Question

【題目】I'm sure we've all done something a little dishonest in our lives—maybe copying someone's work, or being given too much change in a shop and keeping quiet about it. Or maybe I'm wrong—maybe you’re a good, upstanding citizen who believes that honesty is the best policy.

We may agree that admitting our mistakes and behaving in a genuine and decent way is the right way to lead our lives but is there something in our human nature that makes us unscrupulous? For example, in some shops and car parks you can find an honesty box—a box where you pay for something by putting money in it. But it does provide a temptation(誘惑) to get away with not paying the full amount.

Philip Graves, a psychologist, suggests that this temptation is part of our evolution. He says: we have evolved with the ability to be dishonest. It's part of our evolutionary psychological make up—because if we can gain an advantage over the people around us, we have a greater chance of surviving.

So why do we place such importance on being honest if we benefit from being dishonest? It's because it is selfish behavior. If everybody acted selfishly and dishonestly all the time, the world would be a very unpleasant place. So, for societies to work together we need to trust each other and therefore we need to be honest.

Being trustworthy with money is of course extremely important for an economy to survive and there are laws to protect us from dishonest practices. But being honest with words is another matter; saying what we think to someone can be embarrassing. Is honest always the best policy?

【1】Which of the underlined words is similar to "dishonest" in meaning?

A. upstanding

B. decent

C. unscrupulous

D. trustworthy

【2】If there is an honesty box in a shop, what should a customer do?

A. Take some money out if in need.

B. Donate some money to the charities.

C. Get away without paying the right amount.

D. Put in the amount of money one should pay for his buying.

【3】What can we learn according to Philip Graves?

A. Men are born to be dishonest.

B. One will be criticized if he is dishonest.

C. Dishonesty is of some benefit to survival.

D. Breaking the balance is kind of dishonesty.

【4】The author may NOT agree that ________.

A. honesty is based on working together

B. not all social members accept dishonesty

C. dishonest economic behaviors will be punished

D. being dishonest with words sometimes is acceptable

Answer 1

【答案】“dishonest”C選項unscrupulous無道德原則的。

【解析】你誠實嗎？你撒過慌、騙過人嗎？在生活、工作中，誠實一定是上策嗎？本文中心理學家Philip Graves和你討論“誠實守信”是人的本能還是社交生活的必然產(chǎn)物。

【1】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)maybe copying someone's work, or being given too much change in a shop and keeping quiet about it.抄襲別人的作品、對多找給的零錢保持沉默的行為，以及is there something in our human nature that makes us unscrupulous?得知，劃線詞意為“不誠實的”。A. upstanding挺拔的；誠實的; B. decent正派的；得體的；C. unscrupulous無道德原則的；沒有節(jié)操的；D. trustworthy可信賴的。故選C。

【2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段in some shops and car parks you can find an honesty box—a box where you pay for something by putting money in it.可知，顧客應該往誠實箱里為自己的消費投正確數(shù)量的錢。故選D。

【3】推理判斷題。根據(jù)It' s part of our evolutionary psychological make up—because if we can gain an advantage over the people around us, we have a greater chance of surviving.可知，這位心理學家Philip Graves認為人類進化出了不誠實的能力，因為如果我們能比周圍的人有優(yōu)勢，我們有更大的生存機會。故選C。

【4】細節(jié)理解題。本題可以運用排除法，根據(jù)Or maybe I'm wrong—maybe you’re a good, upstanding citizen who believes that honesty is the best policy.得知，B項Not all social members accept dishonesty.（不是所有人都接受不誠實的行為。）B項是正確的。根據(jù)there are laws to

protect us from dishonest practices.可知，C項Dishonest economic behaviors will be punished. （不誠信的經(jīng)濟行為會受到法律的制裁。）C項也是正確的，再根據(jù)But being honest with words is another matter; saying what we think to someone can be embarrassing可知，D項Being dishonest with words sometimes is acceptable.（偶爾說婉轉(zhuǎn)的假話是可以接受的。）故選A。

1.C【解題剖析】此題屬于猜測詞義中的（3）：依據(jù)下定義，作解釋、打比喻等猜測詞義。答案需要找unscrupulous的句子，表示補充說明關(guān)系。

【答案定位】根據(jù)maybe copying someone's work, or being given too much change in a shop and keeping quiet about it.抄襲別人的作品、對多找給的零錢保持沉默的行為，以及is there something in our human nature that makes us unscrupulous?可推知，劃線詞意為“不誠實的”。

【推理關(guān)系】題干Which of the underlined words is similar to"dishonest" in meaning?

文章內(nèi)容is there something in our human nature that makes us unscrupulous?