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You are going to read an article about smiling. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A - G the one which fits each gap (70 - 75). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. What does a smile mean? ‘The curve that sets everything straight’ was how the comedian Phyllis Diller once described the smile. And it's true that there's something charming, trustworthy and disarming about a smile - but this can be misleading. Dig a little deeper and ...

You are going to read an article about smiling. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A - G the one which fits each gap (70 - 75). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

What does a smile mean?

‘The curve that sets everything straight’ was how the comedian Phyllis Diller once described the smile. And it's true that there's something charming, trustworthy and disarming about a smile - but this can be misleading. Dig a little deeper and you will find a less wholesome side, because the smile is actually one of the biggest fakes going.

Psychologists, in fact, have given it a name: the Duchenne smile, in honour of the French neurologist Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne. This smile utilises the muscles around the eyes to lift the cheeks, producing wrinkles around the eyes, and has long been held as an inimitable sign of true human emotion. Or at least it was until 2013, when psychologists from Boston, USA, destroyed that myth.

These findings indicate that even the supposedly genuine Duchenne smile can be convincingly simulated. So much for smiling being an inimitable sign of true human emotion. But why are some people so good at this kind of simulation? The answer isn’t necessarily sinister. In fact, some research has demonstrated that you can actually smile yourself into a better mood.

This indicates that smiling can actually improve your mood; as opposed to the usual idea of it being an outward sign of what you are already feeling. Taking this one step further, researchers from University of Kansas asked volunteers to bite on a pair of chopsticks: either biting one end, with the lips closed to produce no smile; or the same but with lips apart in a standard smile; or biting along the length of the chopstick, to produce a Duchenne smile. The volunteers were then made to feel stressed by having them submerge one hand in ice-water for one minute.

But though there may be times when it is advantageous for us to smile when we don't feel particularly cheerful, there is a flipside. Researchers in California wondered whether professional fighters’ smiles during the face-off before a bout might predict who the victor would be. They obtained face-off photographs of 152 Ultimate Fighting Championships competitors and rated them for smile intensity. Interestingly, winning fighters displayed less intensive smiles in pre-fight face-offs than losers did, and fighters winning by a knock-out displayed the least intensive smiles of all.

What seems to have happened, is that the fighters who smiled were unintentionally leaking information about their own sense of weakness, so passing a psychological advantage to their opponent. The message from this is that taking control of your emotional state, avoiding smiling, and showing that you have the upper hand, even where that is not felt, is a good strategy in competitive environments.

But, as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them. Next time you're having your photograph taken, don't say ‘cheese’; say ‘cheeks’. Saying ‘cheeks will not only shape your mouth nicely, but will also remind you to squeeze your cheeks upwards into a visually satisfying, genuine-looking Duchenne smile.

MISSING PARAGRAPHS

A. The main point of interest was how smiling would affect their ability to cope with the discomfort. The full, Duchenne smile was shown to be superior to the other facial expressions in this respect. So, fake or not, putting on a Duchenne smile may be just the tonic to combat physical and psychological difficulties.

B. In a straightforward study, one group of volunteers was asked to reproduce smiles shown in photographs, and another group to evaluate whether the first group's smiles were authentic. Some of the photographs depicted mouth-only smiles, but others showed smiles using both mouth and eye muscles. Two-thirds of individuals turned out to be able to fake a supposedly authentic smile, and they were also able to do this well in their everyday lives.

C. Culturally, smiling resonates across human history, from the grinning Greek kouros sculptures of 2,500 years ago to modern-day emojis. The most popular emoji of all is the face with tears of joy. Just as this emoji expresses more than mere happiness - tears adding an ironic twist - smiles themselves convey so much more.

D. The smile, then, can be a false friend. People smile - or not – for all kinds of reasons beyond simply how happy they are feeling.

E. I know what you're thinking: we all put on a smile now and again to placate our fellow humans and avoid unnecessary conflict. We all suppose, however, that a genuine smile of true enjoyment is something very different.

F. What does this tell us? It suggests that in a context where physical dominance is important, smiling can be a sign of appeasement - possibly some kind of peace offering - and subordinate status.

G. Participants were asked to hold a pen in the mouth by its tip. Some held it with the teeth, creating a smile without the person concerned realising it, while others held the pen with the lips producing a pout rather than a smile. Pens in mouths, the participants then rated the humour in some cartoons. Intriguingly, the cartoons were rated as funnier when the pen was held with the teeth than when held with the lips.