The joke before the joke
Original non-fiction-style practice text.
Before the first comedian appeared, the host taught us how to laugh. We were to be generous, loud and ready to enjoy ourselves. He practised a cheer until the room sounded sufficiently pleased. I began to worry that the evening's hardest work would be proving we were having an easy time.
An audience should give an unfamiliar performer a fair chance. Silence can be cruel when people have decided in advance not to listen. But laughter extracted before anybody has said anything funny is a strange form of kindness. It makes approval the entrance fee rather than the result of the performance.
The first comedian ignored the lesson. She opened quietly, waited through an uncertain pause and earned a laugh which arrived unevenly but belonged to us. I trusted that sound more than the splendid noise we had rehearsed.
Assess the writer’s attitude towards the comedy host’s demand for laughter. Use three details from the text to support your answer.
40 exam-style questions on CIE IGCSE English Language 4.3.3 Question 2(b) attitudes and opinions. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.