Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 518
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 518 – PASSAGE – 3
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 518
READING PASSAGE – 3
HUMOUR
A. Humour is the ability to provoke laughter through cognitive experiences and provide amusement. People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to experience humour in some way or the other. For one to have a sense of humour, one needs to only laugh or smile at something which is funny. A person lacking a sense of humour would most likely find the behaviour induced by it to be strange and irrational.
Even though humour is decided upon by personal taste, the extent to what a person will find something humorous depends on a variety of variables such as culture, maturity, education level, intelligence, context and geographical location. As an example, many children enjoy slapstick comedy as can be seen in various puppet shows and short films. Satire typically relies on more understanding of the target of the humour and this tends to appeal to adults more.
IELTS General Reading Test
B. There are many theories regarding humour. Some of these theories attempt to explain what it is, what social functions it serves and what is considered humorous. To a hypothetical person who does not have a sense of humour, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to explain what humour is. As previously, stated, humour would appear to be quite strange and irrational to such a person. Among the many types of theories that attempt to account for the existence of a human being, there are psychological theories which consider it to be a very healthy behaviour.
There are spiritual theories which may consider it to be a gift from God as well as theories which consider humour to be an unexplainable mystery akin to a mystical experience. While there are various classical theories of humour and laughter to be found, in contemporary academic literature, there are three predominant theories which appear repeatedly. These are relief theory, superiority theory and incongruity theory.
IELTS General Reading Test
The advocates of each one originally claimed that their theory was capable of explaining all cases of humour; however they now acknowledge that while each theory typically covers its own area of focus, there are many instances of humour which can be explained by more than one theory. For example, both incongruity and superiority theories seem to describe complementary mechanisms which create humour together.
C. The relief theory holds that laughter is a homeostatic mechanism by which psychological tension is reduced. Humour, for example, can serve to facilitate relief of the tension caused by one’s fears. Laughter and mirth result from this release of tension. According to this theory, humour is used mainly to overcome socio-cultural inhibitions and reveal suppressed desires. It’s believed that this is the reason why we laugh while being tickled. This is seen as a build-up of tension as the tickler starts to tickle.
IELTS General Reading Test
D. The superiority theory traces back to Plato and Aristotle. The basic premise is that a person laughs about misfortunes of others because these misfortunes tend to assert the superiority of the person laughing over the shortcomings of the person(s) experiencing the misfortune. Aristotle taught that we laugh at inferior or ugly individuals because we feel joy or happy at feeling superior to them.
Plato reported what Socrates had stated; that the ridiculous was often characterised by a display of self ignorance. The incongruity theory states that humour is perceived as a moment in realisation of the incongruity between a concept which involves a certain situation and the real objects that are thought to be in some relation to the concept. Since the main point of the theory is not the incongruity, but its realisation and resolution, it is often called “incongruity-resolution” theory.
IELTS General Reading Test
E. In the work, “Thoughts on Laughter” by Francis Hutcheson, what became a key concept in the evolving theory of the comic was that laughter is a response to the perception of incongruity. According to Arthur Schopenhauer, perceived incongruity is between a concept and the real object it represents. Hegel shares a very similar view, but saw the concept as an appearance and that laughter negates the appearance.
Herbert Spencer puts forth that laughter is an “economical phenomenon” whose function is to release psychic energy that was wrongly mobilised by incorrect or false expectations. This view was also supported by Sigmund Freud. The formulation of this theory is attributed to the Scottish poet Beattie.
IELTS General Reading Test
F. Henri Bergson also attempted to perfect this theory by reducing it to living and mechanical components. An incongruity, like the one which Bergsons postulates, in things juxtaposed simultaneously, is still in fashion. This is often debated against theories of the shifts in perspectives in humour. The debate in the series “Humour Research” between John Morreall and Robert Latta is viewed as important. Here, Morreall presents simultaneous juxtapositions while Latta is focusing on a cognitive shift created by the sudden solution to a problem.
G. Humour often contains an unexpected, sudden shift in perspective which gets assimilated by the incongruity theory. This view has been defended by Latta and by Brian Boyd who views the shift as from seriousness to play. Apparently, anything can be the object of this perspective twist; it is however, in the areas of human creativity that the shift results from what is known as “structure mapping” to create new and novel meanings. Arthur Koestler argues that humour results when two different frames of references are set up to collide.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 27 – 31
Complete the summary using the list of words. Choose the correct word and move it into the gap.
Humour is the capacity to (27)………… laughter and amuse through enactment of certain typical cognitive (28)…………. Everyone experiences humour in some way or the other. A person (29)………… in humour will not be able to experience it and would find it queer. Many theories have been put forward to explain humour and its social functions. The psychological theory aims at (30)………… the existence of humour as healthy behaviour on part of humans while the (31)………… one considers it to be a present from God.
IELTS General Reading Test
| Explaining | Acts | Spiritual |
| Create | Rouse | Narrations |
| Incongruity | Deficient | Observations |
Questions 32 – 34
Choose TRUE if the statement agrees with the information given in the text,
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information,
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
32. If a person lacks a sense of humour, to some extent it is because of his background.
33. More than one theory can offer explanation for a humorous occurrence.
34. Laughter often induces release from psychological tension.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 35 – 40
Choose the correct person (A – G) who expressed or held the following views. You may choose any letter more than once.
List of People
A. Arthur Schopenhauer
B. Francis Hutcheson
C. Herbert Spencer
D. John Morreall
E. Robert Latta
F. Plato
G. Beattie
IELTS General Reading Test
35. He stated that laughing at the misfortune of others often betrays one’s own ignorance.
36. He viewed humour as incompatibility between a concept and the real object it represents.
37. He defined laughter as an outlet for release of energy misdirected by expectations.
38. He helped conceptualisation of this theory.
39. He focused on a shift created by a sudden solution.
40. He believes that humour represents unexpected, sudden shift in perspective.
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
27. ROUSE
28. OBSERVATIONS
29. DEFICIENT
30. EXPLAINING
31. SPIRITUAL
32. TRUE
33. TRUE
34. TRUE
35. F
36. A
37. C
38. G
39. E
40. E
IELTS General Reading Test