The Real Truth about Lies Unit 5 Watch the video clip and answer the following questions. 1.Why do people tell white lies? 2. What are the common white

The Real Truth about LiesThe Real Truth about Lies

Unit 5Unit 5

Watch the video clip and answer the following questions.

1. Why do people tell white lies?

2. What are the common white lies?

Audiovisual SupplementCultural Information

Because they’re white and more polite and make people feel all right.

I say I’m 10 when I’m 9 and a half; I pretend I’m asleep when my dad walks in, etc.


I say I’m 10 when I’m 9 and a halfMy uncle tells a joke and I try to laughIn gym I fake a headache when I want to quitI say I love the sweater that my grandma knitBut that’s a white lieWhite lieThat’s the kind you want to tell, a white lieWhite lieSo you’re mom won’t have to yell, a white lieWhite lieEverybody does it ‘cause it feels all rightAnd it’s more politeBut a lie’s still a lie, even when it’s whiteI pretend I’m asleep when my dad walks inI said I ate my chicken but I just ate the skin


From Lie to Me


Your face can say you’re lyingWhen your mouth says you’re notYour peds are on fire but they’re not too hotWhen it’s a white lieWhite lieIt’s the kind you want to tell, a white lieWhite lieSo your dad won’t have to yell, a white lieWhite lieEverybody does it ‘cause it feels all rightAnd it’s more polite, but a lie’s still a lieEven when it’s whiteWhile it might be hard to say what’s trueWould you want a white lie told to you?


But that’s a white lieWhite lieThat’s the kind you want to tell, a white lieWhite lieSo you’re mom won’t have to yell, a white lieWhite lieEverybody does it ‘cause it feels all rightAnd it’s more politeBut a lie’s still a lieEven when it’s white


1. A white lie is one that lacks evil intent, as opposed to a black lie, which is most certainly malevolent, though normally we don’t bother to specify that lies are evil. A white lie is harmless or trivial, which is frequently said in order to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.

Prosocial: Lying to protect someone, to benefit or help others.Self-enhancement: Lying to save face, to avoid embarrassment, disapproval or punishment.Selfish: Lying to protect the self at the expense of another, and/or to conceal a misdeed.Antisocial: Lying to hurt someone else intentionally.

2. Behavioral scientist Wendy Gamble identified four basic types of lies for a University of Arizona study in 2000:


In this text, the author asserts the ubiquitous presence of petty white lies, analyzes its causes, discusses its grave consequences, and concludes that some lies are justifiable, while others are to be avoided.

This is a piece of persuasive writing. It is of journalistic style.

Structural AnalysisText Analysis

Structural AnalysisText Analysis

The author begins with the results of two surveys. Then he comments on the consequences of telling lies. In the end, he discusses which lies should be avoided.Part I (Paras. 1-6) introduces the topic by reporting two survey results.Part II (Paras. 7-11) shows that people often tell white lies so as not to hurt others.Part III (Paras. 12-15) deals with the consequences of telling lies.Part IV (Paras. 16-18) discusses whether lies should be avoided at all costs.

Detailed Reading

The Real Truth about Lies

Randy Fitzgerald

1 At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, psychology professor Bella DePaulo got 77 students and 70 townspeople to volunteer for an unusual project. All kept diaries for a week, recording the numbers and details of the lies they told.2 One student and six Charlottesville residents professed to have told no falsehoods. The other 140 participants told 1535.

3 The lies were most often not what most of us would call earth-shattering. Someone would pretend to be more positive or supportive of a spouse or friend than he or she really was, or feign agreement with a relative’s opinion. According to DePaulo, women in their interactions with other women lied mostly to spare the other’s feelings. Men lied to other men generally for self-promoting reasons.4 Most strikingly, these tellers-of-a-thousand-lies reported that their deceptions caused them “little preoccupation or regret.” Might that, too, be a lie? Perhaps. But there is evidence that this attitude towards casual use of prevarication is common.

Detailed Reading

5 For example, 20,000 middle and high-schoolers were surveyed by the Josephson Institute of Ethics — a nonprofit organization in Marina del Rey, California, devoted to character education. Ninety-two percent of the teenagers admitted having lied to their parents in the previous year, and 73 percent characterized themselves as “serial liars,” meaning they told lies weekly. Despite these admissions, 91 percent of all respondents said they were “satisfied with my own ethics and character.”

Detailed Reading

6 Think how often we hear the expressions “I’ll call you” or “The check is in the mail” or “I’m sorry, but he stepped out.” And then there are professions — lawyers, pundits, public relations consultants — whose members seem to specialize in shaping or spinning the truth to suit clients’ needs.7 Little white lies have become ubiquitous, and the reasons we give each other for telling fibs are familiar. Consider, for example, a corporate executive whom I’ll call Tom. He goes with his wife and son to his mother-in-law’s home for a holiday dinner every year. Tom dislikes her “special” pumpkin pie intensely. Invariably he tells her how wonderful it is, to avoid hurting her feelings.

