What are You Laughing at Reading Answers

Dec 26, 2022

What are You Laughing at Reading Answers is a topic discussing how the evolution different forms of laughs originated. The given IELTS topic has been taken from the book called “IELTS Writing”. The topic named What are You Laughing at Reading Answers comes with 13 sets of questions. Three different sorts of questions are included in this particular topic, such as, choose the correct letter, choose the correct option, and True/False/Not Given. The candidates should read thoroughly the IELTS reading passage in order to recognize the synonyms and identify the keywords and for answering the questions below. Similar kinds of topics like What are You Laughing at Reading Answers are included in the IELTS reading practice papers, which the candidates can take into their consideration for performing a good score in this section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

What are You Laughing at Reading Answers

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.’
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.

Section 2

Solution With Explanation

Questions 1-6

Read the passage given and match the correct person with the correct incident (questions 1-6)
Match each incident (1-6) with the correct person A, B, C, or D.
Write the correct option, A, B, C, or D, for 1-6 on your answer sheet.
NB any letter can be used for more than one.

Tom Flamson
Elke Zimmerman
Robert Provine
Jaak Panksepp

(Guide: Candidates need to read the passage and match the questions with the correct options from A to D)

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: The fourth line of paragraph D states that according to Elke Zimmerman who was the head in the Zoological institute of Germany, the sounds that are made of laughters by tickling the babies and chimps are identical

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 ending line of paragraph E states that the research of Bowling Green State University professor Jaak Panksepp, who studies the ultrasonic chirps made by rats during play or in response to tickling, has provided the most compelling evidence to date for laughter in animals other than primates.

Laughter means that we feel safe and easy with others.

Answer: A
Supporting sentence: And as a result, they got bounded to us, which seems like showcasing trust.’
Keyword: Trust, Flamson.
Keyword location: Section F, last line
Explanation: Tom Flasmson states in the ending line of paragraph F states that by laughing with each other we creates a bond and trust which implies safety.

Instead of humor laughter is a response to a polite stion.

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: Provine also has a bel that most of the laughter comes as a polite interaction between people such as ‘see you later’, rather than something funny.
Keyword: polite interaction, signal.
Keyword location: Section B, 2nd line.
Explanation: As per Robert Provine of paragraph B’s second line, laughter often generates from a polite interaction between the pupils rather than a humorous interaction.

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: According to the belief of Elke Zimmerman in the seventh line of paragraph D, the laughter of animals emerged prior to the laughter of humans.

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 funny.
Keyword: polite interaction, signal.
Keyword location: Section B, 2nd line.
Explanation: Robert Provine, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland in line 2 of paragraph B explained that by the means of laughter, social interactions like ‘see you later’ can be made.

Questions 7-10
Fill in the blanks using the list of words, A-K, below.

Write the correct option, A-K, for 7-10 on your answer sheet.

Some researchers have a belief that laughter first evolved out of 7………………………. From the investigation, we found that chimp and human bay laughter may have the same 8……………………….. Besides, scientists were aware that 9……………………….. laugh, but now it seems that laughter might be more widespread than we once thought. Although the reasons behind the beginning of human laughter are still unknown, it seems that laughter may result from the 10………………………. that we feel with another person.

A evolution	B chirps	C origins	D voice
E confidence	F rats	G primates	H response
I play	J children	K tickling	-

(Guide: Candidates need to fill the blanks by selecting from the list of options in the box)

Question 7:

Answer:: I
Supporting sentence: To find the origins of laughter, Provine believes we need to look at the play.
Keyword: play, provide
Keyword location: Section C, 1st line
Explanation: Line 1 of paragraph C implies that according to Provine, laughter first evolved by the means of play.

Question 8:

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: 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.
Keyword: Chimpanzee, Baby, similar pattern
Keyword location: Section D, 6th line
Explanation: Elke Zimmerman in the sixth line of paragraph D describes that the origins of the laughter of both the chimpanzees and babies have a similar source.

Question 9:

Answer: G
Supporting sentence: 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.
Keyword: Common laughter, primates.
Keyword location: Section E, 4th line
Explanation: Jaak Panksepp from Bowling Green State University explains in the fourth line of paragraph E that the ultrasonic chirps made by rats during play and in response to tickling, however, provide the strongest evidence for laughter outside of primates to date.

Question 10:

Answer: E
Supporting sentence: And they get bonded to us as a result, which certainly seems like a show of trust.
Keyword: Trust, Flamson.
Keyword location: Section F, last line
Explanation: The ending part of paragraph F implies that by the means of laughter, a trustworthy relationship is created in between human beings.

Questions 11-13

Write down the following statements if you agree with the information given in Passage 1?
In boxes for questions 11-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if it is a true statement
FALSE if it is a false statement
NOT GIVEN if the passage doesn't contain the information
(Guide: Candidates need to answer the questions by identifying as True or False or Not Given)

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.
Keywords: Men, Women
Keyword location: Section B, last line
Explanation: The ending line of paragraph B suggests that men laugh more in front of men for their bonds, whereas, women, on the other hand, laugh more in presence of a man. This is an indication of flirtatious behavior. So, the statement is regarded as a FALSE ONE.

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

Answer: TRUE
Supporting sentence: What was started with the breathing associated with playful and enjoyable interaction, has now a symbolic meaning that indicates pleasure.
Keywords: Chimpanzee, Baby, Zimmerman
Keyword location: Section D, 6th line
Explanation: The sixth line of paragraph D implies that alike humans who can control their breathing at the time of laughing, primates are unable to do it sufficiently. Hence, the assertion is a TRUE one.

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

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: There is no available justified information in the above context through which we can prove the validity of this statement.

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