Unit
Unit 5
5
The Real Truth about Lies
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
Watch the video clip and answer the following questions.
1. Why do people tell white lies?
Because they’re white and more polite and make
people feel all right.
2. What are the common white lies?
I say I’m 10 when I’m 9 and a half; I pretend I’m
asleep when my dad walks in, etc.
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
From Lie to Me
I say I’m 10 when I’m 9 and a half
My uncle tells a joke and I try to laugh
In gym I fake a headache when I want to quit
I say I love the sweater that my grandma knit
But that’s a white lie
White lie
That’s the kind you want to tell, a white lie
White lie
So you’re mom won’t have to yell, a white lie
White lie
Everybody does it ‘cause it feels all right
And it’s more polite
But a lie’s still a lie, even when it’s white
I pretend I’m asleep when my dad walks in
I said I ate my chicken but I just ate the skin
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
Your face can say you’re lying
When your mouth says you’re not
Your peds are on fire but they’re not too hot
When it’s a white lie
White lie
It’s the kind you want to tell, a white lie
White lie
So your dad won’t have to yell, a white lie
White lie
Everybody does it ‘cause it feels all right
And it’s more polite, but a lie’s still a lie
Even when it’s white
While it might be hard to say what’s true
Would you want a white lie told to you?
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
But that’s a white lie
White lie
That’s the kind you want to tell, a white lie
White lie
So you’re mom won’t have to yell, a white lie
White lie
Everybody does it ‘cause it feels all right
And it’s more polite
But a lie’s still a lie
Even when it’s white
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
1. A white lie is one that lacks evil
intent, as opposed to a black lie,
which is most certainly malevolent,
though normally we don’t bother to
specify that lies are evil. A white
lie is harmless or trivial, which is
frequently said in order to avoid
hurting someone’s feelings.
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
2. Behavioral scientist Wendy Gamble identified four basic
types of lies for a University of Arizona study in 2000:
Prosocial:
Lying to protect someone, to benefit or help others.
Self-enhancement:
Lying to save face, to avoid embarrassment,
disapproval or punishment.
Selfish:
Lying to protect the self at the expense of another,
and/or to conceal a misdeed.
Antisocial:
Lying to hurt someone else intentionally.
Text Analysis
Structural Analysis
This is a piece of persuasive writing. It is of journalistic
style.
In this text, the author asserts the ubiquitous
presence of petty white lies, analyzes its causes,
discusses its grave consequences, and concludes
that some lies are justifiable, while others are to
be avoided.
Text Analysis
Structural Analysis
The author begins with the results of two surveys.
Then he comments on the consequences of telling lies.
In the end, he discusses which lies should be avoided.
Part I (Paras. 1-6) introduces the topic by reporting
two survey results.
Part II (Paras. 7-11) shows that people often tell
white lies so as not to hurt others.
Part III (Paras. 12-15) deals with the consequences of
telling lies.
Part IV (Paras. 16-18) discusses whether lies should be
avoided at all costs.
Detailed Reading
The Real Truth about Lies
Randy Fitzgerald
1
At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville,
psychology professor Bella DePaulo got 77 students
and 70 townspeople to volunteer for an unusual
project. All kept diaries for a week, recording the
numbers and details of the lies they told.
2
One student and six Charlottesville residents
professed to have told no falsehoods. The other 140
participants told 1535.
Detailed Reading
3
The lies were most often not what most of us would
call earth-shattering. Someone would pretend to be more
positive or supportive of a spouse or friend than he or she
really was, or feign agreement with a relative’s opinion.
According to DePaulo, women in their interactions with
other women lied mostly to spare the other’s feelings.
Men lied to other men generally for self-promoting
reasons.
4
Most strikingly, these tellers-of-a-thousand-lies
reported that their deceptions caused them “little
preoccupation or regret.”
Might that, too, be a lie?
Perhaps. But there is evidence that this attitude towards
casual use of prevarication is common.
Detailed Reading
5 For example, 20,000 middle and high-schoolers were
surveyed by the Josephson Institute of Ethics — a
nonprofit organization in Marina del Rey, California,
devoted to character education. Ninety-two percent of
the teenagers admitted having lied to their parents in the
previous year, and 73 percent characterized themselves
as “serial liars,” meaning they told lies weekly. Despite
these admissions, 91 percent of all respondents said they
were “satisfied with my own ethics and character.”
Detailed Reading
6
Think how often we hear the expressions “I’ll call you”
or “The check is in the mail” or “I’m sorry, but he stepped
out.” And then there are professions — lawyers, pundits,
public relations consultants — whose members seem to
specialize in shaping or spinning the truth to suit clients’
needs.
7
Little white lies have become ubiquitous, and the
reasons we give each other for telling fibs are familiar.
Consider, for example, a corporate executive whom I’ll
call Tom. He goes with his wife and son to his mother-inlaw’s home for a holiday dinner every year. Tom dislikes
her “special” pumpkin pie intensely. Invariably he tells her
how wonderful it is, to avoid hurting her feelings.
Detailed Reading
8
“What’s wrong with that?” Tom asked Michael
Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute. It’s a
question we might all ask.