Detailed Reading

Detailed Reading

8 “What’s wrong with that?” Tom asked Michael Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute. It’s a question we might all ask.9 Josephson replied by asking Tom to consider the lie from his mother-in-law’s point of view. Suppose that one day Tom’s child blurts out the truth, and she discovers the deceit. Will she tell her son-in-law, “Thank you for caring so much?” Or is she more likely to feel hurt and say, “How could you have misled me all these years? And what else have you lied to me about? ”

Detailed Reading

10 And what might Tom’s mother-in-law now suspect about her own daughter? And will Tom’s boy lie to his parents and yet be satisfied with his own character?11 How often do we compliment people on how well they look, or express our appreciation for gifts, when we don’t really mean it? Surely, these “nice lies” are harmless and well intended, a necessary social lubricant. But, like Tom, we should remember the words of English novelist Sir Walter Scott, who wrote, “What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

Detailed Reading

12 Even seemingly harmless falsehoods can have unforeseen consequences. Philosopher Sissela Bok warns us that they can put us on a slippery slope. “After the first lies, others can come more easily,” she wrote in her book Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. “Psychological barriers wear down; the ability to make more distinctions can coarsen; the liar’s perception of his chances of being caught may warp.” 13 Take the pumpkin-pie lies. In the first place, it wasn’t just that he wanted his mother-in-law to feel good. Whether he realized it or not, he really wanted her to think highly of him. And after the initial deceit he needed to tell more lies to cover up the first one.

Detailed Reading

14 Who believes it anymore when they’re told that the person they want to reach by phone is “in a meeting”? By itself, that kind of lie is of no great consequence. Still, the endless proliferation of these little prevarications does matter.15 Once they’ve become common enough, even the small untruths that are not meant to hurt encourage a certain cynicism and loss of trust. “When [trust] is damaged,” warns Bok, “the community as a whole suffers; and when it is destroyed, societies falter and collapse.”

Detailed Reading

16 Are all white lies to be avoided at all costs? Not necessarily. The most understandable and forgivable lies are an exchange of what ethicists refer to as the principle of trust for the principle of caring, “like telling children about the tooth fairy, or deceiving someone to set them up for a surprise party,” Josephson says. “Still, we must ask ourselves if we are willing to give our friends and associates the authority to lie to us whenever they think it is for our own good.”

Detailed Reading

17 Josephson suggests a simple test. If someone you lie to finds out the truth, will he thank you for caring? Or will he feel his long-term trust in you has been undermined?18 And if you’re not sure, Mark Twain has given us a good rule of thumb. “When in doubt, tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.”

What is the result of Professor Bella DePaulo’s survey? What conclusion can we draw from the result?

According to the survey done by Professor DePaulo, 140 out of 147 people admitted having told lies. As some of the lies are well-intentioned, people may not regard them as lies. This result shows that telling lies is common.

Detailed Reading

What is the result of the survey conducted by Josephson Institute of Ethics? What can we learn from it?

According to this survey, among 20,000 students surveyed, 92 percent professed to have told lies and meanwhile, 91 percent never doubted about their own ethics or character. Again, this result shows that telling lies is common and people seldom relate telling lies to morality.

Detailed Reading

According to the writer, what could be considered “nice lies”?

According to the writer, all these could be considered “nice lies”: complimenting people on their appearance, expressing appreciation for gifts or food.

Detailed Reading

What is the grave consequence of telling lies?

The ubiquitousness of lies may cause people to be distrustful of each other, thus leading to the collapse of the whole society.

Detailed Reading

Class ActivityGroup discussion: What does this sentence “What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” mean? Can you give an example to illustrate its meaning?

Detailed Reading

profess v. say that you do, are, etc. sth., especially when it is not really truee.g.

James professed to know everything about sculpture.He professed the greatest respect for the law.

Detailed Reading

Practice:

她自称对此事一无所知。She professed total ignorance of the matter.

他声称对该阴谋毫不知情。He professed that he knew nothing about the plot.

Detailed Reading

earth-shattering a. of the greatest importance to the whole world

e.g.After years of hard work, they finally made an earth-shattering discovery.The new invention is of earth-shattering importance.

feign v. pretend to have or be, put on a false air of

e.g.She feigned to be ill in order not to do the exercises.He feigned surprise and they all believed him.

Detailed Reading

e.g.“Oh really!” he said, trying to feign interest.Sometimes it’s best just to feign ignorance (=pretend that you do not know anything).

Collocation:feign interest / surprise / ignorance / illness (formal) pretend that you are interested, surprised, etc.

Detailed Reading

e.g. Mark closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. She shouted but he pretended that he hadn’t heard her.

Synonym:pretend v. deliberately behave as though something is true when you know it is not, either for fun or to deceive people

spare one’s feelings avoid doing sth. that would upset sb.

e.g. He simply wished to minimize the fuss and to spare her feelings.We carefully avoided mentioning the news to spare his feelings.

