Page 49 - Success Plus English Language and Literature Class 10

Practice Papers

5. has played more than 300 English Premier League Games.
6. The naming system does not have surnames.

7. Which of the following words is NOT synonymous with ‘unheralded’ (paragraph 3)?
a. reputed b. unsung c. unknown d. little-known

8. Which of the following is a female name in Icelandic?
a. Einarsson b. Jonsdottir c. Rasmussen d. Hallgrimsson

B Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions. (12 marks)

Laughter, the Best Medicine?
1) They say laughter is the best medicine, but surprisingly, not much research has been done on
this subject. However, a few studies relying on laboratory testing do show that laughter has
benefits.
2) According to experts, a good belly laugh leads to the release of endorphins or pleasure-
inducing neurotransmitters from the brain. That release sets off a cascade of heart-healthy
biological events – increasing blood flow, lessening inflammation and reducing the formation of
cholesterol plaque.
3) A 2005 study measured the blood flow of twenty volunteers before and after watching a funny
movie and a sad movie. After the sad movie, blood flow was more restricted in fourteen of
the twenty viewers. But after the movie that made them laugh, average blood flow increased
by 22 per cent. Experts also say that the best laugh is one that brings tears to our eyes. Their
prescription: at least thirty minutes of exercise at least three times a week – and fifteen minutes
of daily laughter.

4) Funding for laughter and humour research is low – so low that when Mary Bennett, director of
the Western Kentucky University School of Nursing, wanted to look into the effect of laughter
on the immune system, she found herself asking other researchers for vials and other equipment
from their labs. “It’s hard to get taken seriously when you say you study laughter,” she says.

5) But her study of thirty-three healthy women, published in 2003, showed that those who laughed
at a humorous movie had higher levels of natural killer cell activity, which increased their ability
to fight off diseases, but the effect was seen only in the subjects who laughed out loud, not in
those who quietly watched the movie.

6) Also, some studies on this subject have given contradictory results. Humour and laughter may
improve muscle tone, though only when someone is laughing, and some studies do show that a
good laugh can help reduce stress hormones. But other studies show that laughter doesn’t affect
those hormones, according to a review of the study published by Bennett.

7) No doubt, a cartoon, a good joke or an hour spent with the Marx Brothers can feel therapeutic.
But when Bennett, who has spent much of her career studying laughter and poring over the
research literature, is asked whether laughter cures or prevents any disease, her quick answer is
a simple “No”. However, she adds, “I think it’s a useful adjunct of real medicine.”

– Susan Brink, The National Geographic (modified)

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