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发表于 2016-7-29 00:12:01
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Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:
It is curious how much one despises and condemns the vices which one does not happen to possess. I am indeed not a severe man, nor would I permit myself to become intolerant of those failings which I share with others. But, having no particular temptation to be untruthful, I find myself believing that when one comes to think of it, truth is the major virtue and lying the most blameworthy of all the vices.I should like, therefore, to get my mind a little clearer on the truth question. I flatter myself, as I have said, that I am a truthful man: a man who, when he tells a lie, is careful not to forget that he has done so, and who takes infinite precautions to prevent his being found out. This, in the end, is the only test by which you can distinguish the liar from the man of truth. The latter which is bothered by untruthfulness, is worried and anxious. The real liar, however, is merely amused: he doesn’t mind in the least even if he is subsequently exposed: he regards the truthful man as somewhat of a fool.
But this surely is one of the many false statements with which the real liar will try hard to idealize his failing. It may be inevitabe and even just to tell lies, but it cannot seriously be argued that such habits are intelligent. A lie is always an act of mental cowardice, whereas intelligence is brave. And yet there was Bismarck, and yet there was Napoleon-surely intelligent man, and surely liars. The problem, therefore, is not so simple as it seems.ァIt was simple enough, in those old days, to define with approximate accuracy when a given statement ceased to be the truth and became a lie. The essential test was whether the maker of a false statement knew that he was saying something false, and consciously wished his audience to accept, and to remain under, this false impression. Life in civilized communities is a process of adjusting the personal to the social, of conforming the individual impression to the joint impressions of the common people. This process of adjustment leads inevitably and rightly to a certain unconscious deception. Absolute truth, whether unconscious or even conscious, is thus impossible. It is to relative truth only that we can hope to aspire.
36.The author suggests that it is usual that___.
A) a person shows strong disapproval of the vices an individual doesn’t have
B) everyone feels contempt for the vices that most people have
C) most people are unlikely to condemn the vices they possess
D) the vices one doesn’t possess are worthy of severe condemnation
37.The author claims that___.
A) he wouldn’t tolerate the vices that people have in common
B) he doesn’t feel particular contempt for being untruthful
C) one may be tempted to untruthfulness when one comes to think of it
D) untruthfulness is a serious fault of character which he condemns strongly
38.The essential distinction between a truthful person and a liar lies in the fact that ___.
A) the former feels uneasy about the untruths he happens to tell
B) the latter takes great care to hinder his untruths from being exposed
C) the former is willing to confess his untruthfulness when he tells a lie
D) the latter is only amazed if his untruths area disclosed
39.It is true,according to the text,real liars will___.
A) try hard to perfect their vices with false statements
B) believe it unavoidable and reasonable for everyone to tell lies
C) argue that their habits of telling lies are intelligent rather than foolish
D) are misunderstood as being either cowardly or brave individuals
40.In the author’s opinion,___.
A) bismarck and Napoleon were intelligent men of truth
B) in modern society, nobody can escape the risk of making a false statement, intentionally or unintentionally
C) untruthful man is worried about being found out
D) our civilized life makes conscious lies impossible
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