Detailed Reading

preoccupation n. a strong interest in sth., usually because you are worried about it, with the result that you do not pay attention to other thingse.g.Because of his preoccupation with his books, he

didn’t realize we were already back.Such preoccupation with your work isn’t healthy.

Detailed Reading

prevarication n.the state of avoiding giving a direct answer or making a firm decision

Detailed Reading

e.g. After months of prevarication, a decision was finally made.When we questioned the authorities on the subject, we were met by prevarication.

devote … togive all or a large part of one’s time or resources to (a person, activity, or cause)

e.g. I want to devote more time to my family.

He devotes himself to philanthropy.

Detailed Reading

Detailed Reading

profession n. a form of employment, esp. one that is possible only for an educated person and that is respected in society as honorable

e.g. She intends to make teaching her profession.According to the report, forty percent of the lawyers entering the profession are women.

pundit n. a person who is an authority on a particular subject; an expert

e.g. Mr. Johnson is a well-known political pundit.We’ve invited a foreign-policy pundit to give us a lecture.

Detailed Reading

Detailed Reading

shape or spin the truth modify the truth

a solicitor and his cliente.g.

Detailed Reading

client n.sb. who pays for services or advice from a person or an organization

Detailed Reading

By the end of last century, the computer had become ubiquitous. We are now confronted with the ubiquitous spread of English.

e.g.

ubiquitous a.seeming to be everywhere

Detailed Reading

Have you ever told fibs?She told innocent fibs like anyone else.

e.g.

fib n. a small unimportant lie

Detailed Reading

It’s invariably wet when I take my holidays. She invariably forgets to take her keys.

e.g.

invariably ad.always

Detailed Reading

To our surprise, he blurted his secret out at table.

John blurted out that he dreamed of becoming a computer programmer.

e.g.

blurt out v. say sth. suddenly and without thinking, usually because one is nervous or excited

Detailed Reading

That all-important task acts as a social lubricant, minimizing frictions.

e.g.

lubricant n. a substance such as oil that one puts on surfaces that rub together

Detailed Reading

After listening to his speech I thought his ideas and opinions were so tangled that I could not vote for him.

The floor of the forest was covered with tangled growth.

e.g.

tangled a.complicated or made up of many confusing parts

Detailed Reading

My shoes have worn down at the heel.

Your back tyres are badly worn down; you should fit new ones.

e.g.

wear down reduce or become weaker until useless

Detailed Reading

Left in the garage where it was damp, the wooden frame had warped.

The door must be warped. It won’t close properly.

e.g.

warp v. bend or twist and to be no longer in the correct shape

Detailed Reading

We think highly of your suggestion.

I can assure you that the management thinks very highly of you.

e.g.

think highly of have a good opinion of

Detailed Reading

Smoking triggers off cell proliferation.

Over the past two years, we have witnessed the proliferation of TV channels.

e.g.

proliferation n. a rapid increase in the amount or number of sth.

Detailed Reading

cynicism n. the belief that people always act selfishly

Detailed Reading

He is not a friend, but a business associate.

George’s party was boring — it was full of his business associates.

e.g.

associate n. sb. who you work or do business with

Detailed Reading

She jealously tried to undermine our friendship.

Lack of food has undermined his health.

e.g.

undermine v. gradually make sb. or sth. less strong or effective

Detailed Reading

I never weigh anything when I’m cooking — just do it by rule of thumb.

As a rule of thumb, a cup of filter coffee contains about 89mg caffeine.

e.g.

rule of thumb a rough method of calculation, based on practical experience

Detailed Reading

It astounds me that anyone could every consider declaring war.

He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance.

e.g.

astound v. make sb. very surprised or shocked

Might that, too, be a lie?

Is it possible to consider that a lie?

Might here means “possibility”. Note that may, when used to mean “possibility”, is normally not used in a question.

Detailed Reading

What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

Paraphrase: When we start to tell a lie, we would have entered a very intricate situation, as a lie often requires other lies until the whole structure of lies becomes so complex that it ensnares the liar.

Detailed Reading

Detailed Reading

Psychological barriers wear down: the ability to make more distinctions can coarsen; the liar’s perception of his chances of being caught may warp.

Paraphrase: One is less inhibited from lying: his ability to tell the truth from the falsehood is dulled, and he may become less cautious against being caught.

Detailed Reading

The most understandable and forgivable lies are an exchange of what ethicists refer to as the principle of trust for the principle of caring.

Paraphrase: The most understandable and acceptable lies are those which are told for the sake of love and care at the expense of trust, according to the ethicists.

Phrase Practice

Word Derivation

Synonym / Antonym

Vocabulary Translation Integrated SkillsOral ActivitiesWritingGrammar

4) Did you ever why the man deserted his wife and four children?

