雅思阅读第026套1-Howto Spot a Liar
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1below.
How to Spot a Liar
However much we may abhor it,deception comes naturally to all living things. Birds do it by feigning injuryto lead hungry predators away from nesting young. Spider crabs do it bydisguise: adorning themselves with strips of kelp and other debris, theypretend to be something they are not – and so escape their enemies. Natureamply rewards successful deceivers by allowing them to survive long enough tomate and reproduce. So it may come as no surprise to learn that human beings-who, according to psychologist Gerald Johnson of the University of SouthCalifornia, or lied to about 200 times a day, roughly one untruth every 5minutes- often deceive for exactly the same reasons: to save their own skins orto get something they can’t get by other means.
But knowing how to catch deceitcan be just as important a survival skill as knowing how to tell a lie and getaway with it. A person able to spot falsehood quickly is unlikely to beswindled by an unscrupulous business associate or hoodwinked by a deviousspouse. Luckily, nature provides more than enough clues to trap dissemblers intheir own tangled webs- if you know where to look. By closely observing facialexpressions, body language and tone of voice, practically anyone can recognisethe tell-tale signs of lying. Researchers are even programming computers – likethose used on Lie Detector -to get at the truth by analysing the same physicalcues available to the naked eye and ear. “With the proper training, many peoplecan learn to reliably detect lies,” says Paul Ekman, professor of psychology atthe University of California, San Francisco, who has spent the past 15 yearsstudying the secret art of deception.
In order to know what kind ofLies work best, successful liars need to accurately assess other people’semotional states. Ackman’s research shows that this same emotional intelligenceis essential for good lie detectors, too. The emotional state to watch out foris stress, the conflict most liars feel between the truth and what theyactually say and do.
Even high-tech lie detectorsdon’t detect lies as such; they merely detect the physical cues of emotions,which may or may not correspond to what the person being tested is saying.Polygraphs, for instance, measure respiration, heart rate and skinconductivity, which tend to increase when people are nervous – as they usuallyare when lying. Nervous people typically perspire, and the salts contained inperspiration conducts electricity. That’s why sudden leap in skin conductivityindicates nervousness -about getting caught, perhaps -which makes, in turn,suggest that someone is being economical with the truth. On the other hand, itmight also mean that the lights in the television Studio are too hot- which isone reason polygraph tests are inadmissible in court. “Good lie detectors don’trely on a single thing” says Ekma ,but interpret clusters of verbal andnon-verbal clues that suggest someone might be lying.”
The clues are written all overthe face. Because the musculature of the face is directly connected to theareas of the brain that processes emotion, the countenance can be a window tothe soul. Neurological studies even suggest that genuine emotions traveldifferent pathways through the brain than insincere ones. If a patientparalyzed by stroke on one side of the face, for example, is asked to smiledeliberately, only the mobile side of the mouth is raised. But tell that sameperson a funny joke, and the patient breaks into a full and spontaneous smile.Very few people -most notably, actors and politicians- are able to consciouslycontrol all of their facial expressions. Lies can often be caught when theliars true feelings briefly leak through the mask of deception. We don’t thinkbefore we feel, Ekman says. “Expressions tend to show up on the face beforewe’re even conscious of experiencing an emotion.”
One of the most difficultfacial expressions to fake- or conceal, if it’s genuinely felt - is sadness.When someone is truly sad, the forehead wrinkles with grief and the innercorners of the eyebrows are pulled up. Fewer than 15% of the people Ekmantested were able to produce this eyebrow movement voluntarily. By contrast, thelowering of the eyebrows associated with an angry scowl can be replicated atwill but almost everybody. “ If someone claims they are sad and the innercorners of their eyebrows don’t go up, Ekmam says, the sadness is probablyfalse.”
The smile, on the other hand,is one of the easiest facial expressions to counterfeit. It takes just twomuscles -the zygomaticus major muscles that extend from the cheekbones to thecorners of the lips- to produce a grin. But there’s a catch. A genuine smileaffects not only the corners of the lips but also the orbicularis oculi, themuscle around the eye that produces the distinctive “crow’s feet” associatedwith people who laugh a lot. A counterfeit grin can be unmasked if the cornersof the lips go up, the eyes crinkle, but the inner corners of the eyebrows arenot lowered, a movement controlled by the orbicularis oculi that is difficultto fake. The absence of lowered eyebrows is one reason why the smile looks sostrained and stiff.
SECTION 1: QUESTIONS 1-13
Questions 1-5
YES
if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO
if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
1 ______________ All livinganimals can lie.
2 ______________ Some people telllies for self-preservation.
3 ______________ Scientists haveused computers to analyze which part of the brain is responsible for tellinglies.
4 ______________ Lying as asurvival skill is more important than detecting a lie.
5 ______________ To be a goodliar, one has to understand other people's emotions.
Questions 6-9
Choose the correct letter A,B, C or D.
Write your answers inboxes 6-9.
6How does the lie detector work?
AIt detects whether one's emotional stateis stable.
BIt detects one’s brain activity level.
CIt detects body behavior during one'sverbal response.
DIt analyses one's verbal response word byword.
7Lie detectors can't be used as evidence ina court of law because
ALights often cause lie detectors tomalfunction.
BThey are based on too many verbal andnon-verbal clues.
CPolygraph tests are often inaccurate.
DThere may be many causes of certain bodybehavior.
8Why does the author mention the paralyzedpatients?
ATo demonstrate how a paralyzed patientsmiles
BTo show the relation between true emotionsand body behavior
CTo examine how they were paralyzed
DTo show the importance of happiness fromrecovery
9The author uses politicians to exemplifythat they can
AHave emotions.
BImitate actors.
CDetect other people's lives.
DMask their true feelings.
Questions 10-13
Classify the following facialtraits as referring to
A
sadness
B
anger
C
happiness
Write the correct letter A,B orC in boxes 10-13.
10 __________ Inner corners ofeyebrows raised
11 __________ The whole eyebrowslowered
12 __________ Lines formed around
13 __________ Lines form aboveeyebrows
答案
雅思阅读第026套P1-How to Spot a Liarhttp://www.tuonindefu.com/?p=2246雅思阅读第026套P1:How to Spot a Liar
