Not Just Funny Stuff|笑，可不只是闹着玩的

　　

by Rebecca Fratzke

Laughter is much more than a joking matter.

笑不只局限于令人发噱的事。

We send social messages to others around us every day using gestures, eye contact, and words we say. _(1)_ It may seem odd to think that laughter could say something more than simply "I think that is funny," but how many times have you chuckled when a friend complained or snorted over something rude? These are examples of how laughter can express emotions. This type of laughter is called unvoiced laughter because it is produced with less help from your vocal chords and is done on purpose. _(2)_ Voiced laughter is a spontaneous reaction to something comical. This is what we call a belly-laugh, and it produces a sing-songy sound.

Adults use both types of laughter equally, but kids don't learn to laugh purposely until later on in life. In children, the ability to laugh is developed before the ability to speak. However, young children produce mostly voiced laughs. _(3)_

For children with autism, laughter is one of the few ways they can communicate with the outside world. _(4)_ A likely reason for this is that children with autism don't quite fit into the social situations around them. Researchers now hope that laughter can be used to help those children express themselves more. _(5)_ So laugh a little laugh to convey a big message to the world.

(A) The other type of laughter is voiced.

(B) With help, there is hope that through laughter, autistic children can also develop better communication skills.

(C) With time, they understand the social messaging of laughter and develop their own ways of purposely laughing in response to a wide range of stimuli.

(D) Recent studies now show that laughter can be added as a way to send these kinds of messages.

(E) However, a study shows that autistic children use laughter in a different way and that they use mostly voiced laughter.

　　我们每天都用手势、眼神交流及言语来向身边的人传递社交讯息。近来的研究显示『笑』也是传送这些讯息的方式之一。笑所能表达的不仅只有『我觉得这很好笑』，这种想法似乎很怪异，但有多少次朋友在发牢骚时你会暗自发笑，或是对无礼的事你会轻蔑地发出哼一声？这些都是笑能表达出情绪的例子。这类的笑被称为『无声的笑』，因为要制造这种笑声不太需要用到声带，而且是刻意被表现出来的。另一类的笑则是有声的。有声的笑是对滑稽的事所产生的自然反应。这就是所谓的捧腹大笑，产生的是有节奏起伏的声音。

　　成人使用这两种笑的机率相当，但孩童是在后来的生活中才学会刻意地笑。孩童发展笑的能力比说话的能力来得早。不过，较小的孩童大多只会发出有声的笑。随着时间，他们了解到笑的社交沟通功能，而为了响应各式各样的刺激，他们会发展出自己刻意笑出来的方式。

　　对患有自闭症的孩童而言，笑是他们能与外在世界沟通的少数几种方法之一。然而，一项研究指出自闭症孩童的笑和一般人不同，而且他们大多是制造有声的笑。造成这种情形可能的原因是，自闭症孩童并不太能融入他们周遭的社交情境中。研究人员现在希望利用笑来帮助这些孩童更能表达自我。在协助下，自闭症孩童或许有希望能藉由笑来发展更好的沟通技巧。所以笑一笑，向这世界传达意义非凡的讯息吧。

标准答案: 1. (D)　2. (A)　3. (C)　4. (E)　5. (B)