意思相反，而A、B选项都与问题无关，因此这三个选项都可以排除。
[题目译文]
从文中可以推断，公共服务
[A] 已经使许多人受惠
[B] 是公众关注的焦点
[C] 不是幽默的合适主题
[D] 常常被当作笑料