1) The governor is trying hard to the scandal.


cover up__________

2) Samantha was amazed when late one evening, Adam

that he loved her.blurted out_____________

3) He claimed that he had been after drugs were discovered in his suitcase.

set up _______

find out_________

Fill in the blank in each sentence with an appropriate phrasal verb or collocation from the text.


5) Wind and water slowly the mountain’s jagged edges.

wear down____________

6) They are going to a restaurant which Mexican food.

7) A modest scholar never have exhausted his subject.

8) The press them their breakthroughs in the research into the causes of cancer.

specializes in_______________

professes to______________

complimented________________ on____


e.g.他忘了把机器盖起来。

He had forgotten to have the machine covered up.

cover up: put sth. over sth. else so that it cannot be seen; prevent people from discovering mistakes or unpleasant facts

你怎么能掩盖自己的错误呢？

How can you cover up your mistake?


e.g. 我还没来得及阻止，他已脱口说出了这个坏消息。

He blurted out the bad news before I could stop him.

blurt out: say sth. suddenly and tactlessly


e.g. 你喝杯热饮料马上就精神了。A hot drink will soon set you up.

set up: make sb. feel healthy and full of energy


e.g. 弄清楚合同的条件是什么。

Find out what the conditions of the contract are.

find out: get information, after trying to discover it by effort or by chance


e.g. 这一策略旨在逐步削弱敌人的抵抗力。

The strategy was designed to wear down the enemy’s resistance.

wear down: reduce or become weaker until useless


e.g. 其实我们专营此项产品已有多年历史。

In fact, we specialize in this product with a long history.

specialize in: give particular attention to (a subject, product, etc.)


e.g. 我并不自诩是这一问题的专家。

I don’t profess to be an expert in this subject.

profess to: claim (sth.), often falsely


e.g. 我们大家都夸他勇敢。

We all complimented him on his courage.

compliment … on …: express of praise, admiration, approval, etc.


1) ethic n.→ ethical a. → unethical a.

e.g. 伦理学是哲学的分科。

他的行为不太道德。Ethics is a branch of philosophy.

His behaviour has not been strictly ethical.


2) feign v. → feigned a.

e.g. 有些动物遇到危险时便装死。

他大发雷霆，不知是真的还是假的。

Some animals feign death when in danger.

He was consuming with indignation, real or feigned.


3) spare v. → sparing a. → unsparing a. → unsparingly ad.

e.g. 他们把男人都杀了，但放过了孩子。

尼任斯基对演技精益求精一丝不苟。

他强迫自己拼命干。

They killed the men but spared the children.

Nijinsky was unsparing in his demands for perfection.

He drove himself unsparingly.


4) cynicism n. → cynic n. →cynical a.

e.g. 他的话带着强烈的讽刺。

罗伯特是一个地道的怀疑主义者，他不会不假思索就相信任何事或任何人。

他们逐渐感到所谓民主制度也不过尔尔。

His remark has a fine edge of cynicism.

Roberts is a real cynic; he won’t accept anything or anyone at face value.

They’ve grown rather cynical about democracy.


5) confound v. → confounded a. → confoundedly ad.

e.g.他的所作所为让她感到既惊愕又困惑。

你真是讨厌死了！

天气太热了。

His behaviour amazed and confounded her.

It’s confoundedly hot.

You’re a confounded nuisance!


6) lubricate v. → lubricant n.

e.g.我需要润润嗓子。

我们使用哪种润滑剂，主要取决于轴承的转速如何。My throat needs lubricating.

The sort of lubricant which we use depends largely on the running speed of the bearing.


7) tangle v. → tangle n. → entangle v.e.g.她的头发让带刺的铁网缠住了。

他的财务状况是一笔糊涂帐。

她的长发让玫瑰丛给钩住了。

Her hair got all tangled up in the barbed wire fence.

His financial affairs are in such a tangle.

Her long hair entangled itself in the rose bush.


8) will n. → willful a.

e.g.我被迫违心地在协议上签了字。

只要人有恒，万事皆可成。

I was forced to sign the agreement against my will.

A willful man must have his way.

evasion, equivocation

1. But there is evidence that this attitude towards casual use of prevarication is common.

2. Ninety-two per cent of the teenagers admitted having lied to their parents in the previous year, and seventy-three percent characterized themselves as “serial liars,” meaning they told lies weekly.

Synonym:


chronic, repeated Synonym:

3. Little white lies have become ubiquitous, and the reasons we give each other for telling fibs are familiar.

Synonym: common, prevalent, omnipresent

4. Tom dislikes her “special” pumpkin pie intensely.

Antonym:slightly


5. How often do we compliment people on how well they look, or express our appreciation for gifts, when we don’t really mean it?

Synonym: distort

6. “Psychological barriers wear down; the ability to make more distinctions can coarsen; the liar’s perception of his chances of being caught may warp.”