9
Josephson replied by asking Tom to consider the lie
from his mother-in-law’s point of view. Suppose that one
day Tom’s child blurts out the truth, and she discovers
the deceit. Will she tell her son-in-law, “Thank you for
caring so much?” Or is she more likely to feel hurt and
say, “How could you have misled me all these years? And
what else have you lied to me about? ”
Detailed Reading
10
And what might Tom’s mother-in-law now suspect
about her own daughter? And will Tom’s boy lie to his
parents and yet be satisfied with his own character?
11 How often do we compliment people on how well
they look, or express our appreciation for gifts, when
we don’t really mean it? Surely, these “nice lies” are
harmless and well intended, a necessary social
lubricant. But, like Tom, we should remember the
words of English novelist Sir Walter Scott, who wrote,
“What a tangled web we weave, when first we
practice to deceive.”
Detailed Reading
12
Even seemingly harmless falsehoods can have
unforeseen consequences. Philosopher Sissela Bok warns
us that they can put us on a slippery slope. “After the
first lies, others can come more easily,” she wrote in
her book Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life.
“Psychological barriers wear down; the ability to make
more distinctions can coarsen; the liar’s perception of
his chances of being caught may warp.” 13 Take the
pumpkin-pie lies. In the first place, it wasn’t just that
he wanted his mother-in-law to feel good. Whether he
realized it or not, he really wanted her to think highly
of him. And after the initial deceit he needed to tell
more lies to cover up the first one.
Detailed Reading
14
Who believes it anymore when they’re told that
the person they want to reach by phone is “in a
meeting”? By itself, that kind of lie is of no great
consequence. Still, the endless proliferation of these
little prevarications does matter.
15
Once they’ve become common enough, even the
small untruths that are not meant to hurt encourage a
certain cynicism and loss of trust. “When [trust] is
damaged,” warns Bok, “the community as a whole
suffers; and when it is destroyed, societies falter and
collapse.”
Detailed Reading
16
Are all white lies to be avoided at all costs? Not
necessarily.
The most understandable and forgivable
lies are an exchange of what ethicists refer to as the
principle of trust for the principle of caring, “like telling
children about the tooth fairy, or deceiving someone to
set them up for a surprise party,” Josephson says. “Still,
we must ask ourselves if we are willing to give our
friends and associates the authority to lie to us
whenever they think it is for our own good.”
Detailed Reading
17
Josephson suggests a simple test. If someone you
lie to finds out the truth, will he thank you for caring?
Or will he feel his long-term trust in you has been
undermined?
18
And if you’re not sure, Mark Twain has given us a
good rule of thumb. “When in doubt, tell the truth. It
will confound your enemies and astound your friends.”
Detailed Reading
What is the result of Professor Bella DePaulo’s survey?
What conclusion can we draw from the result?
According to the survey done by Professor DePaulo, 140
out of 147 people admitted having told lies. As some of
the lies are well-intentioned, people may not regard
them as lies. This result shows that telling lies is
common.
Detailed Reading
What is the result of the survey conducted by Josephson
Institute of Ethics? What can we learn from it?
According to this survey, among 20,000 students
surveyed, 92 percent professed to have told lies and
meanwhile, 91 percent never doubted about their own
ethics or character. Again, this result shows that telling
lies is common and people seldom relate telling lies to
morality.
Detailed Reading
According to the writer, what could be considered “nice
lies”?
According to the writer, all these could be considered
“nice lies”: complimenting people on their appearance,
expressing appreciation for gifts or food.
Detailed Reading
What is the grave consequence of telling lies?
The ubiquitousness of lies may cause people to be
distrustful of each other, thus leading to the collapse of
the whole society.
Detailed Reading
Class Activity
Group discussion: What does this sentence “What a
tangled web we weave, when first we practice to
deceive” mean? Can you give an example to illustrate
its meaning?
Detailed Reading
profess v.
say that you do, are, etc. sth., especially when it is not
really true
e.g. James professed to know everything about
sculpture.
He professed the greatest respect for the law.
Practice:
她自称对此事一无所知。
She professed total ignorance of the matter.
他声称对该阴谋毫不知情。
He professed that he knew nothing about the plot.
Detailed Reading
earth-shattering a.
of the greatest importance to the whole world
e.g. After years of hard work, they finally made an earthshattering discovery.
The new invention is of earth-shattering importance.
Detailed Reading
feign v.
pretend to have or be, put on a false air of
e.g. She feigned to be ill in order not to do the
exercises.
He feigned surprise and they all believed him.
Collocation:
feign interest / surprise / ignorance / illness
(formal) pretend that you are interested, surprised, etc.
e.g. “Oh really!” he said, trying to feign interest.
Sometimes it’s best just to feign ignorance
(=pretend that you do not know anything).
Detailed Reading
Synonym:
pretend v.
deliberately behave as though something is true when
you know it is not, either for fun or to deceive people
e.g. Mark closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
She shouted but he pretended that he hadn’t
heard her.
Detailed Reading
spare one’s feelings
avoid doing sth. that would upset sb.
e.g. He simply wished to minimize the fuss and to spare
her feelings.
We carefully avoided mentioning the news to spare
his feelings.
