Man is the only【B1】that laughs. Why is this true? What makes us respond as we do to pleasu
We are not short【B3】theories to explain the mystery; For centuries, biologists, psychologists, and medical men have been seeking a definitive explanation of laughter. One writer put【B4】the theory that its function is to frighten others or to humiliate them. Another took the opposite【B5】that we laugh in order not to cry. A psychologist offered the explanation that laughter functions【B6】a remedy to painful experiences, and that it serves to protect a person【B7】what the psychologist called "the many minor pains to which man is exposed". In the seventeenth century a writer set【B8】the theory that we laugh when we compare ourselves with others and find ourselves superior to others; in effect, we laugh at the【B9】of others.
Almost every theory has been concerned【B10】either the structure or the function of laughter,【B11】relatively few have been devoted【B12】the question of its origin. I propose to offer a theory which, so far as I am concerned, has not previously been set forth.【B13】only those animals capable of speech are capable of laughter; and that therefore man, being the only animal that【B14】, is the only animal that can laugh.
Those of us who have【B15】chimpanzees closely feel quite confident that chimpanzees occasionally【B16】behavior. that looks very much like a primitive human laughter. This【B17】, however, has been observed only in a humanlike way; whether or not it is laughter is doubtful; but the【B18】fact that under any condition an ape is capable of【B19】behavior. is no more than passing interest—for【B20】only indicates that early man had the basic laughter.
【B1】
A.beast
B.animal
C.creatures
D.microorganism