English people are famous for their humour (幽默). {#blank#}1{#/blank#} it is often difficult for foreigners to understand their jokes. The main thing to {#blank#}2{#/blank#} is that English people often use understatement.

    Understatement means saying less{#blank#}3{#/blank#}you think or feel. For example, if {#blank#}4{#/blank#}gets very wet in a shower of rain, he might say, "It's a little damp (潮湿的) {#blank#}5{#/blank#}" Or, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person {#blank#}6{#/blank#} people might say, "He isn't exactly friendly." People often use understatement in unpleasant (使人不愉快的) {#blank#}7{#/blank#} or to make another person look silly.

    Also, English people like to make fun of themselves as well as others. The comedy (喜剧) 'Mr Bean' is a(n) {#blank#}8{#/blank#}example of this kind of humour. Mr Bean always speaks as little as {#blank#}9{#/blank#} in the comedy. He always {#blank#}10{#/blank#} to use his body to make people happy. Maybe what makes Mr Bean so funny is that he does things that people in the real world will never do.

I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} find the way to the hospital. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} you show me the way?

    Years ago, many zoos kept all kinds of animals in small cages. Small cages made it easy for people to see the animals, but a small cage is not a good place for an animal to{#blank#}1{#/blank#}free.

    Today zoos keep animals in different kinds of cages. The cages are very big and{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. They usually have plants and lakes. The cages look like the animals' habitats (栖息地).

    Zoos help to{#blank#}3{#/blank#}all kinds of animals. How do zoos do this? Zoos teach people how animals live in the wild. Zoos want people to help protect the animals' wild habitats. Many plants and animals are going extinct. Mammoths(长毛象), {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Asian elephants, are now extinct, There are no mammoths in the world today. Scientists say that seventy-four different kinds of living things go extinct every day!