Detailed Reading
preoccupation n.
a strong interest in sth., usually because you are worried
about it, with the result that you do not pay attention to
other things
e.g. Because of his preoccupation with his books, he
didn’t realize we were already back.
Such preoccupation with your work isn’t healthy.
Detailed Reading
prevarication n.
the state of avoiding giving a direct answer or making a
firm decision
e.g. After months of prevarication, a decision was finally
made.
When we questioned the authorities on the subject,
we were met by prevarication.
Detailed Reading
devote … to
give all or a large part of one’s time or resources to
(a person, activity, or cause)
e.g. I want to devote more time to my family.
He devotes himself to philanthropy.
Detailed Reading
profession n.
a form of employment, esp. one that is possible only for
an educated person and that is respected in society as
honorable
e.g. She intends to make teaching her profession.
According to the report, forty percent of the lawyers
entering the profession are women.
Detailed Reading
pundit n.
a person who is an authority on a particular subject; an
expert
e.g. Mr. Johnson is a well-known political pundit.
We’ve invited a foreign-policy pundit to give us a
lecture.
Detailed Reading
shape or spin the truth
modify the truth
Detailed Reading
client n.
sb. who pays for services or advice from a person or an
organization
e.g. a solicitor and his client
Detailed Reading
ubiquitous a.
seeming to be everywhere
e.g. By the end of last century, the computer had
become ubiquitous.
We are now confronted with the ubiquitous
spread of English.
Detailed Reading
fib n.
a small unimportant lie
e.g. Have you ever told fibs?
She told innocent fibs like anyone else.
Detailed Reading
invariably ad.
always
e.g. It’s invariably wet when I take my holidays.
She invariably forgets to take her keys.
Detailed Reading
blurt out v.
say sth. suddenly and without thinking, usually because
one is nervous or excited
e.g. To our surprise, he blurted his secret out at table.
John blurted out that he dreamed of becoming a
computer programmer.
Detailed Reading
lubricant n.
a substance such as oil that one puts on surfaces that
rub together
e.g. That all-important task acts as a social lubricant,
minimizing frictions.
Detailed Reading
tangled a.
complicated or made up of many confusing parts
e.g. After listening to his speech I thought his ideas
and opinions were so tangled that I could not vote
for him.
The floor of the forest was covered with tangled
growth.
Detailed Reading
wear down
reduce or become weaker until useless
e.g. My shoes have worn down at the heel.
Your back tyres are badly worn down; you should
fit new ones.
Detailed Reading
warp v.
bend or twist and to be no longer in the correct shape
e.g. Left in the garage where it was damp, the
wooden frame had warped.
The door must be warped. It won’t close properly.
Detailed Reading
think highly of
have a good opinion of
e.g. We think highly of your suggestion.
I can assure you that the management thinks very
highly of you.
Detailed Reading
proliferation n.
a rapid increase in the amount or number of sth.
e.g. Smoking triggers off cell proliferation.
Over the past two years, we have witnessed the
proliferation of TV channels.
Detailed Reading
cynicism n.
the belief that people always act selfishly
Detailed Reading
associate n.
sb. who you work or do business with
e.g. He is not a friend, but a business associate.
George’s party was boring — it was full of his
business associates.
Detailed Reading
undermine v.
gradually make sb. or sth. less strong or effective
e.g. She jealously tried to undermine our friendship.
Lack of food has undermined his health.
Detailed Reading
rule of thumb
a rough method of calculation, based on practical
experience
e.g. I never weigh anything when I’m cooking — just
do it by rule of thumb.
As a rule of thumb, a cup of filter coffee contains
about 89mg caffeine.
Detailed Reading
astound v.
make sb. very surprised or shocked
e.g. It astounds me that anyone could every consider
declaring war.
He used to astound his friends with feats of
physical endurance.
Detailed Reading
Might that, too, be a lie?
Is it possible to consider that a lie?
Might here means “possibility”. Note that may, when
used to mean “possibility”, is normally not used in a
question.
Detailed Reading
What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice
to deceive.
Paraphrase:
When we start to tell a lie, we would have entered a
very intricate situation, as a lie often requires other
lies until the whole structure of lies becomes so
complex that it ensnares the liar.
Detailed Reading
Psychological barriers wear down: the ability to make
more distinctions can coarsen; the liar’s perception of
his chances of being caught may warp.
Paraphrase:
One is less inhibited from lying: his ability to tell the
truth from the falsehood is dulled, and he may
become less cautious against being caught.
Detailed Reading
The most understandable and forgivable lies are an
exchange of what ethicists refer to as the principle of
trust for the principle of caring.
Paraphrase:
The most understandable and acceptable lies are
those which are told for the sake of love and care at
the expense of trust, according to the ethicists.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Word Derivation
Phrase Practice
Synonym / Antonym
Writing
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Fill in the blank in each sentence with an appropriate
phrasal verb or collocation from the text.
cover up
1) The governor is trying hard to __________
the scandal.
2) Samantha was amazed when late one evening, Adam
that he loved her.
blurted out
_____________
set up
3) He claimed that he had been _______
were discovered in his suitcase.
4) Did you ever _________
find out
wife and four children?
after drugs
why the man deserted his
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
5) Wind and water slowly ____________
wear down
jagged edges.
