How Many Lies Do the Children Tell You? Mothers who feel their children don' t appreciate

How Many Lies Do the Children Tell You?
Mothers who feel their children don' t appreciate them can add another grievance to the list: half the time, their children are lying to them. A study designed to expose the truth about lying shows that undergraduates lie to their mothers in 46% of their conversations. Still, mums should feel better than total strangers, who are told lies an astonishing 77 % of the time.
Bella Depaulo and a team of psychologists from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, asked 77 undergraduates to keep a record of all their conversations for a week, and write down whether they lied at any time. DePaulo named lying broadly, as when you intentionally try to mislead someone, so she would catch the smallest of lies.
The students told an average of two lies a day. They said they had been studying when they had been out drinking. One told his parents that a textbook cost $50 rather than $20 so that they would send him extra money. Female students constantly told their plain-looking roommates that they were pretty. They are everyday lies, says DePaulo.
DePaulo and her colleagues conclude that people tend to tell fewer lies to those they feel closest to. College students lied to their best friends 28% of the time but lied to acquaintances 48% of the time. In close relationships, people were more likely to tell kind-hearted lies, designed to protect feelings, rather than self-serving lies.
Romantic（浪漫的）partners lie somewhere between close friends and acquaintances. Students lied to romantic partners about a third of the time. DePaulo thinks that unmarried lovers can expect less honesty than best friends because of the insecurity that comes with romance.
Mothers can take heart from one other finding. They may have been lied to, but at least their children talked to them. The students were recorded telling few lies to their fathers because they had little interaction with them.
【小题1】What is the meaning of the underlined word grievance in Paragraph 1?A．opinion. B．complaint.C．belief.D．difficulty.【小题2】 According to the passage, college students felt closest to . A．mothersB．best friendsC．acquaintancesD．romantic partners【小题3】Female students lied to their roommates to .A．get money from themB．offer them the servicesC．gain more securityD．make them happy【小题4】What is the purpose of this article?A．To present a fact.B．To argue an idea. C．To tell a story.D．To explain a theory.B

(答案→)B 解析：文章通过调查介绍了关于孩子撒谎的一些事实，调查表明大学生经常和家人撒谎，但是和亲密的朋友撒谎不多，有的也是善意的谎言，在家里孩子和母亲撒谎比和父亲对，因为和父亲的互动少。【小题1】猜词题：从冒号后面的内容：half the time, their children are lying to them. 孩子会对父母撒谎，这是父母对孩子的抱怨的话，grievance 相当于complaint，选B【小题2】细节题：从第三段的句子：DePaulo and her colleagues conclude that people tend to tell fewer lies to those they feel closest to. College students lied to their best friends 28% of the time but lied to acquaintances 48% of the time.可知大学生和朋友感觉最亲密。选B【小题3】推理题：从第三段的句子：Female students constantly told their plain-looking roommates that they were pretty. They are everyday lies,可知女学生经常和长相一般的室友说她们很漂亮，是因为想让她们高兴。选D【小题4】写作目的题：从第一段的句子：A study designed to expose the truth about lying shows that undergraduates lie to their mothers in 46% of their conversations. 可知这篇文章就是为了陈述事实。选A

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