EigoPro 準1級 読解 — Why We Laugh

Ask most people why they laugh and they will point to jokes. Yet the comedian's punchline accounts for only a sliver of human laughter. When psychologists eavesdropped on thousands of conversations in public places, they found that the overwhelming majority of laughs followed remarks that were not remotely funny—greetings, mild observations, even questions. Stranger still, the person doing the talking laughed more often than the listener. Laughter, it turns out, is less a response to comedy than a kind of social glue, a signal we exchange to smooth the friction of being together. This view is reinforced by a curious asymmetry: we are roughly thirty times more likely to laugh in company than alone. Solitary laughter does occur, but it is rare and often prompted by an imagined audience. Evolutionary psychologists argue that the behaviour predates language itself, originating in the breathy "play panting" that chimpanzees produce during rough-and-tumble games. On this account, laughter began as a reassurance—a way of broadcasting that an apparent threat was only mock aggression, that the rough play could safely continue. What started as a primate signal of safety was gradually co-opted by our species into a sophisticated tool for managing relationships. If laughter is a signal rather than a verdict on wit, its contagiousness makes sense. Hearing others laugh activates regions of the brain that prepare us to join in, which is precisely why broadcasters once resorted to canned laughter to coax audiences into mirth. But the signal can be counterfeited, and we are remarkably good at detecting the fraud. Genuine, involuntary laughter is acoustically distinct from the polite, deliberate sort we manufacture to fill an awkward pause. Listeners can tell the two apart within seconds, even across unfamiliar cultures. That we have evolved such finely tuned detectors suggests how much rides, socially, on getting the signal right—and how costly it is to fake the warmth that laughter is meant to convey.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

  • Laughter functions primarily as a social signal that bonds people rather than as a reaction to humour.
  • People laugh just as readily when they are alone as when they are with others.
  • Laughter evolved in humans entirely separately from any animal behaviour.
  • Comedians and jokes are the principal cause of most human laughter.
Phrase

Laughter ... is less a response to comedy than a kind of social glue

準1級読解心理学主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文の論旨は「笑いはユーモアへの反応ではなく、人を結びつける社会的シグナルだ」。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Laughter functions primarily as a social signal that bonds people rather than as a reaction to humour.」

正解

第1段は「笑いの大半は面白くない発言の後に起きる」「話し手の方が聞き手より多く笑う」と示し、laughter is less a response to comedy than a kind of social glue と結論する。続く段でも「シグナルとしての笑い」が一貫して論じられる。よって「笑いはユーモアへの反応というより人を結びつける社会的シグナルだ」が主旨。

  • 「Comedians and their jokes are by far the principal cause of virtually all human laughter.」

    = 笑いの主因はコメディアンやジョーク ━ 本文は冒頭で『パンチラインは人間の笑いのほんの一部』と明言しており正反対。

  • 「Laughter evolved in human beings entirely separately from any kind of animal behaviour.」

    = 動物の行動と完全に無関係に進化した ━ 第2段は chimpanzees の play panting が起源と述べており、無関係どころか連続性を主張。

  • 「People laugh just as readily when they are entirely alone as when they are with others.」

    = 一人でも他人といる時と同じくらい笑う ━ 本文は『一緒にいる時の方が約30倍笑いやすい』と述べておりこれと矛盾。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
account for ~~を占める/説明するJokes account for only a sliver of laughter.
a sliver of ~~のほんの一部only a sliver of human laughter
less A than BAというよりむしろBless a response than a signal
social glue社会的な接着剤/絆Laughter acts as social glue.
smooth the friction of ~~の摩擦を和らげるto smooth the friction of being together
❝例文

  • Jokes account for only a sliver of human laughter.

    ジョークは人間の笑いのほんの一部しか占めない。

  • Laughter is less a verdict on wit than a social glue.

    笑いは機知への評価というより社会的な絆だ。

  • The signal helps smooth the friction of being together.

    そのシグナルは共にいることの摩擦を和らげるのに役立つ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は第1段末の比喩 (social glue) と less A than B 構文に注目。極端肢 (entirely / just as / principal cause) は本文の限定表現と衝突しやすい。

問 2

According to the passage, what did psychologists discover when they observed conversations in public?

