A
An old English saying says, "Laughter is the best medicine.”
Norman Cousins worked for a magazine called Saturday Review for almost forty years. He also wrote articles about peace, traveling to many different countries to share his ideas.
In the 1960s, after returning to the United States from a busy and tiring trip to Europe, Mr Cousins got sick. In less than a week after he got back, he could not stand. Every move that he made was painful. He was not able to sleep at night. The doctors told Mr Cousins that they did not know how to cure (治疗) his problem and he might never get over the illness. Mr Cousins, however, refused to give up hope.
Mr Cousins thought that the illness could be caused by unhappy thoughts. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead, he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.
He began to experiment on himself while still in the hospital by watching comedy shows on television. Mr Cousins quickly found that ten minutes of real laughter during the day gave him two hours of sleep without pain at night.
Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For eight days, Mr Cousins rested in the hotel room watching comedy shows on television, reading funny books, and sleeping whenever he felt tired. Within three weeks, he felt well enough to have a holiday to Puerto Rico, where he began running on the beach for exercise. After a few months，Mr Cousins was able to carry on his work. He had laughed himself back to health.
1. What is the text mainly about？
A. a funny person B. an amazing life
C. an interesting cure D. a medical experiment
12. How did the doctors respond to Mr. Cousins’ illness?
A. They promised to cure him. B. They didn’t think he was really sick.
C. They told him not to give up hope. D. They said they were unable to help him.
13.Mr. Cousins thought that he could be cured by ____________.
A. thinking happily and laughing
B. writing comedies and being positive
C. taking a holiday and taking good care of himself
D. running on the beach and relaxing
14. What did Mr. Cousins refuse to do on his experiments with laughter?
A. Watch funny TV shows. B. Read funny books.
C. Sleep whenever he feels tired. D. Take medicine.
15. What happened to Mr. Cousins at last?
A. He went back to the hospital. B. He recovered from the illness.
C. He wrote funny books. D. He gave up his cure.
