Unit Five

The Real Truth about Lies --Randy Fitzgerald

Directions: Figure out the expressions with the word “lie”.

Word-web

LIE

Open discussion:

1. Do you lie sometimes? Why and why not?

2. Do you agree that there is a real need to lie in our life?

About the author & the text

• Randy Fitzgerald: freelance writer, columnist and blogger

• The text is

chosen from

Readers’ Digest

in 1999.

Structural analysis of the text • Part 1—Para 1- 6• Introducing the topic by reporting two survey results.• Part 2—Para 7-11• Telling little white lies is a common practice and the

reason for telling such lies by citing an example• Part 3—Para 12-15• The consequences of telling lies• Part 4—Para 16-18• Discussing whether lies should be avoided at all

costs

Part 1—Para 1-- 6

• Introducing the topic by reporting two survey results.

1. profess  v (fml) claim (sth), often falsely 声称 , 妄称 : I don't profess to be an expert in this subject.

> professed adj (falsely) claimed; alleged 声称的 ; 所谓的

profession n. ~ of sth 表示 ; 表白 : a profession of belief

Language work (Para. 1- 6)

2. earth-shattering  adj surprising or shocking and very important: an earth-shattering event

3. feign  v [Tn] pretend (sth) 假装 , 佯作（某事） : feign illness, madness, ignorance, etc * feigned innocence

4. spare sb's feelings to avoid doing something that would upset someonee.g. Just tell me the truth. You don’t need to spare my feelings.

5. preoccupation n. a) [u]~ (with sth) state of constantly thinking

or worrying about sth; obsession 全神贯注 ; 苦思苦想 : She found his preoccupation with money irritating.

b) [C] something that you give all your attention to 心里总想着的事物main/chief/central etc preoccupation

> preoccupy v. 使入神 preoccupied a. 心事重重的；入神的

6. prevaricate  v [I] (fml) try to avoid telling the (whole) truth by speaking in an evasive or a misleading way; equivocate 支吾 ; 闪烁其辞 : Tell us exactly what happened and don‘t prevaricate. > prevarication n [U&C] 支吾 ; 搪塞 : The report was full of lies and prevarications.

prevaricator n 支吾搪塞的人

The Educational Ladder

Kindergarten

Elementary school

High school

College

Americans view their public school system as an educational ladder:

Pre-College

Day Care ( 日托 ) Center

Day Care ( 日托 ) Center

Nursery SchoolNursery School

Kinder-gartenKinder-garten

Early Childhood Education

Preschools

All school systems in the US have 12 years of elementary, middle school and senior high

school.

+

Elementary school High school

6 years Senior high schoolJunior high school

4 years2 years

7. pundit  n. a person who is an authority on a subject; expert 某一学科的权威 ; 专家 : The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem.

Questions:

1. What does Professor Bella DePaulo's study indicate about lying? What do most people think about lying?

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

Part 2—Para 7-11

• Telling little white lies is a common practice and the reason for telling such lies by citing an example.

8. ubiquitous  adj (fml) (seeming to be) present everywhere or in several places at the same time （似乎）普遍存在的 , 无处不有的 : Is there no escape from the ubiquitous cigarette smoke in restaurants?

> ubiquity n [U] 无处不有 .

9. fib n (infml) untrue statement, esp about sth unimportant 谎言 ; （尤指无伤大雅的）小谎 : Stop telling such silly fibs.

> fib v (-bb-) [I] 说假话 ; 撒小谎 fibber n 撒小谎的人

10. invariable adj never changing; always the same; constant 始终如一的 ; 恒定的 : an invariable pressure, temperature, amount * his invariable courtesy

> invariability n [U]. invariably adv

Antonym: variable a. 多变的

11. blurt v (phr v) blurt sth out say sth suddenly and tactlessly 脱口说出 : He blurted out the bad news before I could stop him.

12. deceit  n a) [U] deliberately leading sb to believe or accept sth that is false; deceiving 欺骗 ; 欺诈 : practice deceit on sb * She won her promotion by deceit.

b) [C] dishonest act or statement 不诚实的行为或言语 : She got them to hand over all their money by a wicked deceit.

> deceitful adj deceive v.