  • Most laughter followed ordinary, non-humorous remarks, and speakers laughed more than listeners.
  • People in public places laughed less often than those observed in private.
  • Listeners laughed far more frequently than the people who were speaking.
  • Laughter occurred almost exclusively in response to deliberate jokes.
Phrase

the overwhelming majority of laughs followed remarks that were not remotely funny ... the person doing the talking laughed more often than the listener

準1級読解心理学詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

観察の発見=笑いの大半は面白くない発言の後で起き、話し手の方が聞き手より多く笑う。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Most laughter followed ordinary, non-humorous remarks, and speakers laughed more than listeners.」

正解

第1段で psychologists eavesdropped on thousands of conversations し、the overwhelming majority of laughs followed remarks that were not remotely funny と発見、さらに the person doing the talking laughed more often than the listener と記す。これを言い換えた「笑いの大半は普通の非ユーモア的な発言に続き、話し手は聞き手より多く笑った」が正解。

  • 「The listeners laughed a great deal more frequently than the people who were speaking.」

    = 聞き手の方が話し手よりずっと多く笑った ━ 本文は逆で『話し手の方が多く笑った』。

  • 「Laughter occurred almost exclusively in direct response to deliberate jokes alone.」

    = ほぼ意図的なジョークへの反応だった ━ 本文は『面白くない発言の後』が大半と述べておりジョークはわずか。

  • 「People in public places laughed a good deal less often than those observed in private.」

    = 私的場面より公的場面で笑いが少なかった ━ 私的観察との比較は本文にない (本文の比較は『一緒/一人』で30倍)。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
eavesdrop on ~~を盗み聞きするThey eavesdropped on conversations.
the overwhelming majority of ~~の圧倒的多数the overwhelming majority of laughs
not remotely ~全く~でないremarks not remotely funny
more often than ~~より頻繁にSpeakers laughed more often than listeners.
follow a remark発言に続いて起こるLaughs followed ordinary remarks.
❝例文

  • The overwhelming majority of laughs followed dull remarks.

    笑いの圧倒的多数は退屈な発言の後に起きた。

  • The speaker laughed more often than the listener.

    話し手は聞き手より頻繁に笑った。

  • The comment was not remotely funny, yet everyone laughed.

    その発言は全く面白くなかったが皆笑った。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は方向 (誰が多い/少ない) の取り違え肢が定番。本文の speaker > listener を listener > speaker に裏返した肢を排除する。

問 3

How do evolutionary psychologists explain the origin of laughter?

  • It emerged independently in humans with no link to primate behaviour.
  • It arose from the play panting of chimpanzees as a signal that rough play was harmless and could continue.
  • It developed only after humans had acquired complex spoken language.
  • It began as a warning to others that a genuine physical threat was present.
Phrase

originating in the breathy "play panting" that chimpanzees produce ... a way of broadcasting that an apparent threat was only mock aggression

準1級読解心理学詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

起源説=チンパンジーの play panting に由来し『荒っぽい遊びは安全だ』と知らせるシグナル。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It arose from the play panting of chimpanzees as a signal that rough play was harmless and could continue.」

正解

第2段で evolutionary psychologists は the behaviour predates language itself と述べ、起源を chimpanzees の play panting に求める。さらに laughter began as a reassurance ━ broadcasting that an apparent threat was only mock aggression, that the rough play could safely continue と説明。よって「チンパンジーの遊びの荒い息に由来し、荒っぽい遊びが無害で続けられると示すシグナルだった」が正解。

  • 「It developed only after human beings had already acquired a fully complex spoken language.」

    = 複雑な言語を獲得した後に発達した ━ 本文は predates language itself (言語より先) と明言しており正反対。

  • 「It began as a warning to all the others that a genuine physical threat was present nearby.」

    = 本物の脅威の存在を知らせる警告だった ━ 本文は『見かけの脅威が mock aggression に過ぎない』と知らせる reassurance であり逆。

  • 「It emerged quite independently in human beings with no link at all to any primate behaviour.」

    = 霊長類と無関係に人間で独自に出現した ━ 霊長類 (chimpanzees) の行動からの連続性を主張しており矛盾。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
originate in ~~に起源を持つLaughter originates in play panting.
predate ~~より前に存在するThe behaviour predates language.
mock aggression見せかけの攻撃It signalled only mock aggression.
be co-opted into ~~へ転用されるco-opted into a social tool
broadcast that ...~だと広く知らせるbroadcasting that the threat was fake
❝例文

  • The signal predates language itself.

    そのシグナルは言語そのものより古い。

  • Play panting reassured rivals that the fight was mock aggression.

    遊びの荒い息は争いが見せかけだと相手に安心させた。

  • The trait was co

    opted into a tool for managing relationships. — その特性は人間関係を扱う道具へと転用された。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

起源・因果の detail は時系列語 (predate / began as / originating in) を拾う。『言語の後』『本物の脅威』のように本文を裏返した肢に注意。

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