大学英语,研究生英语

Very often, newborn babies are not beautiful. They are wrinkled or bald, or they have angry expressions on their faces that seem to say, "Go away! I hate everybody." But to a parent, that bald, wrinkled, mean-faced baby is the most beautiful and perfect child in the world. When that proud father or mother asks you, "Well, what do you think—isn't she beautiful?", what are you going to say? Is this the time for the truth? Of course not!

You look that proud father in the eye and say, "Yes, she is! She's a real beauty. She's one in a million. She's going to be a movie star! I can tell! She's as pretty as a picture."

This is what we call in English a white lie. White lies don't hurt people; they aren't cruel or angry words. People use them to make a difficult situation a little easier. When people refuse dates, forget their homework, or taste something new that they don't especially like while eating at a friend's house, they tell a white lie. They are trying to be kind. They don't want to hurt someone's feelings. It is important to be honest. But many people feel that being kind and considerate体贴的，体谅的is sometimes more important.

What exactly is a lie? Is it anything we say that we know is untrue? Or is it something more than that? For example, suppose假定a friend wants to borrow some money from you and you say, "I wish I could help you but I'm short of cash现款right now." In fact, you are not short of cash, but your friend is in the habit of forgetting to pay his debts and you don't want to hurt his feelings by reminding him of this. Does this qualify as a lie?

A scientific study of lying shows women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a "white lie". When a woman at a party tells another woman that she likes her dress, she might really think it looks terrible. However, this is only one side of the story. Other research shows that men are more likely to tell more serious lies. They tend to make promises which they have no intention of fulfilling. This is the kind of lies politicians and businessmen are particularly skilled at. They hope to profit from these lies in some way.

Research has also been done into the way people's behavior changes in a number of small, apparently unimportant ways when they lie. It has been found that, if they sit down, they tend to move about in their chair more than usual. It seems as if they were saying to themselves "I wish I were somewhere else now." It has also been observed that in extreme situations, people who have lied perspire more than usual and they blink more often.

Questions:

大学英语,研究生英语

1. Why don't you lend your friend money?

2. In which way are women better than men?

3. Why do businessmen tell lies?

4. Which of the following is mentioned as a change in the behavior of people who

lie?

5. Which of the four statements is true according to the passage?

(A news anchor at "Radio News" in Des Moines, Iowa is reporting on a local news event.)

News Anchor主持人: Austin Scanlon of Des Moines had one of those heart-stopping

realizations Tuesday that strikes the split second you realize

something very, very bad has happened. At noon Scanlon thought

he'd pull in for a burger at McDonald's. He reached for his

wallet, and then remembered that all of his cash, $2,000, was

in the black leather bag that he had mistakenly left in a

shopping cart in the middle of a parking lot, outside the Menards

Store. He hurried back to the place outside the store where he

had unloaded some wood about 45 minutes earlier, before pushing

the cart into its storage slot. The cart and the black bag were

gone. We have Scanlon here with us to tell what happened next.

Scanlon: I was hoping an employee of the store had found the bag. I thought

if a customer found it, it was probably lost for good. I ran

inside and a customer service worker asked me to describe the

bag and contents. Then he told me it had been turned in to the

store manager. Another employee told me who had found it.

This is Scott Betts, the honest Menards worker who found the

bag and turned it in to the store manager. Scott, tell us about

it.

I went out to pull some carts back into the store. There was

a black bag in one of them. I took it to the manager and really

didn't have any idea about what was in it. Later I heard that

it was a lot of money.

I told Betts he wasn't being paid enough, and I wanted people

to know how honest he is. I just walked around the store telling

everyone I saw what a great worker they have. I am also sending

a letter to the CEO of the Menards company telling them about

this experience.

Scott, did Scanlon give you a reward for your good deed?

He offered me a reward, but I wouldn't take it. I told him I

did only what any honest person would do.

I wish all our news stories could end as positively as this. News Anchor: Scott Betts: Scanlon: News Anchor: Scott Betts: News Anchor:

大学英语,研究生英语

Questions:

1. Where did Mr. Scanlon mistakenly leave the cash?

2. Whom did Mr. Scanlon hope had found the bag?

3. Whom did Mr. Scanlon go to first after he realized he had lost the cash?

4. What did Mr. Scanlon do after he got the cash back?

Suzanne: Hello, Product Development Department, Suzanne speaking.

Darrow: Hello, my name is Darrow Thomas, and I am with LA&D. One of my clients

委托人，当事人，顾客has an opening for Director of Research and Development

at a well-known food processor加工业者. In discussions with peo …… 此处隐藏：30665字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……