Antonym: insult, reproach, criticize


7. Still, the endless proliferation of these little prevarications does matter.

Synonym:growth, multiplication


8. Or will he feel his long-term trust in you has been undermined?

Antonym:strengthened, consolidated

Vocabulary Grammar Translation Integrated SkillsOral ActivitiesWriting

Modal AuxiliariesVerbless Clauses

The infinitive vs. the -ing participle

1) Modal Auxiliaries Modal auxiliaries are special auxiliary verbs that express the degree or certainty of the action in the sentence, or the attitude or opinion of the writer concerning the action. Some common modal auxiliaries are must, can, will, and should.


We don’t use may / might in a question when they refer to possibility.


PracticeComplete each sentence with what you think the most appropriate of the four choices given.

1. go to school tomorrow? A. Must you to B. Have you to D. Do you must

2. known the truth? A. Might John B. May John have D. Can John

C___

C. Do you have to

C___

C. Could John have


3. I can’t find the recorder in the room. It by somebody. C. may take away

4. He the 9:20 train because he didn’t leave home till 9:25.A. can reach B. could catchC. may not catch

A___

A. may have been taken away

D___

D. couldn’t have caught

B. may leaveD. must have taken away

2) Verbless Clauses


A verbless clause means clause-like construction in which a verb element is implied but not present. Such clauses are usually adverbial, and the omitted verb is a form of be.

John believes the prisoner innocent. e.g.

In this sentence the italicized sequence is a verbless clause, which we assume is a reduced version of the to-infinitive clause:

John believes the prisoner to be innocent.


The following sentences contain further examples of verbless clauses (italicized):

• He considered the girl a good student.• Whenever in trouble, Bill rang his girl-friend.• He married her when a student at Harvard.


1. When you are in doubt, tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.

When in doubt, tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends.

2. When it is heated, metal expands.

When heated, metal expands.

Practice Rewrite the following sentences, using verbless clauses.

3. If it is true, it will cause us a lot of trouble.

If true, it will cause us a lot of trouble.

4. Whenever it is possible, they should be typed.

Whenever possible, they should be typed.



3) The infinitive vs. the -ing participle There are certain words in English that are usually followed by an infinitive or gerund.

The infinitiveCertain words are followed by an infinite verb with or without “to”.

Use

after certain expressions (without “to”)

after certain verbs (without “to”)

Example

Why not go to the cinema?

I can swim.

They wanted him to swim.

It’s easier to swim downstream.

We made a promise to swim. (derived from the verb “to promise”)


after certain verbs (with “to”)

after certain verbs with interrogatives (infinitive constructions)

after certain verbs with objects (without “to”)

after certain verbs with objects (with “to”)

after certain adjectives and their comparisons

after nouns deriving from the verbs mentioned above

He wants to swim.

They don’t know how to swim.

He made her swim.


The -ing participleCertain words are followed by an –ing form.

Use after certain adjectives with prepositionsafter certain prepositionsafter certain verbsafter certain verbs with prepositionsafter certain nouns

ExampleHe’s afraid of going by plane.

Before going to bed he turned off the lights.I enjoy cooking.I am looking forward to seeing you again.We had problems finding our way back home.


Words followed either by infinitive or –ing form

Use

same meaning

same meaning but

different use

different meaning

infinitive or present

participle

Example

I started to read. / I started

reading.

She forbids us to talk. / She

forbids talking.

He stopped to smoke. / He

stopped smoking.

I saw him go up the

stairs. / I saw him going up

the stairs.

1. After (discuss) the matter for an hour, the committee adjourned without (have reached) any decision.

2. I distinctly remember (pay) him. I gave him $2.

3. (Lie) on this beach is much more pleasant than

(sit) in the office. 4. I tried (pacify) him but he refused

(pacify) and went on (grumble).


PracticeComplete the sentences with the proper forms of the verbs given.

discussing

having reached

payingLying

sitting

_________

_____________

____________

to pacify________ to be pacified_____________grumbling_________

______


5. He made me (repeat) his instructions (make) sure that I understood what I was (do) after he had gone.

6. Do you feel like (go) to a film or would you rather (stay) at home?

7. It is easy (see) animals on the road in daylight but sometimes at night it is very difficult (avoid) (hit) them.

8. I knew I wasn’t the first (arrive), for I saw smoke (rise) from the chimney.

repeat to make______

to do_____

to seeto avoid

______

hitting______

going_____

rising_____

________

________

stay____

to arrive________


9. You’ll never regret (do) a kind action. 10. The car began (make) an

extraordinary noise so I stopped (see) what it was.

doing_____to make_______

to see______

1. 当哈姆雷特拿不定主意该采取什么行动时，他就装疯。(feign)

If someone feigns a particular feeling, attitude, or physical condition, they try to make other people think that they have it or are experiencing it, although this is not true.


Translate the following sentences into English.

Hamlet feigned madness when he was hesitating what to do.

Practice: 装病﹑ 装疯﹑ 佯作无知


feign illness, madness, ignorance

2. 真理之光有时刺目，于是善意的谎话随处可见。 (ubiquitous)


If you describe something or someone as ubiquitous, you mean that they seem to be everywhere.

