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For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.
Why would anyone pay to be frightened? On the face 1. it, the popularity of horror films and ghost-train rides makes little sense. Fear is, after 2., an unpleasant emotion designed to keep us away from danger. Researchers who study the phenomenon, however, argue that the key lies in the word 'safe'. Provided we know that the threat is not real, the body's alarm response is experienced not as a warning 3. as a kind of thrill. Our heart races and our palms sweat, but no 4. is the film over than we are left with a pleasant sense of relief, and even of achievement. Not everyone, of course, responds in this way. Some people find horror so distressing that they refuse to watch it at all, while others seek out ever more extreme experiences, 5. matter how disturbing. What seems to matter is finding the right level of fear: too 6. and we are bored, too much and we simply want it to stop. There is also a social dimension. After watching a frightening film with friends, people often report feeling closer to one another. It is 7. though the shared ordeal has strengthened the bond between them. 8. the explanation, the appetite for being scared shows no sign of fading.