The Origins Of Laughter IELTS Reading Passage with Answers

The Origins Of Laughter IELTS Reading Passage with Answers

Reading Passage 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

The Origins Of Laughter

A. We like to think that laughing is the height of human sophistication. Our big brains let us see the humour in a strategically positioned pun, an unexpected plot twist or a clever piece of wordplay. But while joking and wit are uniquely human inventions, laughter certainly is not. Other creatures, including chimpanzees, gorillas, and even rats, chuckle. Obviously, they don’t crack up at Homer Simpson or titter at the boss’s dreadful jokes, but the fact that they laugh in the first place suggests that sniggers and chortles have been around for a lot longer than we have. It points the way to the origins of laughter, suggesting a much more practical purpose than you might think.

B. There is no doubt that laughing typically involves groups of people. ‘Laughter evolved as a signal to others – it almost disappears when we are alone,’ says Robert Provine, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland. Provine found that most laughter comes as a polite reaction to everyday remarks such as ‘see you later’, rather than anything particularly funny. And the way we laugh depends on the company we’re keeping. Men tend to laugh longer and harder when they are with other men, perhaps as a way of bonding. Women tend to laugh more and at a higher pitch when men are present, possibly indicating flirtation or even submission.

C. To find the origins of laughter, Provine believes we need to look at the play. He points out that the masters of laughing are children, and nowhere is their talent more obvious than in the boisterous antics, and the original context plays,’ he says. Well-known primate watchers, including Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, have long argued that chimps laugh while at play. The sound they produce is known as a panting laugh. It seems obvious when you watch their behaviour – they even have the same ticklish spots as we do. But remove the context, and the parallel between human laughter and a chimp’s characteristic pant laugh is not so clear. When Provine played a tape of the pant laughs to 119 of his students, for example, only two guessed correctly what it was.

D. These findings underline how chimp and human laughter vary. When we laugh the sound is usually produced by chopping up a single exhalation into a series of shorter with one sound produced on each inward and outward breath. The question is: does this pant laughter have the same source as our own laughter? New research lends weight to the idea that it does. The findings come from Elke Zimmerman, head of the Institute for Zoology in Germany, who compared the sounds made by babies and chimpanzees in response to tickling during the first year of their life. Using sound spectrographs to reveal the pitch and intensity of vocalizations, she discovered that chimp and human baby laughter follow broadly the same pattern. Zimmerman believes the closeness of baby laughter to chimp laughter supports the idea that laughter was around long before humans arrived on the scene. What started simply as a modification of breathing associated with enjoyable and playful interactions has acquired a symbolic meaning as an indicator of pleasure.

E. Pinpointing when laughter developed is another matter. Humans and chimps share a common ancestor that lived perhaps 8 million years ago, but animals might have been laughing long before that. More distantly related primates, including gorillas, laugh, and anecdotal evidence suggests that other social mammals may do too. Scientists are currently testing such stories with a comparative analysis of just how common, laughter is, among animals. So far, though, the most compelling evidence for laughter beyond primates comes from research done by Jaak Panksepp from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, into the ultrasonic chirps produced by rats during play and in response to tickling.

F. All this still doesn’t answer the question of why we laugh at all. One idea is that if laughter and tickling originated as a way of sealing the relationship between mother and child. Another is that the reflex response to tickling is protective, alerting us to the presence of crawling creatures that might harm us or compelling us to defend the parts of our bodies that are most vulnerable in hand-to-hand combat. But the idea that has gained most popular in recent years is that laughter in response to tickling is a way for two individuals to signal and test their trust in one another. This hypothesis starts from the observation that although a little tickle can be enjoyable if it goes on too long it can be torture. By engaging in a bout of tickling, we put ourselves at the mercy of another individual, and laughing is a signal that our laughter is what makes it a reliable signal of trust according to Tom Flamson, a laughter researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles. ‘Even in rats, laughter, tickle, play, and trust are linked. Rats chirp a lot when they play, ‘says Flamson. ‘These chirps can be aroused by tickling. And they get bonded to us as a result, which certainly seems like a show of trust.’

G. We’ll never know which animal laughed the first laugh, or why. But we can be sure it wasn’t in response to a prehistoric joke. The funny thing is that while the origins of laughter are probably quite serious, we owe human laughter and our language-based humour to the same unique skill. While other animals pant, we alone can control our breath well enough to produce the sound of laughter. Without that control, there would also be no speech – and no jokes to endure.