Writing
the mountain’s
specializes in
6) They are going to a restaurant which _______________
Mexican food.
professes to
7) A modest scholar never ______________
his subject.
have exhausted
on
________________ them ____
8) The press complimented
their
breakthroughs in the research into the causes of cancer.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
cover up: put sth. over sth. else so that it cannot be seen;
prevent people from discovering mistakes or
unpleasant facts
e.g. 他忘了把机器盖起来。
He had forgotten to have the machine covered
up.
你怎么能掩盖自己的错误呢？
How can you cover up your mistake?
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
blurt out: say sth. suddenly and tactlessly
e.g. 我还没来得及阻止，他已脱口说出了这个坏消息。
He blurted out the bad news before I could
stop him.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
set up: make sb. feel healthy and full of energy
e.g.
你喝杯热饮料马上就精神了。
A hot drink will soon set you up.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
find out: get information, after trying to discover it by
effort or by chance
e.g.
弄清楚合同的条件是什么。
Find out what the conditions of the contract
are.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
wear down: reduce or become weaker until useless
e.g. 这一策略旨在逐步削弱敌人的抵抗力。
The strategy was designed to wear down the
enemy’s resistance.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
specialize in: give particular attention to (a subject,
product, etc.)
e.g. 其实我们专营此项产品已有多年历史。
In fact, we specialize in this product with a
long history.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
profess to: claim (sth.), often falsely
e.g. 我并不自诩是这一问题的专家。
I don’t profess to be an expert in this subject.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
compliment … on …: express of praise, admiration,
approval, etc.
e.g. 我们大家都夸他勇敢。
We all complimented him on his courage.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
1) ethic n.→ ethical a. → unethical a.
e.g. 伦理学是哲学的分科。
Ethics is a branch of philosophy.
他的行为不太道德。
His behaviour has not been strictly ethical.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
2) feign v. → feigned a.
e.g. 有些动物遇到危险时便装死。
Some animals feign death when in danger.
他大发雷霆，不知是真的还是假的。
He was consuming with indignation, real or
feigned.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
3) spare v. → sparing a. → unsparing a. → unsparingly ad.
e.g. 他们把男人都杀了，但放过了孩子。
They killed the men but spared the children.
尼任斯基对演技精益求精一丝不苟。
Nijinsky was unsparing in his demands for
perfection.
他强迫自己拼命干。
He drove himself unsparingly.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
4) cynicism n. → cynic n. →cynical a.
e.g. 他的话带着强烈的讽刺。
His remark has a fine edge of cynicism.
罗伯特是一个地道的怀疑主义者，他不会不假思索
就相信任何事或任何人。
Roberts is a real cynic; he won’t accept
anything or anyone at face value.
他们逐渐感到所谓民主制度也不过尔尔。
They’ve grown rather cynical about democracy.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
5) confound v. → confounded a. → confoundedly ad.
e.g. 他的所作所为让她感到既惊愕又困惑。
His behaviour amazed and confounded her.
你真是讨厌死了！
You’re a confounded nuisance!
天气太热了。
It’s confoundedly hot.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
6) lubricate v. → lubricant n.
e.g. 我需要润润嗓子。
My throat needs lubricating.
我们使用哪种润滑剂，主要取决于轴承的转速如何。
The sort of lubricant which we use depends
largely on the running speed of the bearing.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
7) tangle v. → tangle n. → entangle v.
e.g. 她的头发让带刺的铁网缠住了。
Her hair got all tangled up in the barbed wire
fence.
他的财务状况是一笔糊涂帐。
His financial affairs are in such a tangle.
她的长发让玫瑰丛给钩住了。
Her long hair entangled itself in the rose bush.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
8) will n. → willful a.
e.g. 我被迫违心地在协议上签了字。
I was forced to sign the agreement against my will.
只要人有恒，万事皆可成。
A willful man must have his way.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
1. But there is evidence that this attitude towards casual
use of prevarication is common.
Synonym: evasion, equivocation
2. Ninety-two per cent of the teenagers admitted having
lied to their parents in the previous year, and seventythree percent characterized themselves as “serial liars,”
meaning they told lies weekly.
Synonym: chronic, repeated
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
3. Little white lies have become ubiquitous, and the
reasons we give each other for telling fibs are familiar.
Synonym: common, prevalent, omnipresent
4. Tom dislikes her “special” pumpkin pie intensely.
Antonym: slightly
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
5. How often do we compliment people on how well they
look, or express our appreciation for gifts, when we
don’t really mean it?
Antonym: insult, reproach, criticize
6. “Psychological barriers wear down; the ability to make
more distinctions can coarsen; the liar’s perception of
his chances of being caught may warp.”
Synonym: distort
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
7. Still, the endless proliferation of these little
prevarications does matter.
Synonym: growth, multiplication
8. Or will he feel his long-term trust in you has been
undermined?
Antonym: strengthened, consolidated
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Modal Auxiliaries
Verbless Clauses
The infinitive vs. the -ing
participle
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
1) Modal Auxiliaries
Modal auxiliaries are special auxiliary verbs that
express the degree or certainty of the action in the
sentence, or the attitude or opinion of the writer
concerning the action. Some common modal auxiliaries
are must, can, will, and should.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Practice
Complete each sentence with what you think the most
appropriate of the four choices given.
