What is exactly 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'm 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?

A scientific study of lying shows 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 looks terrible. However, this is only one side of the story. Other researches show that men are more likely to tell more serious lies, such as making a promise which they have no intention of fulfilling. 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 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 are sitting down at the same 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.

31. This passage tells us that _____.

A. telling lies is often necessary in order to avoid being defeated

B. telling lies is often bad because people ought not to be dishonest

C. telling lies is sometimes necessary in order not to hurt someone else's feelings

D. telling lies is not bad at all in most cases

[答案] C

【解析】段作者举的例子，可以得出C“有时为了不伤害其他人的感情说谎是必须的”正确。其它选项的信息在文中没有明确出现。

32. In Paragraph 2, the sentence "Women are better liars than men do." probably means _____.

A. women are better at telling lies than men

B. women liars are better accepted than men

C. women have a better intention when telling lies

D. women tell fewer lies than men do

[答案] C

【解析】从第二段作者举例可知女人更爱说"white lie"，即善意的谎言，而男人更有可能说一些严重的谎话。所以C选项“女人说谎时有较好的意图”符合原文。A选项说的太笼统，女人仅在说"white lie"时比男人擅长，而说"serious lie"则不及男人;B、D选项所给信息并未在文中出现。

33. A "white lie" means _____.

A. a lie that is completely unbelievable

B. a lie that is told with a good will

C. a lie that is always believable

D. a lie that often has an evil purpose

[答案] B

【解析】"white lie"的意思是善意的谎言，从文中第二段女人说谎所举的例子也可以推断出B选项“带有善意所说的谎”为正确答案。

34. Politicians and businessmen are supposed to be skilled at telling the kind of lies _____.

A. from which they may gain some advantages

B. that seems to be believable

C. that women are most likely to believe

D. with which they can have better relationship with others

[答案] A

【解析】第二段后一句“政治家和商人尤其擅长说这种谎话，即可从这些谎言中赚钱或获利。”而A选项“他们或许可以从中赢得一些好处”与之相一致。

35. It can be concluded from the passage that _____.

A. there is a simple way of finding out if someone is lying

B. from some ways people behave we can know they are lying

C. certain emotions are proof of lying

D. in some situations women are most likely to think businessmen are dishonest

[答案] B

【解析】第三段句“对人们行为举止的研究表明：当人们说谎时，会以大量不起眼的、表面上不重要的方式改变自己的举止”为主题句，文章所得出的结论为B选项“从人们的一些行为举止，我们能够知道他们在说谎”，与主题句相一致。

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