Questions 1-6
Look at the following research findings (questions 1-6) and the list of people below.
Match each finding with the correct person A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

A Tom Flamson
B Elke Zimmerman
C Robert Provine
D Jaak Panksepp

1. Similar sounds of laughter are produced by Babies and chimps.
2. Laughter Pan is not produced by primates as the only animal.
3. Laughter means that we feel safe and easy with others.
4. Instead of humor laughter is a response to a polite situation.
5. Animal laughter evolved before human laughter
6. Laughter can be defined as a social activity.

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Questions 7-10
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-K, below.
Write the correct letter, A-K, in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

Some researchers believe that laughter first evolved out of 7__________ The investigation has revealed that human and chimp laughter may have the same 8__________ Besides, scientists have been aware that 9__________ laugh, however, it now seems that laughter might be more widespread than once we thought. Although the reasons why humans started to laugh are still unknown, it seems that laughter may result from the 10__________ we feel with another person.

Questions 11-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

11 Both men and women laugh more when they are with members of the same sex.
12 Primates lack sufficient breath control to be able to produce laughs the way humans do.
13 Chimpanzees produce laughter in a wider range of situations than rats do.

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The Origins of Laughter IELTS Reading PassageAnswers

1. B

2. D

3. A

4. C

5. B

6. C

7. I

8. C

9. G

10. E

11. NOT GIVEN

12. TRUE

13. NOT GIVEN

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The Origins of Laughter IELTS Reading Answers Explanation

Q. 1 Similar sounds of laughter are produced by Babies and chimps.

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: The findings offered by Elke Zimmerman, head of the Institute of Zoology in Germany, who made a comparison that the sounds that chimpanzees and babies made in response to tickling during the first year of their life
Keyword: Chimpanzees, laughter.
Keyword Location: Section D, 4th line
Explanation:: here in this line “The findings offered by Elke Zimmerman, head of the Institute of Zoology in Germany, who made a comparison that the sounds that chimpanzees and babies made in response to tickling during the first year of their life” we can clearly see elke Zimmerman was the man who compares the laughter between a chimpanzee and a baby. So B is our required answer.

2. laughter Pan is not produced by primates as the only animal.

Answer: D
Supporting sentence: Till now the most significant evidence for laughter beyond primates we find from the research of Jaak Panksepp professor of Bowling Green State University, Ohio, into the ultrasonic chirps that are produced by rats at the time of playing or in response to tickling.
Keyword: Primates, Jaak Panksepp
Keyword Location: Section E, last line
Explanation:: ‘the most significant evidence for laughter beyond primates we find from the research of Jaak Panksepp professor of Bowling Green State University’ this line proves that jaak Panksepp is the man who proves primates are not the only one who can laugh. So D is the correct option.

3. Laughter means that we feel safe and easy with others.

Answer: A
Supporting sentence: ‘Even the laughter, tickle, play, and trust are linked in rats. They chirp a lot during play time’, says Tom Flamson.’ may be tickling aroused those chirps. And as a result, they got bounded to us, which seems like showcasing trust.’
Keyword: Trust, Flamson.
Keyword Location: Section F, last line
Explanation:: ‘And as a result, they got bounded to us, which seems like showcasing trust.’ This line is said by Tom Flamson. Showcasing trust indirectly means they feel safe. So option A is correct.

4. Instead of humor laughter is a response to a polite situation.

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: ‘Laughter is like a signal to others – and almost disappears when we are alone.’ Says Robert Provine, who is a neuroscientist of the University of Maryland. Provine also has a belief that most of the laughter comes as a polite interaction between people such as ‘see you later’, rather than something funny. IELTSXpress
Keyword: polite interaction, signal.
Keyword Location: Section B, 2nd line.
Explanation:: ‘Provine also believes most of the laughter comes as a polite interaction between people such as ‘see you later’, rather than something funny.’ Here it is mentioned provine believes laughter is just a polite interaction or social activity between two people.

5. Animal laughter evolved way before human laughter

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: Zimmerman believes the similarities between the laughter of babies and chimpanzees support the theory that the laughter of animals evolved way before humans arrived on the scene.
Keyword: Zimmerman, Chimpanzees
Keyword Location: Section D, 7th line
Explanation:: The supporting sentence provides an explanation of why the selected answer is correct. The sentence states that Zimmerman counted on the fact that there were similarities between the laughter of babies and chimpanzees.