13. compliment v ~ sb (on sth) express praise or admiration of sb （对某人）表示赞美或敬佩 : I complimented her on her skilful performance.

> compliment n. 赞美 ( 话 ) [ pl.] 问候

14. lubricant  n [U and C] a substance such as oil that you put on surfaces that rub together, especially parts of a machine, in order to make them move smoothly and easily 润滑剂

> lubricate vt. 使润滑 lubrication n [U] 润滑

15. tangle v a) ~ (sth) (up) (cause sth to) become twisted into a confused mass （使某物）乱作一团 , 绞在一起 : Her hair got all tangled up in the barbed wire fence.

b) ~ with sb/sth become involved in a quarrel or fight with sb/sth 与某人吵嘴或打架 ; 与某事有纠葛 : You shouldn’t tangle with Peter -- he's bigger than you.

> tangled adj: tangled hair, wire, etc tangle  n. 缠结 , 混乱 entangle v. 使…纠缠；卷入

Questions:

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

4. Why do people tell white lies? Do you think the lies will be well received once they are exposed?

Part 3—Para 12-15

• The consequences of telling lies

16. the slippery slope (infml) course of action that can easily lead to disaster, failure, etc 易导致失败﹑灾难等的情况 : A one-party state can be the start of the slippery slope towards fascism.

> slippery a. 滑的；狡猾的 slope n. 斜坡，斜面；倾斜

17. wear down phr va) to reduce or become weaker until useless

e.g. My shoes have worn down at the heel.b) wear sb⇔downto gradually make someone physically weaker or less determinede.g. It was clear he was being worn down by the rumours over his future.

18. perception  n (fml) a) [U] ability to see, hear or understand 感知能力 ; 认识能力 : improve one's powers of perception

b) [C] ~ (that...) way of seeing or understanding sth 看法 ; 理解 : My perception of the matter is that...

> perceive vt. 感知，察觉；理解 perceptible a. 可以感觉到的 perceptive a. 有察觉力的

19. warp  v [I, Tn] a) (cause sth to) become bent or twisted from the usual or natural shape （使某物）弯曲 , 翘棱 : The damp wood began to warp. * The hot sun had warped the cover of the book. b) (fig) (cause sb/sth to) become biased, distorted or perverted （使某人 [ 某事物 ] ）有偏见 , 反常 : His judgment was warped by self-interest. * a warped mind / sense of humor

20. proliferate  v [I] if something proliferates, it increases quickly and spreads to many different places 激增， ( 迅速 ) 繁殖 : Computer courses continue to proliferate.

> proliferation n [U] 繁殖 ; 增殖 : a nuclear non-proliferation treaty

21. cynicism n. the belief that people always act selfishly 愤世嫉俗

> cynic n. 愤世嫉俗者 , 悲观者 cynical adj 愤世嫉俗的

22. falter  v [I] a) to become weaker and unable to continue in an effective way 动摇 : The economy is showing signs of faltering. b) (of the voice) waver （指嗓音）颤抖 : His voice faltered as he tried to speak.

Questions:

5. What, according to the author, would be the consequences of lying?

Part 4—Para 16-18

• Discussing whether lies should be avoided at all costs

23. ethic  n system of moral principles; rules of conduct 道德标准 ; 行为准则 : the Puritan ethic

> ethics n (a) [sing v] science that deals with morals 伦理学 (b) [pl] moral correctness 道德规范 : Medical ethics

ethical adj 道德的 ; 道德上的问题的 ethicist  n. 伦理学家

24. undermine v. (fig) weaken (sth/sb) gradually or insidiously 逐渐削弱或暗中破坏 : undermine sb's position, reputation, authority, etc.

undermine sb's confidence / authority / position / credibility etc

25. confound  v [Tn] puzzle and surprise (sb); perplex 使（某人）困惑和惊奇 : His behaviour amazed and confounded her. * I was confounded to hear that...

> confounded adj. 困惑的 , 讨厌的

26. astound  v overcome (sb) with surprise or shock; amaze 使震惊 ; 使惊奇 : We were astounded to read your letter.

> astounding adj 使人震惊的

Question:

6. Are all white lies unacceptable? What is the yardstick of acceptable lies?