Sometimes the light of the truth is just too dazzling, so white lies are ubiquitous.

Practice: 餐厅里吸烟的烟雾就没有地方躲得过去吗 ?

他可以看到那些无处不在的电视摄像机。


Is there no escape from the ubiquitous cigarette smoke in restaurants?

He could see the ubiquitous TV cameras.

3. 你应该摆脱偏见，抵制诱惑，不让任何东西扭曲你的判断。 (warp)


Warp means causing sb./sth. to become biased, distorted or perverted.

You should get rid of any prejudice, resist temptations and let nothing warp your judgment.

Practice:他受私心影响判断不确。

历史常为偏见所曲解。


His judgment was warped by self-interest.

Histories are often warped by bias.

4. 美国许多妇女声称她们对自己二等公民的地位感到不满。(profess)


If you profess to do or have something, you claim that you do it or have it, often when you do not. (FORMAL)

Many women in America profess that they are unhappy with their status of second-class citizens.

He professed that he knew nothing about the plot.


Practice: 她自称对那事一无所知。

他声称对该阴谋毫不知情。

She professed total ignorance of the matter.

5. 他在伙伴中很受欢迎，因为他总是设法不去麻烦别人。(spare)


If you spare someone an unpleasant experience, you prevent them from suffering it.

He is very popular among his peers as he always tries to spare others any trouble.


Practice:他没当她的面说她丈夫的不是，以免使她难堪。

He spared her embarrassment by not criticizing her husband in front of her.


Dictation

Cloze


Dictation You will hear a passage read three times. At

the first reading, you should listen carefully for its general idea. At the second reading, you are required to write down the exact words you have just heard (with proper punctuation). At the third reading, you should check what you have written down.

Childhood is less clear to me than to many people: / when it ended I turned my face away from it / for no reason that I know about, / certainly without the usual reason of unhappy memories. / For many years that worried me, / but then I discovered / that the tales of former children are seldom to be trusted. / Some people supply too many past victories or pleasures / with which to comfort themselves, / and other people cling to pains, real and imagined, / to excuse what they have become. / I think I have always known about my memory. / I know when it is to be trusted / and when some dream or fantasy entered on the life, / and the dream, the need of dream, / led to distortion of what happened.


Dictation

Honesty is not praised much these days. We pay it some lip (1) , of course, and we tell our children to be honest in their dealings and with their feelings. But many of us would (2) have our children be shrewd than honest. We want them to learn how to be suspicious, how to protect themselves, and how to ward (3) fast-talking people and nicely packaged, well-advertised distortions of reality. “Chumps,” as I once heard the term defined, (4) “people who go out of their way to

Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE word you think appropriate.

service________

rather_______

off____


are_____

be taken (5) of” — and we don’t want ourselves or our children to be chumps. Therefore we hesitate to praise honesty too (6) , or to encourage it at the expense of common sense, or expediency or the pressures of practicality and the “real world.” Even experts in interpersonal (7) tell us that too much honesty can destroy a relationship. Honesty now looks like a dubious virtue (8) not an actual vice. It is studied and examined as a stratagem rather than (9) a hallmark of character.


advantage____________

much______

if___

relations___________

as____

Despite our contemporary discomfort with too much honesty, the quality remains central to our (10) codes and counsels. Deceptions subvert the moral life, and destroy the foundations of our social arrangements. Whatever basis for humane communion is to be found in (11) principles of respect for persons or faith in God is eroded by our failures to treat each other as persons worthy of being told the (12) .


moral_______

either_______

truth______

It’s a set collocation with the word lip.



It’s a set phrase with the word would.


It’s a set phrase with the word ward.


Here the subject and object are both in plural form, so the link verb should also be in plural form.


It’s a set phrase.


An adverb is expected to modify the predicate.


In this prepositional phrase a noun is missing, and we can get this noun from the context.


A conjunction is needed here.


A same structure is needed after than.


From the next sentence we can get this adjective which can be used to modify codes and counsels.

This is a set collocation which contains the word or and implies a choice.


A noun is expected and from the whole text we can get the meaning of this noun.



Making a Dialogue

Giving a Talk

Topic: Lying and Its Effects


a habitual liar; a pack of lies; a tissue of lies; a(n) complete / outright lie; a big lie; a whopper; a whacker, loss of trust, moral consciousness, moral degradation

Words and phrases for reference:

1. Making a Dialogue


Points:

1. warp or distort our judgment2. merely exaggerate the effectiveness

Topic: Lying in Advertising and Its Influence on our Perception of the World

2. Giving a Talk


Essay Writing: How to Write a Descriptive Essay

Descriptive essays strive to create a deeply involved and vivid experience for the reader. Great descriptive essays achieve this effect not through facts and statistics but by using detailed observations and descriptions.A good descriptive essay has to:

give a vivid perception of the subject of description,

include all the smallest important possible details,


deliver the emotional background of the described subject,

indicate the author’s emotional response caused by the subject,

eliminate every single irrelevant detail,

gradually reveal different aspects of the subject in each paragraph.


