What exactly is a lie ?Is it anything we say which we know is untrue ?Or is it something more than that ?For example, suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from you. You say “I wish I could help you, but I am short of money myself.” In fact , you are not short of money but your friend is in the habit of not paying his debts and you don’t want to hurt his feelings by reminding him of this. Is this really a lie ?
Professor Jerald Jellison of the University of southern California has made a scientific study of lying. According to him, women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a “white lie”, such as when a woman at a party tells another woman that she likes her dress when she really thinks it’s terrible. However, this is only one side of the story. Other researchers say that men are more likely to tell more serious lies, such as making a promise that they have no intention of carrying out. This is the kind of lie politicians and businessmen are supposed to be particularly skilled at :the lie from which the liar hopes to profit or gain in some way.
Research has been done into the way people’s behavior changes in a number of small, unimportant ways when they lie. It has been found that if they are sitting down at the time, they tend to move about in their chairs more than usual. To the trained observer they are saying “I wish I were somewhere else now”. They also tend to touch certain parts of the face, particularly the nose. One explanation of this may be that lying causes a slight increase in blood pressure. The tip of the nose is very sensitive to changes and the increased pressure makes it itch.
Another gesture that gives liars away is what the writer Decmond Morris in his book Man Watching calls the “mouth cover”. He says that there are several typical forms of this ,such as covering part of the mouth with the fingers, touching the upper lip or putting a finger of the hand at one side off the mouth. Such a gesture can be understood as an unconscious(未察觉的) attempt on the part of the liar to stop himself from lying.
Of course, such gestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth , moving about in a chair can not be taken as proof that the speaker is lying. They simply tend to happen more often in this situation. It is one gesture alone that gives the liar away but a whole number of things , and in particular the context(上下文) which the lie is told.According to the passage, a white lie seems to be a lie ______.
A.that other people believe |
B.that other people don’t believe |
C.told in order not to hurt someone’s feelings |
D.told in order to take advantage of someone |
Research suggests that women _____.
A.are better at telling less serious lies than men |
B.generally lie for more than men do |
C.often make promises they intend to break |
D.lie at parties more often than men do |
Researchers find that when a person tells lies _____.
A.his blood pressure increases measurably |
B.he looks very serious |
C.he is likely to make some small changes in his behavior |
D.he uses his unconscious mind |
The writer of the passage______.
A.hates lying | B.enjoys lying | C.often tells a lie | D.tries to study about lying |
Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage as a sign of lying ?
A.Touching one’s ears | B.Rubbing the nose |
C.Moving in a chair | D.Covering the mouth |
It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a damaged brain. Without enough blood, the brain lives for only three to five minutes. More often the doctors can’t fix the damage. Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help because it is dangerous to work on the brain. The doctors might make the person worse if he operates on the brain.
Dr. Robert White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help. He thinks doctors should make the brain very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctor a longer time to do something for the brain.
Dr. White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs, then he operated on them. He made the monkeys’ blood back to the monkeys’ brains. When the brain’s temperature was 10℃, Dr. White stopped the blood to the brain. After 30 minutes he turned the blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations the monkeys were like they had been before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them. The biggest difficulty in operating on the damaged brain is that .
A.the time is too short for doctors | B.the patients are often too nervous |
C.the damage is extremely hard to fix | D.the blood-cooling machine might break down |
The brain operation was made possible mainly by .
A.taking the blood out of the brain | B.trying the operation on monkeys first |
C.having the blood go through a machine | D.lowering the brain’s temperature |
With Dr. White’s new idea, the operation on the damaged brain .
A.can last as long as 30 minutes | B.can keep the brain’s blood warm |
C.can keep the patient’s brain healthy | D.can help monkeys do different jobs |
What is the right order of the steps in the operations?
a. send the cooled back to the brain b. stop the blood to the brain
c. have the blood cooled down d. operate on the brain
A.a, b, c, d | B.c, a, b, d | C.c, b, d, a | D.b, c, d, a |
Which of the following is not true?
A.If there isn’t enough blood, the brain can live for only three to five minutes. |
B.If the brain is very cold, it can live without blood for half an hour. |
C.Dr. White tried his idea for thirteen times. |
D.After their operations, the monkeys were healthy and busy again. |
When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.
People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes, Everything else seems blurry (="unclear)." Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near—sighted. Then
People who are far-sighted suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm’s length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses, too.
Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism (散光). This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people’s eyes become cloudy because of cataracts (白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.
Having two good eyes is important for judging distances. Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle (角度). To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object’s relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distance as people with two eyes. We should take good care of our eyes.
A.only when we can see well |
B.only when we cannot see perfectly |
C.even if we can see well |
D.only when we realize how important our eyes are |
When things far away seem indistinct(模糊不清) , one is probably.
A.near-sighted | B.far-sighted |
C.astigmatic | D.suffering from cataracts |
The underlined word "suffer "in the third paragraph probably means.
A.experience | B.imagine |
C.feel pain | D.are affected with |
Having two eyes instead of one is particularly useful for.
A.seeing at night | B.seeing objects far away |
C.looking over a wide area | D.judging distances |
People who suffer from astigmatism have.
