单选题 Humor Me Breaking into your office's testosterone-fuelled comedy clique(派系.(小)集团)can be tough—and even more so if you're a woman. Jaq Bayles reports on how to get in on the gag. A woman walks into a bar. The barman says: "Sorry love, this joke won't work. Women just aren't funny." You know, women can be quite funny. Funnier even whisper it--than men. So why then does the stereotype of men as the leaders of office banter(玩笑)persist? And is there any truth in it? Jill Edwards is a former stand-up comic who has been coaching aspiring comedy stars for 15 years—her "graduates" include Jimmy Carr. A conversation with a corporate trainer working at Imperial College prompted her to start a workshop -–Presenting with Humor for business—initially aimed at scientists and engineers who had to explain complex concepts to lay people(外行) Soon she was adapting her ideas for women in business, following a workshop for Sussex Enterprise where she realized they were a key market. Edwards says: " Loads o women came up to me afterwards and said things like: 'So often I am the only woman in the room and the men seem to be really comfortable with humor in a way that I'm not. I want to be able to connect with them on a level of humor.'" So why is it that women don't feel comfortable with humor in the workplace? Edwards says the main issue is a lack of confidence. And that performing stand-up can be a way of overcoming that. "They feel that if they can stand on a stage and make people laugh, they can do anything," she says. When it comes to learning to be funny, this lack of confidence means women have to work harder. "There is no truth in the notion that women are not funny but there is truth in the notion that women tend to be less confident." Edwards says."A lot of the time teaching people to use humor is about empowering them to feel confident, getting across the fact that of course they're funny. If they have ever laughed in their lives, even once then they have a sense of humor." Dr Michael Lowis is a psychologist who has conducted research into the nature of humor, and on age and gender differences in humor appreciation. He has also come across many women who feel left out by men when it comes to humor--in one case, even within her own family."One woman said she felt left out because her family was led by her husband who always used a lot of banter and joking," he says. Lowis believes that comedy can be used as a coping strategy. "In the workplace men and women can feel put-on by the cynical and sarcastic humor of a male boss and not know how to react," he says."Humor is a cruel thing and the way to counter that is learn how to respond appropriately, giving a bit back." "With humor you can do that. If you tell a boss you don't like what he's doing, it's confrontational, whereas to do it with humor, the biter is being bitten back. You can say you only meant it as a joke and you can get away with it, even if it's intentionally vindictive(报复性的) The female stand-up Shazia Mirza, who used to be a teacher, agrees that men and women use humor in different ways."Blokes have that thing in the staff room where they can banter with each other and it's all a big laugh, but when a woman joins in, it all of a sudden turns sexual. I don't think men in that situation view women as funny or humorous--it's not our place." "Women should s sit down and have a cup of tea and a chit-chat, not banter across the room. It's seen as aggressive and masculine(男性的,男子气概的).When you tell a man you do stand-up they go: 'Oh, are you a lesbian? It's seen as a man's job. Men can view women as amusing--you can make a quip that's amusing--but 'ha ha' funny? That's a guys' thing." Changing that perception can help to change people's perspective in other areas, says Edwards. "By challenging one belief, that women can't be funny, you can then challenge the next one--for instance, that women can't be managers." When Judith Secker, who is a professional development adviser at the Oxford Learning Institute at Oxford University, wanted to address the gender disparity(性别差异) at senior levels in the university where women are seriously under-represented (未被充分代表的),she turned to Edwards."I enjoy comedy myself and thought it might be useful to learn a few tricks," Secker says."I felt it was something that would give women more confidence." Dr Deborah Goberdahn, a research lecturer in the department of physiology, anatomy and genetics, says the workshop helped hugely in changing her perspective. "I do experience that banter with male colleagues at meetings and it's hard to know how to fit in as a woman. Seeing that there is female humor is quite exciting and refreshing. It seems that the notion of women in a humorous setting is not really encouraged in society." So how does Edwards get women to use comedy in their working lives? She is protective of her methods, but says they include working with the classic set-up/punch line(关键语,妙语) of stand-up. "The set-up is just a piece of information, the punch line is just a comment--a witty, humorous comment about that piece of information. Within a presentation, everything you say is information, so everything is potentially a set-up." "The key to using humor in a presentation is to make it look as though you're not. All you have to do is remember to pause--take a breath, pause, don't gabble it, then if nobody laughs it doesn't matter because nobody knows you're trying to be funny." But if it works, you're on to a real winner because as the Italian satirist and playwright Dario Fo said: "If they're laughing, they're listening" Applying these techniques in the workplace did the trick for Vicki Davies, national accounts manager(客户经理) for Anheuser-Busch, who works in a predominately male environment and often finds that translating into a "me against them" scenario."When it's a group of guys against women you tend to be put on the back foot because of in-jokes, but if you can roll with it, that helps to put you at ease" "When I had done the course I found the things I said had more impact and my presentations were more humble and real." "But it's not just about presentation skills, it's about getting your point across—not trying to be too funny, but humoring yourself. People who try too hard to be funny tend to get the balance wrong."小题:As for Vicki Davies, which of the following is NOT true according to the text