6. Laughter can be defined as a social activity.

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: ‘Laughter is like a signal to others – and almost disappears when we are alone.’ Says Robert Provine, who is a neuroscientist of the University of Maryland. Provine also has a belief that most of the laughter comes as a polite interaction between people such as ‘see you later’, rather than something IELTSXpress funny.
Keyword: polite interaction, signal.
Keyword Location: Section B, 2nd line.
Explanation:: ‘Provine also believes most of the laughter comes as a polite interaction between people such as ‘see you later’, rather than something funny.’ Here it is mentioned that provine believes laughter is just a polite interaction or social activity between two people.

Question 7:

Answer:: I
Supporting sentence: Provine believes if we want to find the origins of laughter we should look at the play.
Keyword: play, provide
Keyword Location: Section C, 1st line
Explanation:: ‘Provine believes if we want to find the origins of laughter we should look at the play.’ This sentence clearly indicates the answer is play or option I

Question 8:

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: She found that a human baby and chimpanzee laughs with a similar pattern. Zimmerman thought that the closeness between the laughter of a human baby and chimpanzee supports that the idea of laughter was there way before the human arrived at the scene. What was started with the breathing associated with playful and enjoyable interaction, has now a symbolic meaning that indicates pleasure.
Keyword: Chimpanzee, Baby, Zimmerman
Keyword Location: Section D, 6th line
Explanation:: ‘Zimmerman thought that the closeness between the laughter of human babies and chimpanzee supports that the idea of laughter was there way before the human arrived in the scene. What was started with the breathing associated with playful and enjoyable interaction, has now a symbolic meaning that indicates pleasure? From this line, we can understand the origin of human and chimp laughter is the same. We just modified our laughter style over time.

Question 9:

Answer: G
Supporting sentence: scientists are now researching how common is laughter among animals. Till now the most significant evidence for laughter beyond primates we find from the research of Jaak Panksepp professor of Bowling Green State University, Ohio, into the ultrasonic chirps that are produced by rats at the time of playing or in response to tickling.
Keyword: Common laughter, primates.
Keyword Location: Section E, 4th line
Explanation:: ‘Till now the most significant evidence for laughter beyond primates we find from the research of Jaak Panksepp’ this line indicates primates can laugh.

Question 10:

Answer: E
Supporting sentence: Even laughter, tickle, play, and trust are linked in rats. They chirp a lot during play time’, says Tom Flamson.’ may be tickling aroused those chirps. And as a result, they got bounded to us, which seems like showcasing trust.
Keyword: Trust, Flamson.
Keyword Location: Section F, last line
Explanation:: ‘And as a result, they got bound to us, which seems like showcasing trust.’ This line indicates we laugh when we trust someone. As trust builds confidence so option E should be correct

Question 11. Men and women both laugh more when they have a company of members of the same sex.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting sentence: Men use to laugh more when they have the company of other men, probably for bonding. On the other hand, women use to laugh harder and more when there is a man present with them, probably a sign of flirtation or even submission.
Keywords: Men, Women
Keyword Location: Section B, last line
Explanation:: ‘Men use to laugh more when they have the company of other men, probably for bonding. On the other hand, women used to laugh harder and more when there is a man present with them, probably a sign of flirtation or even submission.’ Indicates Woman laughs more when with men but men laugh more with men only. So given statement is false.

Question 12: Primates don’t have sufficient breath-controlling ability to be able to produce laughs the way humans do.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting sentence: Zimmerman thought that the closeness between the laughter of human baby and chimpanzees supports that the idea of laughter was there way before the human arrived in the scene. What was started with the breathing associated with playful and enjoyable interaction, has now a symbolic meaning that indicates pleasure.
Keywords: Chimpanzee, Baby, Zimmerman, IELTSXpress
Keyword Location: Section D, 6th line
Explanation:: ‘What was started with the breathing associated with playful and enjoyable interaction, has now a symbolic meaning that indicates pleasure.’ This line indicates primates could laugh before humans but their laugh was not a symbol of pleasure as humans.

Question 13. Chimpanzees have a wider range of situations when they can produce laughter than rats do.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation:: There is no mention of the fact whether chimpanzees had a wider range of situations that resulted in laughter than rats did. Therefore, the selected answer is ‘Not Given’.

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