1. ___
C go to school tomorrow?
A. Must you to
B. Have you to
D. Do you must
C. Do you have to
C known the truth?
2. ___
A. Might John
C. Could John have
B. May John have
D. Can John
We don’t use may / might in a question when they
refer to possibility.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
3. I can’t find the recorder in the room. It ___
A by somebody.
A. may have been taken away B. may leave
D. must have taken away
C. may take away
4. He ___
D the 9:20 train because he didn’t leave home till
9:25.
A. can reach
B. could catch
C. may not catch
D. couldn’t have caught
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
2) Verbless Clauses
A verbless clause means clause-like construction in
which a verb element is implied but not present. Such
clauses are usually adverbial, and the omitted verb is a
form of be.
e.g. John believes the prisoner innocent.
In this sentence the italicized sequence is a
verbless clause, which we assume is a reduced version
of the to-infinitive clause:
John believes the prisoner to be innocent.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
The following sentences contain further examples of
verbless clauses (italicized):
• He considered the girl a good student.
• Whenever in trouble, Bill rang his girl-friend.
• He married her when a student at Harvard.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Practice
Rewrite the following sentences, using verbless clauses.
1. When you are in doubt, tell the truth. It will confound
your enemies and astound your friends.
When in doubt, tell the truth. It will confound your
enemies and astound your friends.
2. When it is heated, metal expands.
When heated, metal expands.
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3. If it is true, it will cause us a lot of trouble.
If true, it will cause us a lot of trouble.
4. Whenever it is possible, they should be typed.
Whenever possible, they should be typed.
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3) The infinitive vs. the -ing participle
There are certain words in English that are usually followed
by an infinitive or gerund.
The infinitive
Certain words are followed by an infinite verb with or
without “to”.
Use
Example
after certain expressions
(without “to”)
Why not go to the
cinema?
after certain verbs (without
“to”)
I can swim.
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after certain verbs (with “to”)
He wants to swim.
after certain verbs with
interrogatives (infinitive
constructions)
They don’t know how to
swim.
after certain verbs with objects
(without “to”)
He made her swim.
after certain verbs with objects
(with “to”)
They wanted him to
swim.
after certain adjectives and their
comparisons
It’s easier to
downstream.
swim
after nouns deriving from the verbs We made a promise to
mentioned above
swim. (derived from
the verb “to promise”)
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The -ing participle
Certain words are followed by an –ing form.
Use
after certain adjectives
with prepositions
after certain
prepositions
after certain verbs
after certain verbs with
prepositions
after certain nouns
Example
He’s afraid of going by plane.
Before going to bed he turned
off the lights.
I enjoy cooking.
I am looking forward to seeing
you again.
We had problems finding our
way back home.
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Words followed either by infinitive or –ing form
Use
Example
same meaning
I started to read. / I started
reading.
same meaning but
She forbids us to talk. / She
different use
forbids talking.
different meaning
He stopped to smoke. / He
stopped smoking.
infinitive or present
I saw him go up the stairs. / I
participle
saw him going up the stairs.
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Practice
Complete the sentences with the proper forms of the
verbs given.
discussing (discuss) the matter for an hour, the
1. After _________
having reached (have
committee adjourned without _____________
reached) any decision.
2. I distinctly remember ______
paying (pay) him. I gave him $2.
Lying (Lie) on this beach is much more pleasant than
3. ______
sitting (sit) in the office.
______
4. I tried ________
to pacify (pacify) him but he refused _____________
to be pacified
(pacify) and went on _________
grumbling (grumble).
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5. He made me ______
repeat (repeat) his instructions ________
to make
(make) sure that I understood what I was _____
to do (do)
after he had gone.
going (go) to a film or would you
6. Do you feel like _____
rather ____
stay (stay) at home?
7. It is easy ______
to see (see) animals on the road in daylight
but sometimes at night it is very difficult ________
to avoid
hitting (hit) them.
(avoid) ______
8. I knew I wasn’t the first ________
to arrive (arrive), for I saw
rising (rise) from the chimney.
smoke _____
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9. You’ll never regret _____
doing (do) a kind action.
10. The car began to
_______
make (make) an extraordinary
noise so I stopped ______
to see (see) what it was.
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Translate the following sentences into English.
1. 当哈姆雷特拿不定主意该采取什么行动时，他就装疯。
(feign)
If someone feigns a particular feeling, attitude, or
physical condition, they try to make other people
think that they have it or are experiencing it,
although this is not true.
Hamlet feigned madness when he was hesitating
what to do.
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Practice:
装病﹑ 装疯﹑ 佯作无知
feign illness, madness, ignorance
Writing
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2. 真理之光有时刺目，于是善意的谎话随处可见。
(ubiquitous)
If you describe something or someone as ubiquitous,
you mean that they seem to be everywhere.
Sometimes the light of the truth is just too dazzling,
so white lies are ubiquitous.
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Practice:
餐厅里吸烟的烟雾就没有地方躲得过去吗?
