针对2011年考研英语完型填空题的出处和答案,贾洪伟老师给予详细解密。2011年考研完型填空题出自Scientific American的Mind &Brain(大脑与思维专栏)，是由Steve Ayan所写的How Humor Makes You Friendlier, Sexier: Seeing the bright side of life may strengthen the psyche, ease pain and tighten social bonds（《幽默使人更友好、更性感》）发表于 2009年3月25号（参见http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=laughing-matters）。该题系上文的Amusing Exercises部分，现引录如下，以供参考。

Amusing Exercise
  Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle viewed laughter as “a bodily exercise precious to health.” But (1)despite some claims to the contrary, chuckling probably has little influence on physical fitness. Laughter does (2) produce short-term changes in cardiovascular function and respiration, (3) boosting heart rate, respiratory rate and depth, as well as oxygen consumption. But because hard laughter is difficult to (4 )sustain, a good guffaw is unlikely to have (5) measurable cardiovascular benefits the way, say, walking or ­jogging does.

  (6)In fact, instead of straining muscles to build them, as exercise does, laughter apparently accomplishes the (7) opposite. Studies dating back to the 1930s indicate that laughter (8) relaxes muscles, decreasing muscle tone for up to 45 minutes after the guffaw subsides.

  Such physical relaxation might conceivably help (9) moderate the effects of psychological stress. After all, the act of laughing probably does produce other types of (10) physical feedback that improve an individual’s emotional state. (11) According to one classical theory of emotion, our feelings are partially rooted (12) in physical reactions. American psychologist William James and Danish physiologist Carl Lange argued at the end of the 19th century that humans do not cry (13) because they are sad but that they become sad when the tears begin to flow.

  Although sadness also (14) precedes tears, evidence suggests that emotions can flow (15) from muscular responses. In an experiment published in 1988, social psychologist Fritz Strack of the University of Würzburg in Germany and his colleagues asked volunteers to (16) hold a pen either with their teeth—thereby creating an artificial smile—or with their lips, which would produce a (17) disappointed expression. Those forced to exercise their smiling muscles (18)reacted more exuberantly to funny cartoons than did those whose mouths were contracted in a frown, (19) suggesting that expressions may influence emotions rather than just the other way around. (20) Similarly, the physical act of laughter could improve mood.

正确答案为：

CDBBA, BADCA, BCDCB, DADAC

    不论从题材还是问题难度，2011年完型填空题都比2010年简单许多，适合出题顺序，有益于考生热身练习。从考察的角度看，考察点较为合理，但似乎语篇连接词所占比例过大。此外，词汇难度似乎有所超出2010年的难度，但对考生答题不构成破坏性威胁。