以下为课件内提取的文本内容，仅供参考：

Laughing Matter

1. What is comedy?

2. What is Dustin Hoffman famous for?

3. Why are some of Shakespeare’s comedies not so funny for us?

4. How can clowns help people?

5. What is difference between clown and comedian?

6. What is sketch?

7. What is crosstalk show?

8. When did the crosstalk show or xiangsheng shows date back ?

Answer these questions.

(1)_____ (Fun / Funny) plays make us laugh. Clowns make people, (2)_____ (most / mostly) children, laugh with the way they are dressed, look or walk, while comedians(3)_____(amuse / amusing) the audience with what they say or how they act. Crosstalk shows, or xiangsheng, (4)______(typical / typically) for China, have (5)______ (existed / existence) for more than two thousand years. They still remain a major form of (6)_________ (entertain / entertainment) to Chinese people.

(7)_______ (Laugh / Laughter) is the best medicine in life. We often find people who have a good sense of (8)_____ (humor / humorous) more (9)________ (attract / attractive). Some people think they can only understand jokes of their own culture. (10)

_______ (Actual / Actually) people of all (11) _________(national / nationalities) often (12) _________ (appreciate / appreciation) the same jokes.

Read the following passage and choose the right word to fill in each blank.

Funny

mostly

amuse

typical

existed

entertainment

Laughter

humor

attractive

Actually

nationalities

appreciate

Laugh-ing

Matter

Four forms of humor

Chinese cross

-talk show

comedian

clown

comedy

What is comedy?

act alone or as a pair

techniques

work alone or as a pair

techniques

body language and face

acting out a sketch

playing with words

make people laugh, think about life

work in pairs and a long history

techniques

using body language,

their clothes,

their make-up and

the way they walk

techniques

telling an amusing story

acting out stereotypes

word play

cross-dressing

word play; making jokes

and funny conversation;

acting out small sketches;

tongue twisters

Homework

Write a short crosstalk and act it out.