Is there no escape from the ubiquitous cigarette
smoke in restaurants?
他可以看到那些无处不在的电视摄像机。
He could see the ubiquitous TV cameras.
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3. 你应该摆脱偏见，抵制诱惑，不让任何东西扭曲你的判
断。(warp)
Warp means causing sb./sth. to become biased,
distorted or perverted.
You should get rid of any prejudice, resist
temptations and let nothing warp your judgment.
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Practice:
他受私心影响判断不确。
His judgment was warped by self-interest.
历史常为偏见所曲解。
Histories are often warped by bias.
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4. 美国许多妇女声称她们对自己二等公民的地位感到不满。
(profess)
If you profess to do or have something, you claim
that you do it or have it, often when you do not.
(FORMAL)
Many women in America profess that they are
unhappy with their status of second-class citizens.
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Practice:
她自称对那事一无所知。
She professed total ignorance of the matter.
他声称对该阴谋毫不知情。
He professed that he knew nothing about the plot.
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5. 他在伙伴中很受欢迎，因为他总是设法不去麻烦别人。
(spare)
If you spare someone an unpleasant experience, you
prevent them from suffering it.
He is very popular among his peers as he always tries
to spare others any trouble.
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Practice:
他没当她的面说她丈夫的不是，以免使她难堪。
He spared her embarrassment by not criticizing her
husband in front of her.
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Dictation
Cloze
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Writing
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Dictation
You will hear a passage read three times. At the first
reading, you should listen carefully for its general
idea. At the second reading, you are required to write
down the exact words you have just heard (with
proper punctuation). At the third reading, you should
check what you have written down.
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Dictation
Childhood is less clear to me than to many people: /
when it ended I turned my face away from it / for no
reason that I know about, / certainly without the usual
reason of unhappy memories. / For many years that
worried me, / but then I discovered / that the tales of
former children are seldom to be trusted. / Some people
supply too many past victories or pleasures / with which
to comfort themselves, / and other people cling to pains,
real and imagined, / to excuse what they have become. /
I think I have always known about my memory. / I know
when it is to be trusted / and when some dream or
fantasy entered on the life, / and the dream, the need of
dream, / led to distortion of what happened.
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Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE word
you think appropriate.
Honesty is not praised much these days. We pay it some
lip (1) service
________ , of course, and we tell our children to be
honest in their dealings and with their feelings. But many
of us would (2)
_______ have our children be shrewd than
rather
honest. We want them to learn how to be suspicious, how
to protect themselves, and how to ward (3) ____
off fasttalking people and nicely packaged, well-advertised
distortions of reality. “Chumps,” as I once heard the term
are “people who go out of their way to
defined, (4) _____
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be taken (5) ____________
advantage of” — and we don’t want
ourselves or our children to be chumps. Therefore we
hesitate to praise honesty too (6) ______
much , or to encourage
it at the expense of common sense, or expediency or the
pressures of practicality and the “real world.” Even experts
relations tell us that too much
in interpersonal (7) ___________
honesty can destroy a relationship. Honesty now looks like a
if not an actual vice. It is studied and
dubious virtue (8) ___
as a hallmark
examined as a stratagem rather than (9) ____
of character.
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Despite our contemporary discomfort with too much
moral
honesty, the quality remains central to our (10) _______
codes and counsels. Deceptions subvert the moral life,
and destroy the foundations of our social arrangements.
Whatever basis for humane communion is to be found in
(11) _______
either principles of respect for persons or faith in
God is eroded by our failures to treat each other as
truth .
persons worthy of being told the (12) ______
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It’s a set collocation with the word lip.
Writing
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It’s a set phrase with the word would.
Writing
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Translation
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It’s a set phrase with the word ward.
Writing
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Translation
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Writing
Here the subject and object are both in plural form, so
the link verb should also be in plural form.
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Translation
It’s a set phrase.
Integrated Skills
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Writing
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An adverb is expected to modify the predicate.
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Writing
In this prepositional phrase a noun is missing, and we
can get this noun from the context.
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Translation
Integrated Skills
A conjunction is needed here.
Oral Activities
Writing
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Translation
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A same structure is needed after than.
Writing
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Writing
From the next sentence we can get this adjective which
can be used to modify codes and counsels.
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Writing
This is a set collocation which contains the word or and
implies a choice.
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A noun is expected and from the whole text we can get
the meaning of this noun.
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Making a Dialogue
Giving a Talk
Writing
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1. Making a Dialogue
Topic: Lying and Its Effects
Words and phrases for reference:
a habitual liar; a pack of lies; a tissue of lies; a(n)
complete / outright lie; a big lie; a whopper; a whacker,
loss of trust, moral consciousness, moral degradation
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2. Giving a Talk
Topic: Lying in Advertising and Its Influence on our
Perception of the World
Points:
1. warp or distort our judgment
2. merely exaggerate the effectiveness
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Writing
Essay Writing: How to Write a Descriptive Essay
Descriptive essays strive to create a deeply involved
and vivid experience for the reader. Great descriptive
essays achieve this effect not through facts and
statistics but by using detailed observations and
descriptions.
