英语听力精选进阶版 6397
时间：2019-02-21 作者：英语课 分类：英语听力精选进阶版
How can you tell if someone's lying? The answer is, they're probably not.
Traditional economics says that people are rational beings who will lie if it's to their advantage. A recent university study has shown that, actually, we're pretty honest - especially when we're at home.
Researchers in Germany phoned people at home and asked them to toss a coin. There was a strong financial incentive 1 to fake the result: if the coin landed tails-up, the participant would receive money or a gift voucher 2, while if the coin landed heads-up, they would get nothing. Because they were on the phone, they knew there was no risk of getting caught if they lied.
And yet people told the truth. Over hundreds of tosses a coin will land tails-up roughly 50% of the time. In this study over half the people asked (55.6%) said that the coin landed heads-up, which meant they would receive nothing.
Previous studies had found that people were more deceitful. In those laboratory studies 75% of people reported a winning coin and claimed a reward. So the research team thinks it's being in our own homes which makes us play fair, although it's not yet clear why.
In fact both types of study show people are surprisingly trustworthy. Even in the laboratory, 25% of people turned down a reward by telling the truth. The researchers say this is because honesty is highly valued in human society. We care about our reputation and our sense of ourselves as decent people. So lying has a psychological cost and it seems this cost outweighsthe financial benefits of lying.
Quiz 测验
1. According to traditional economics, when do people lie?
When it's to their advantage.
2. Did researchers visit people in their homes?
No, they phoned them.
3. What happened if they said the coin landed tails-up?
They received money or gift vouchers 3.
4. Were people more honest in laboratory studies or in their own homes?
In their homes.
5. According to the researchers, what is highly valued in society?
Honesty.
Glossary 词汇表
tell 看出，知道
lying 撒谎
rational 理智的
to their advantage 对他们有利的
honest 诚实的
toss a coin 抛硬币猜正反面
financial incentive 金钱诱惑
fake 伪装
landed tails-up 硬币落地后背面朝上
heads-up （硬币落地后）正面朝上
no risk of getting caught 没有被发现的危险
told the truth 说了实话
deceitful 欺骗的，说谎的
laboratory studies 实验室研究
play fair 公平行事
trustworthy 可靠的
turned down 拒绝了
highly valued 高度重视/珍视
decent 老实的，正派的
outweighs 比…更重要
financial benefits 金钱收益
- Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
- He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。
- The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
- Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。