Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, asked 30 students to keep a communications diary for a week. In it they noted the number of conversations or email exchanges they had lasting more than 10 minutes, and confessed to how many lies they told. Hancock then worked out the number of lies per conversation for each medium. He found that lies made up 14 per cent of emails, 21 per cent of instant messages, 27 per cent of face-to-face interactions and an astonishing 37 per cent of phone calls.
His results to be presented at the conference on human-computer interaction in Vienna, Austria, in April, have surprised psychologists. 1Some expected emailers to be the biggest liars, reasoning that because deception makes people uncomfortable, the detachment (非直接接触) of emailing would make it easier to lie. 2Others expected people to lie more in face-to-face exchanges because we are most practised at that form of communication.
But Hancock says it is also crucial 1whether a conversation is being recorded and could be reread, and 2whether it occurs in real time. People appear to be afraid to lie when they know the communication could later be used to hold them to account, he says. This is why fewer lies appear in email than on the phone.
People are also more likely to lie in real time – in a instant message or phone call, say – than if they have time to think of a response, says Hancock. He found many lies are spontaneous (脱口而出的) responses to an unexpected demand, such as: “Do you like my dress?”
Hancock hopes his research will help companies work out the best ways for their employees to communicate. For instance, the phone might be the best medium for sales where employees are encouraged to stretch the truth. But, given his result, work assessment where honesty is a priority, might be best done using email.
2.Hancock’s research finding surprised those who believed that __C__.
A) people are less likely to lie in instant messages
B) people are unlikely to lie in face-to-face interactions
C) people are most likely to lie in email communication
D) people are twice as likely to lie in phone conversations
分析：以题干中的research finding结合surprised回到原文定位，因为是第2题所以按照顺序原则在文章中前部的第3段开头找到His results和surprised的对应。原文中出现some…others的搭配说明有两类psychologists，分别是email和face-to-face，在四个选项中都没有同时包含这二者的，那么就看哪个选项正确的表述了其中之一，AD因为说的是instant messages和phone首先被排除，B选项中的unlikely和原文中的lie more相对立，因此排除，C选项中的most likely对应原文中the biggest，是对原文信息的同义改写，因此正确。
总结：文章三段中大量出现比较和因果考点，如：the biggest、reasoning、because 、easier 、lie more 、most practised，因此本段被考到的几率非常大。而且在原文中出现最高级biggest的时候，正确选项也同时出现了对应most likely，语言形式对应。注意关注文章中的重要考点，正确答案的语言形式与原文相对应。
3. According to the passage, why are people more likely to tell the truth through certain media of communication? A
A) They are afraid of leaving behind traces of their lies.
B) They believe that honesty is the best policy.
C) They tend to be relaxed when using those media.
D) They are most practised at those forms of communication.
分析：以题干中的tell the truth结合因果词why回到原文定位，因为是第3题所以按照顺序原则在文章中部的第4段找到be afraid to lie的对应。原文中定位句的前一句同时出现转折But、最高级crucial(the most important)考点，这正是答案出现的明确信号。定位的本句说人们 be afraid to lie也就是tell the truth是因为他们得知这个对话日后会hold them to account使得他们承担责任,这是对本段开头Hancock所提出的两个crucial最重要观点中的1 being recorded的展开解释，正确答案A选项中的leaving behind traces对应原文中的recorded。B与原文无关，CD选项是3段那两类psychologists的观点，而本题问的是According to the passage本文的观点，也就是实验的实施人Hancock的观点，CD选项尤其是D选项的错误率很高，大部分错选CD的同学都是因为审题不明确，并且是在凭借印象做题，而没有在文章中找寻明确对应。
总结：关注文章中的重要考点，注意同义替换词的积累，在09年6月的63题中再次考到了用leave traces同义替换原文3段的recorded。重复的内容反复考，因此要求不断积累正确选项和原文之间的同义替换。
3.语义题：考察根据上下文推断词义的能力。
标志：题干中包含明确位置，如：(Line 1, Para. 3)。
解答语义题关键抓两点：利用并列平行结构、根据上下文的语义推断。
语义题错误选项的特点：简单词的本意。
(1) 简单词的本意往往为错误选项。
例题4：05年6月
What do the environmentalists mean by saying “Not so fast” (Line 1, Para. 3)? C
A) Oil exploitation takes a long time
B) The oil drilling should be delayed
C) Don’t be too optimistic
D) Don’t expect fast returns
分析：题干非常简单，从字面意思上看与速度和时间有关系，AB中的takes a long time和delayed都是Not so fast的字面意思，D选项更是用fast来解释Not so fast，因此ABD同时排除，正确答案是C，与简单的题干的字面意思没有直接联系。
总结：语义题的题干如果很简单，那么正确答案就与字面意思无关。
(2) 利用并列平行结构
例题5：(对应例文1)
The word “shun” (Line 1, Para. 1) most probably means ___B___.
A) cut down on减少
B) stay away from 远离
C) run out of 用完
D) put up with 忍受(B)
分析：“Humans should not try to avoid stress any more than they would shun food, love or exercise.”在本句话中出现比较more than，把前后的内容进行对比they对应Humans，shun对应avoid，对应正确答案B，stay away from 远离。
总结：灵活利用并列、比较等平行结构寻找对应
(3) 根据上下文的语义推断
例题6：2008年12月
What does Dr. Ross Cartmill mean by “the ostrich approach” (Line 1, Para. 9)? D
A) A casual attitude towards one’s health conditions
B) A new therapy for certain psychological problems
C) Refusal to get medical treatment for fear of the pain involved
D) Unwillingness to find out about one’s disease because of fear
分析：原文Then there is the ostrich approach. “Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know,” says Dr. Ross Cartmill. 关于ostrich approach的意思，需要看上下文的内容，也就是对应在后面的那句话，D选项中的Unwillingness to find out对应原文的would rather not know，fear对应scared，因此为正确答案。
总结：语义题不是考察你是否认识这个单词，而是考察你能不能利用上下文推断出它在文章里的含义。
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