A good descriptive essay has to:
give a vivid perception of the subject of description,
include all the smallest important possible details,
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deliver the emotional background of the described
subject,
indicate the author’s emotional response caused by the
subject,
eliminate every single irrelevant detail,
gradually reveal different aspects of the subject in
each paragraph.
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Sample
The door to my study is nearly always closed. It’s the
place I go to read and work in tranquility. Today, however,
I’m inviting you in for a visit.
As you open the door, notice the Guatemalan crucifix
with its bright gold and maroon flowers; it joyfully reminds
me to dedicate my work to God. Although the room is small,
I hope you find it cozy. A big cheerful window lets in the
morning sunshine, which saturates the room with its
warmth and embraces us with light. Birds chirp outside,
beckoning you to enter.
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An old-fashioned doctor’s desk with brass drawer
handles sits in front of the window, its wood full of nicks
from many careless moves and tow once-teething puppies.
May I introduce you to Ralph, my friendly computer, who
sits on top of the desk? When I turn him on, he’ll crackle
“hello” and blink an inviting amber command on the
screen. That’s my dog Chico under the desk, snoring in
harmony with Ralph and the birds.
Against the left wall are my book cases, sagging with
the wise weight of cheap paperbacks and a few expensive
gold-spined volumes interspersed. A bronzed Indian chief in
a watercolor squints knowingly at us from the wall.
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Won’t you have a seat in the tattered old green
armchair nestled in the other corner? I know you smell
the freshly perked coffee. I made it specially for your
visit. Use my favorite cup there on the tray; it’s the one
with red and blued balloons around the rim.
Stay as long as you wish, but when you’re ready to
leave, be sure to close the door behind you. I like the
peaceful security of this, my own little world.
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Sample Analysis
This is a simple, but vivid and beautiful essay. The
message is very clear.
It is notable that the description starts with the door
and ends with the door, making the whole essay a
compact and consistent unity.
The description goes on largely by an order of space.
The writer firstly gives the visitor a general impression,
or more exactly a mood, of the study.
In the paragraph that follows, the description turns to
smaller and specific objects.
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Then, the observation goes sideways to the bookcases,
the watercolor painting on the wall, the armchair in the
corner, and the cup on the tray. That is a natural order
and movement of observation.
It is equally noteworthy that he makes a general
comment on the study in the concluding paragraph: a
peaceful security and his little world.
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Practice
Write a description essay on the
following topic: The Mona Lisa.
Writing
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Writing
Sample
The Mona Lisa is perhaps Leonardo DaVinci’s most
famous of paintings. It is an oil painting, painted on poplar
wood. The painting is most famous for the smile of the
woman, which people have been trying to decipher for a
long time. Many believe that the portrait is that of DaVinci
himself, while many also place a lot mystic connections
with this painting.
The portrait depicts a woman’s bust, with a distant
landscape that is visible in the backdrop. Leonardo used a
pyramid design to install the woman in a simple and calm
manner within the painting. The woman is shown with her
hands folded, with her breast, neck, and face painted the
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same color as her hands. The light is diffused so that
the various curves and geometrical shapes on the
painting are made visible through it.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the
painting is the woman’s smile. Many believe that it is
innocent and inviting, while others believe it is that of
smugness and is a smirk. Many scientific studies have
been undertaken to determine the exact nature of the
smile and the real reason remains a mystery. It is
believed that every person sees the smile differently
because of the changes in the lighting that Leonardo
presented.
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The woman is shown seated in an open area, and
behind her is a vast landscape, which recedes to an
icy mountain. Some winding paths and a far away
bridge is also perceptible in the background.
The painting is an amazing one and one should
definitely take a look at it in order to appreciate its
full beauty. The painting is currently on display at the
Musee du Louvre, in Paris.
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A Lead-in Question
Text
Questions for Discussion
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A Lead-in Question
Do doctors have “license to lie”, for the sake of their
patients?
Tip: justifiable, well-intentioned
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To Lie or Not Lie? — The Doctor’s Dilemma
Sissela Bok
1 Should doctors ever lie to benefit their patients —
to speed recovery or to conceal the approach of death?
In medicine as in law, government, and other lines of
work, the requirements of honesty often seem
dwarfed by greater needs: the need to shelter from
brutal news or to uphold a promise of secrecy; to
expose corruption or to promote the public interest.
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2
What should doctors say, for example, to a 46-yearold man coming in for a routine physical checkup just
before going on vacation with his family who, though he
feels in perfect health, is found to have a form of cancer
that will cause him to die within six months? Is it best to
tell him the truth? If he asks, should the doctors deny that
he is ill, or minimize the gravity of the illness? Should
they at least conceal the truth until after the family
vacation?
3
Doctors confront such choices often and urgently. At
times, they see important reasons to lie for the patient’s
own sake; in their eyes, such lies differ sharply from selfserving ones.
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4
Studies show that most doctors sincerely believe
that the seriously ill do not want to know the truth
about their condition, and that informing them risks
destroying their hope, so that they may recover more
slowly, or deteriorate faster, perhaps even commit
suicide. As one physician wrote: “Ours is a profession
which traditionally has been guided by a precept that
transcends the virtue of uttering the truth for truth’s
sake, and that is as far as possible do no harm.’”
