Question

How Many Lies Do the Children Tell You?

Mothers who feel their children don’t appreciate them can add another grievance to the list: half the time, their children are lying to them. A study designed to expose the truth about lying shows that undergraduates lie to their mothers in 46% of their conversations. Still, mums should feel better than total strangers, who are told lies an astonishing 77 % of the time.

Bella Depaulo and a team of psychologists from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, asked 77 undergraduates to keep a record of all their conversations for a week, and write down whether they lied at any time. DePaulo named lying broadly, as "when you intentionally try to mislead someone", so she would catch the smallest of lies.

The students told an average of two lies a day. They said they had been studying when they had been out drinking. One told his parents that a textbook cost $50 rather than $20 so that they would send him extra money. Female students constantly told their plain-looking roommates that they were pretty. "They are everyday lies," says DePaulo.

DePaulo and her colleagues conclude that people tend to tell fewer lies to those they feel closest to. College students lied to their best friends 28% of the time but lied to acquaintances 48% of the time. In close relationships, people were more likely to tell "kind-hearted" lies, designed to protect feelings, rather than self-serving lies.

Romantic（浪漫的）partners lie somewhere between close friends and acquaintances. Students lied to romantic partners about a third of the time. DePaulo thinks that unmarried lovers can expect less honesty than best friends because of the insecurity that comes with romance.

Mothers can take heart from one other finding. They may have been lied to, but at least their children talked to them. The students were recorded telling few lies to their fathers because they had little interaction with them.

1.What is the meaning of the underlined word "grievance" in Paragraph 1?

A. Belief. B. Opinion.

C. Complaint. D. Difficulty.

2.According to the passage, college students felt closest to .

A. mothers. B. best friends

C. acquaintances D. romantic partners

3.Female students lied to their roommates to .

A. get money from them B. offer them the services

C. gain more security D. make them happy

4.What is the purpose of this article?

A. To present a fact. B. To argue an idea.

C. To tell a story. D. To explain a theory.

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.A

【解析】

試題分析：一項研究說謊的調查發(fā)現(xiàn)，孩子跟母親的談話中，有將近一半的時候是在對母親撒謊。研究選擇了77大學生作為個被試，結果顯示，他們平均每天說兩次謊話。人們很少對親近的朋友說謊，而且，對他們說的謊話大多都是善意的謊言。

1.half the time, their children are lying to them”可知，孩子多半時間在對媽媽說謊，這件事情可以添加到媽媽的抱怨清單里，故選C。

2.College students lied to their best friends 28% of the time but lied to acquaintances 48% of the time. In close relationships, people were more likely to tell "kind-hearted" lies, designed to protect feelings,”可知，大學生對關系好的人很少撒謊，而且很多都是善意的謊言，故選B。

3.Female students constantly told their plain-looking roommates that they were pretty.”可知，女同學經�？洫勏嗝财狡降氖矣验L得漂亮，其實是為了斗她開心，故選D。

4.How Many Lies Do the Children Tell You? ...A study designed to expose the truth about lying shows that undergraduates lie to their mothers in 46% of their conversations.”可知，文章主要介紹了一項研究成果，孩子對媽媽說的謊話占他們談話的一半左右，隨著談話對象的改變，人們說謊的概率也不一樣，可見，文章主要揭示了說謊的概率這一事實，故選A。

考點：教育類短文閱讀