Question 9 is based on the passage you have just heard.

        “Too many people view their jobs as a five-day prison, which they are paroled every Friday,” says Joel Goodman, founder of The Humor Project, a humor-consulting group in Saratoga Springs, New York. (9) [Humor unlocks the office prison because it lets adults bring some of their childlike spirit to the job. ]

        According to Howard Pollio, professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, an office with humor breaks is an office with satisfied and productive employees. (10)[Pollio conducted a study that proved humor can help workers excel at routine production tasks.] Employees perform better when they have fun. In large corporations with a hierarchy of power, there is often no outlet for stress. “Every company needs underground ways of poking fun at the organization, ”says Lynn M. Mark, a speaker on workplace humor for Saint Mary’s Health Center in St. Louis.

        Kodak’s Rochester, New York branch discovered a way for its 20,000 employees to uncork their bottled-up resentments. Their 1,000-square-foot “humor room” features a toy store. Among the room’s many stress-reducing gadgets, the main attraction is a boss doll with detachable arms and legs. (11)[ Employees can take the doll apart as long as they put its arms and legs back in place. ]

        Sandy Cohen, owner of a graphic print production business, created “the quote board” to document the bizarre phrases people say when under strict deadlines. “When you’re under stress, you say stupid things,” says Cohen. Now we just look at each other and say “That’s one for the quote board”. 

9. What does the passage say about humor in the workplace? （关于职场幽默，文章说了什么？）

解析：A。四个选项中都涉及到employees，推测题目所问的应与职场、员工等信息相关。录音中说到职场幽默时，提到它可以打开“办公室监狱”的大门，用“监狱”比喻“办公室”，来说明职场中员工的压力很大，而幽默可以打开监狱的大门，也就是说，幽默可以帮助人们在工作时减少压力。录音中还提到大公司中压力往往没有释放的出口，之后又举“幽默屋”和“引用板”的例子来说明人们如何利用幽默精神来减压，由此可知本篇主要在说幽默可以帮助缓解压力，因此选A。

错项排除：录音中讲员工时，提到的词有satisfied、excel、resentments、stress等，并没有提到员工感到无聊、员工间的关系、或积极看待事物，故B、C、D三项均可排除。