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5 Armed with such a precept, a number of doctors may
slip into deceptive practices that they assume will “do no
harm” and may well help their patients. They may
prescribe innumerable placebos, sound more encouraging
than the facts warrant, and distort grave news, especially
to the incurably ill and the dying.
6
But the illusory nature of the benefits such deception
is meant to bestow is now coming to be documented.
Studies show that, contrary to the belief of many
physicians, an overwhelming majority of patients do want
to be told the truth, even about grave illness, and feel
betrayed when they learn that they have been misled. We
are also learning that truthful information, humanely
conveyed, helps patients cope with illness: helps them
tolerate pain better, need less medicine, and even recover
faster after surgery.
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7 Not only do lies not provide the “help” hoped for by
advocates of benevolent deception: they invade the
autonomy of patients and render them unable to make
informed choices concerning their own health, including
the choice of whether to be a patient in the first place.
We are becoming increasingly aware of all that can
befall patients in the course of heir illness when
information is denied or distorted.
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8
Dying patients especially — who are easiest to mislead
and most often kept in the dark — can then not make
decisions about the end of life; about whether or not they
should enter a hospital, or have surgery; about where and
with whom they should spend their remaining time; about
how they should bring their affairs to a close and take
leave.
9
Lies also do harm to those who tell them: harm to
their integrity and, in the long run, to their credibility:
Lies hurt their colleagues as well. The suspicion of deceit
undercuts the work of the many doctors who are
scrupulously honest with their patients;
it contributes
to the spiral of lawsuits and of “defensive medicine,” and
thus it injures, in turn; the entire medical profession.
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10
Sharp conflicts are now arising. Patients are
learning to press for answers.
Patients’ bills of rights
require that they be informed about their condition and
about alternatives for treatment. Many doctors go to
great lengths to provide such information: Yet even in
hospitals with the most eloquent bill of rights, believers
in benevolent deception continue their age-old
practices. Colleagues may disapprove but refrain from
objecting. Nurses may bitterly resent having to take
part, day after day, in deceiving patients, but feel
powerless to take a stand.
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11
There is urgent need to debate this issue openly.
Not only in medicine, but in other professions as well,
practitioners may find themselves repeatedly in
difficulty where serious consequences seem avoidable
only through deception. Yet the public has every reason
to be wary of professional deception; for such practices
are peculiarly likely to become deeply rooted, spread,
and to erode trust. Neither in medicine, nor in law,
government, or the social sciences can there be
comfort in the old saying,
“What you don’t know
can’t hurt you.”
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Sissela Bok: Sissela Bok, born on 2 December 1934, is a
Swedish-born philosopher and ethicist. Formerly a
Professor of Philosophy at Brandeis University, Bok is
currently a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Center
for Population and Development Studies. One of her
great contributions has been a continued exploration of
“practical ethics” or applied moral philosophy.
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But the illusory nature of the benefits such deception is
meant to bestow is now coming to be documented.
(Paragraph 6): The subject of the sentence is the illusory
nature and the predicate, is now coming to be documented
and the whole sentence means that the benefits lying is
supposed to have are now proving to be unreal and
imagined.
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… it contributes to the spiral of litigation and of
“defensive medicine”… (Paragraph 9): “The spiral of
litigation” means two opposing parties in a law suit are
involved in an endless process of litigation which is
getting higher and higher in level. The phrase “defensive
medicine” refers to the alterations of modes of medical
practice for the purposes of avoiding lawsuits by patients
as well as providing good legal defense if such lawsuits
are instituted.
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Patients’ bills of rights require that … (Paragraph 10):
“Bills of rights” is statements of the rights of a class of
people, in particular the first ten amendments to the
Constitution of the US, ratified in 1791.
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“What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” (Paragraph 11):
This proverb means if you do not know about a problem,
you do not worry. The whole sentence means people
won’t be comforted by not knowing the truth in medicine,
law, government, or the social sciences; on the contrary,
they will be hurt or greatly affected by lying. One
example of the proverb: Don’t tell Dad I take drugs. What
he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
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1. According to the author, in what line of work is
honesty sacrificed for “greater needs”?
In medicine, law, politics, journalism, etc., deception
is practiced for “greater needs”.
2. What, according to some doctors, is the fundamental
principle of the medical profession?
“As far as possible do no harm.”
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3. What are the negative effects of “benevolent
deception” on patients?
The patients may feel betrayed, and their autonomy
intruded. And they cannot make informed decisions
about their health and life; and it can also prolong
recovery and affect treatment.
4. How will the medical profession and its staff be
affected by “benevolent deception”?
“Benevolent deception” may cause the erosion of
integrity of the medical profession and affect those
that do not tell lies to their patients. It may even
induce law suits and the endless process of litigation.
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5. If you were a patient, would you like to know the
truth that you would have only a few months to live?
And if you were a doctor, how would you break the
news to your patient?
Open question.
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“While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not
meant to deceive.”
— Sissela Bok
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Questions for Discussion
If a lie is defined as “something that you say or write
that is not true and that you know is not true”, then is
the art of story-telling or writing novels a form of lying?
Or should we simply call them “imaginative”?
Notation (type here)