Question

We all know that lying (说谎) is wrong. But do you know that it is bad for both your physical and mental health? A recent study shows that telling fewer lies helps people physically and mentally.

“For ten weeks, 110 people aged from 18 to 71 were tested to see the relationship between the number of lies they told and their health,” said Anita Kelly, a professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. “When they lied more, their health declined,” said Kelly.

Researchers divided the people into two groups. Group A was told to avoid telling any lie for any reason to anyone. They may omit (忽略) the truth, refuse to answer questions, and keep secrets, but they can’t say anything that they know are not true. Group B was not told anything like this.

Over the study period, when people in Group A told fewer lies in a week than they did in other weeks, they experienced fewer health problems such as sore throats and headaches. Professor Linda Stroh said, “When you find that you don’t lie, you have less stress (压力).” The results of past research show that each American tells about 11 lies a week. In both groups, when people lied less during a week, they reported better physical and mental health during that period.

“It’s certainly a good thing to have people be more honest,” said Robert Feldman of the University of Massachusetts. “It may improve our mental health, but I don’t think it can improve our physical health.”

1.The underlined word “declined” means “________” in Chinese.

A. 变坏 B. 改善 C. 加强 D. 混乱

2.From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________.

A. the test continued for no more than one month

B. older people lie less than younger people

C. the number of lies one tells can affect one’s health

D. many people feel sick when they don’t tell lies

3.People in Group A were allowed to ________.

① omit the truth ② refuse to answer questions

③ keep secrets ④ tell lies to strangers

A. ①②③ B. ②③④ C. ①②④ D. ①③④

4.According to Linda Stroh, ________.

A. mental health is more important than physical health

B. when people don’t lie, they feel more relaxed

C. to be honest can’t improve our physical health

D. telling lies is necessary sometimes

5.We would most probably find this passage ________.

A. on a travel website B. in a story book

C. in a health magazine D. in a cookbook

Answer 1