A.one eye bigger than the other |
B.eyes that are not exactly the right shape |
C.a difficulty that can be corrected by an operation |
D.an eye difficulty that cannot be corrected by glasses |
The man sitting opposite Robert was the Financial Controller. Everybody called him “the FC” for short. He made all the decisions about money. Robert needed some more. That was why he had to see him. The two men did not get on very well. In fact, they had always disliked each other.
“Your request is out of the question,” the FC said. Robert had difficulty in controlling himself, but he managed somehow. He explained that he wanted the money in order to make more programmes.
“And why do you want to do that?” the FC asked sharply. Again, Robert almost lost his temper. “Because more and more people are listening to my department’s programmes. There’s great demand for them,” he answered.
The FC did not seem to believe him. But Robert had a report on the numbers of listeners to all EBC programmes. The FC became less confident (自信). Robert threw the report down on the table and told him to read it.
The FC looked at it in silence. The figures (数字) proved that he had been wrong, but he did not want to admit it. “Well,” he finally said, “I may have made a small mistake.” Robert noticed the word “may.” He got up to leave. But he had the feeling that he would get the money after all.In the story the Financial Controller was a person who was in charge of________.
A. Robert’s department’s programmes.B. EBC programmes.
C. EBC money. D. both B and C.“Your request is out of the question.” Here “out of the question”means_______.
A.without any question | B.with some question. | C.impossible. | D.possible. |
Robert decided to make more programmes because________.
A.he wanted to meet the needs of the listeners. |
B.“the FC”disliked him |
C.the members of his department wanted him to do so. |
D.he wanted to show himself off. |
Why were more and more people listening to Robert’s programmes?
A. Because he always lost his temper (脾气).
B. Because he disliked “the FC.”
C. Because the programmes were rich and to the taste of the listeners.
D. We don’t know.Who do you think won the argument(争论)in the end?
A.The Financial Controller. | B.Robert. | C.Nobody. | D.The listeners. |
At five he was collecting old newspapers to make money. And when he was 15 he signed his schoolmates up to start a baby-sitting circle.
Now 20, third-year Cambridge University student, Peter Blackburn is managing director of a company with a £ 30,000 plan. And he thinks it will make more than $15,000 by next summer.
He set up Peter Black born Ltd last year to bring out a new, color term-planner that now students all over the UK are using.
“I felt that most of the planners going around were pretty unimaginative,” he says, “I believed that I could do a better job and decided to have a go”.
Blackburn admits that he is putting far more effort into business than his computer studies course at university. While fellow students are out with their friends, he keeps in touch with his business office in Lancashire by movable phone. Before he set up the company he spent one holiday preparing a plan that would persuade his bank to lend him money.
“Most students work hard for a good degree because they believe that will help them get a job to support themselves,” he says “I work hard at my company, because that is what will support me next year, after I leave college.”
Friends believe that Blackburn will make £ 1 million within 5 years.
He is not quite so sure, however. “There’s a lot to be done yet,” he says.Choose the right order of the facts given in the passage.
a. He spent his holiday preparing a plan.
b. He collected newspapers.
c. He set up his own company.
d. He asked the bank for money.
e. He set up a babysitting circle.
A.e, b, c, a, d | B.b, e, a, d, c | C.b, e, d, a, c | D.b, e, c, a, d |
When he was quite young, Blackburn ____ .
A.already made a lot of money | B.already had a business brain |
C.was already managing director of a company | D.already set up his own business |
The underlined expression in the fourth paragraph “have a go,” here means ____ .
A.give up this job and have a new one | B.leave the company |
C.have a try | D.develop my business quickly |
In spite of a college student, Blackburn ____ .
A.spends more time on his business than on his studies course |
B.keep in touch with his business office by movable phone |
C.seldom goes out with his friends |
D.often spends whole holiday preparing business plan |
Which of the following best explain why Blackburn works hard at his company?
A.He wants to do more business practice before he leaves college. |
B.He wants to make more money before he leaves college. |
C.He wants to get a good job like most students after he leaves the college. |
D.he depends on the company for his living in the future. |
The first newspapers were written by hand and put up on walls in public place. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700’s the world’s first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn’t have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.
The first regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was the Daily Courant (每日新闻). It came out in March 1702.
In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston. But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started The Boston Newsletter (波斯顿新闻通讯), the first newspaper published in the American colonies. By 1760, the colonies had more than thirty daily newspapers. There are now about 1,800 daily papers in the United States.
Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation (发行量) in the world. But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Dhimbun (朝日新闻). It sells more than eleven million copies every day.The first daily newspaper came out in _____.
A.59 BC | B.700’s | C.1609 | D.1620 |
The first regularly published newspaper in Europe was printed in _____.
A.England | B.Germany | C.France | D.Sweden |
The first printed newspaper in America came out in _____.
A.Washington | B.New York | C.Boston | D.New Orleans |
Today there are about _____ daily newspaper printed in the United States.
A.1621 | B.1704 | C.1760 | D.1800 |
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A.The first regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam. |
B.English language newspaper sells more than 11 million copies every day. |
C.Europe didn't have a regularly published newspaper in 1608. |
D.The first daily English newspaper came out in March 1702. |