Sample

The door to my study is nearly always closed. It’s the place I go to read and work in tranquility. Today, however, I’m inviting you in for a visit.

As you open the door, notice the Guatemalan crucifix with its bright gold and maroon flowers; it joyfully reminds me to dedicate my work to God. Although the room is small, I hope you find it cozy. A big cheerful window lets in the morning sunshine, which saturates the room with its warmth and embraces us with light. Birds chirp outside, beckoning you to enter.


An old-fashioned doctor’s desk with brass drawer handles sits in front of the window, its wood full of nicks from many careless moves and tow once-teething puppies. May I introduce you to Ralph, my friendly computer, who sits on top of the desk? When I turn him on, he’ll crackle “hello” and blink an inviting amber command on the screen. That’s my dog Chico under the desk, snoring in harmony with Ralph and the birds.

Against the left wall are my book cases, sagging with the wise weight of cheap paperbacks and a few expensive gold-spined volumes interspersed. A bronzed Indian chief in a watercolor squints knowingly at us from the wall.


Won’t you have a seat in the tattered old green armchair nestled in the other corner? I know you smell the freshly perked coffee. I made it specially for your visit. Use my favorite cup there on the tray; it’s the one with red and blued balloons around the rim.

Stay as long as you wish, but when you’re ready to leave, be sure to close the door behind you. I like the peaceful security of this, my own little world.


Sample Analysis

This is a simple, but vivid and beautiful essay. The message is very clear.

It is notable that the description starts with the door and ends with the door, making the whole essay a compact and consistent unity.

The description goes on largely by an order of space.The writer firstly gives the visitor a general impression, or more exactly a mood, of the study.

In the paragraph that follows, the description turns to smaller and specific objects.

Then, the observation goes sideways to the bookcases, the watercolor painting on the wall, the armchair in the corner, and the cup on the tray. That is a natural order and movement of observation. It is equally noteworthy that he makes a general comment on the study in the concluding paragraph: a peaceful security and his little world.



Practice

Write a description essay on the following topic: The Mona Lisa.


SampleThe Mona Lisa is perhaps Leonardo DaVinci’s most f

amous of paintings. It is an oil painting, painted on poplar wood. The painting is most famous for the smile of the woman, which people have been trying to decipher for a long time. Many believe that the portrait is that of DaVinci himself, while many also place a lot mystic connections with this painting.

The portrait depicts a woman’s bust, with a distant landscape that is visible in the backdrop. Leonardo used a pyramid design to install the woman in a simple and calm manner within the painting. The woman is shown with her hands folded, with her breast, neck, and face painted the


same color as her hands. The light is diffused so that the various curves and geometrical shapes on the painting are made visible through it. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the painting is the woman’s smile. Many believe that it is innocent and inviting, while others believe it is that of smugness and is a smirk. Many scientific studies have been undertaken to determine the exact nature of the smile and the real reason remains a mystery. It is believed that every person sees the smile differently because of the changes in the lighting that Leonardo presented.


The woman is shown seated in an open area, and behind her is a vast landscape, which recedes to an icy mountain. Some winding paths and a far away bridge is also perceptible in the background.

The painting is an amazing one and one should definitely take a look at it in order to appreciate its full beauty. The painting is currently on display at the Musee du Louvre, in Paris.

Text II Memorable Quotes

A Lead-in Question

Text

Questions for Discussion

A Lead-in Question

Do doctors have “license to lie”, for the sake of their patients?


justifiable, well-intentionedTip:

1 Should doctors ever lie to benefit their patients — to speed recovery or to conceal the approach of death? In medicine as in law, government, and other lines of work, the requirements of honesty often seem dwarfed by greater needs: the need to shelter from brutal news or to uphold a promise of secrecy; to expose corruption or to promote the public interest.

To Lie or Not Lie? — The Doctor’s Dilemma


Sissela Bok

2 What should doctors say, for example, to a 46-year-old man coming in for a routine physical checkup just before going on vacation with his family who, though he feels in perfect health, is found to have a form of cancer that will cause him to die within six months? Is it best to tell him the truth? If he asks, should the doctors deny that he is ill, or minimize the gravity of the illness? Should they at least conceal the truth until after the family vacation?3 Doctors confront such choices often and urgently. At times, they see important reasons to lie for the patient’s own sake; in their eyes, such lies differ sharply from self-serving ones.



4 Studies show that most doctors sincerely believe that the seriously ill do not want to know the truth about their condition, and that informing them risks destroying their hope, so that they may recover more slowly, or deteriorate faster, perhaps even commit suicide. As one physician wrote: “Ours is a profession which traditionally has been guided by a precept that transcends the virtue of uttering the truth for truth’s sake, and that is as far as possible do no harm.’”

5 Armed with such a precept, a number of doctors may slip into deceptive practices that they assume will “do no harm” and may well help their patients. They may prescribe innumerable placebos, sound more encouraging than the facts warrant, and distort grave news, especially to the incurably ill and the dying.6 But the illusory nature of the benefits such deception is meant to bestow is now coming to be documented. Studies show that, contrary to the belief of many physicians, an overwhelming majority of patients do want to be told the truth, even about grave illness, and feel betrayed when they learn that they have been misled. We are also learning that truthful information, humanely conveyed, helps patients cope with illness: helps them tolerate pain better, need less medicine, and even recover faster after surgery.


7 Not only do lies not provide the “help” hoped for by advocates of benevolent deception: they invade the autonomy of patients and render them unable to make informed choices concerning their own health, including the choice of whether to be a patient in the first place. We are becoming increasingly aware of all that can befall patients in the course of heir illness when information is denied or distorted.


8 Dying patients especially — who are easiest to mislead and most often kept in the dark — can then not make decisions about the end of life; about whether or not they should enter a hospital, or have surgery; about where and with whom they should spend their remaining time; about how they should bring their affairs to a close and take leave.9 Lies also do harm to those who tell them: harm to their integrity and, in the long run, to their credibility: Lies hurt their colleagues as well. The suspicion of deceit undercuts the work of the many doctors who are scrupulously honest with their patients; it contributes to the spiral of lawsuits and of “defensive medicine,” and thus it injures, in turn; the entire medical profession.


10 Sharp conflicts are now arising. Patients are learning to press for answers. Patients’ bills of rights require that they be informed about their condition and about alternatives for treatment. Many doctors go to great lengths to provide such information: Yet even in hospitals with the most eloquent bill of rights, believers in benevolent deception continue their age-old practices. Colleagues may disapprove but refrain from objecting. Nurses may bitterly resent having to take part, day after day, in deceiving patients, but feel powerless to take a stand.


11 There is urgent need to debate this issue openly. Not only in medicine, but in other professions as well, practitioners may find themselves repeatedly in difficulty where serious consequences seem avoidable only through deception. Yet the public has every reason to be wary of professional deception; for such practices are peculiarly likely to become deeply rooted, spread, and to erode trust. Neither in medicine, nor in law, government, or the social sciences can there be comfort in the old saying, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.”



Sissela Bok: Sissela Bok, born on 2 December 1934, is a Swedish-born philosopher and ethicist. Formerly a Professor of Philosophy at Brandeis University, Bok is currently a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. One of her great contributions has been a continued exploration of “practical ethics” or applied moral philosophy.

But the illusory nature of the benefits such deception is meant to bestow is now coming to be documented. (Paragraph 6): The subject of the sentence is the illusory nature and the predicate, is now coming to be documented and the whole sentence means that the benefits lying is supposed to have are now proving to be unreal and imagined.


… it contributes to the spiral of litigation and of “defensive medicine”… (Paragraph 9): “The spiral of litigation” means two opposing parties in a law suit are involved in an endless process of litigation which is getting higher and higher in level. The phrase “defensive medicine” refers to the alterations of modes of medical practice for the purposes of avoiding lawsuits by patients as well as providing good legal defense if such lawsuits are instituted.



Patients’ bills of rights require that … (Paragraph 10): “Bills of rights” is statements of the rights of a class of people, in particular the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the US, ratified in 1791.

“What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” (Paragraph 11): This proverb means if you do not know about a problem, you do not worry. The whole sentence means people won’t be comforted by not knowing the truth in medicine, law, government, or the social sciences; on the contrary, they will be hurt or greatly affected by lying. One example of the proverb: Don’t tell Dad I take drugs. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.


1. According to the author, in what line of work is honesty sacrificed for “greater needs”?

In medicine, law, politics, journalism, etc., deception is practiced for “greater needs”.


2. What, according to some doctors, is the fundamental principle of the medical profession?

“As far as possible do no harm.”

“Benevolent deception” may cause the erosion of integrity of the medical profession and affect those that do not tell lies to their patients. It may even induce law suits and the endless process of litigation.

3. What are the negative effects of “benevolent deception” on patients?The patients may feel betrayed, and their autonomy intruded. And they cannot make informed decisions about their health and life; and it can also prolong recovery and affect treatment.

4. How will the medical profession and its staff be affected by “benevolent deception”?


5. If you were a patient, would you like to know the truth that you would have only a few months to live? And if you were a doctor, how would you break the news to your patient?

Open question.



“While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not meant to deceive.”

— Sissela Bok


Questions for Discussion

If a lie is defined as “something that you say or write that is not true and that you know is not true”, then is the art of story-telling or writing novels a form of lying? Or should we simply call them “imaginative”?

Documents

The Real Truth about Lies Unit 5 Watch the video clip and answer the following questions. 1.Why do people tell white lies? 2. What are the common white