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  3. Like so many things of value, truth is not always easy to come by. What we regard as true shapes our beliefs, attitudes, and act

Like so many things of value, truth is not always easy to come by. What we regard as true shapes our beliefs, attitudes, and act

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问题     Like so many things of value, truth is not always easy to come by. What we regard as true shapes our beliefs, attitudes, and actions. Yet we can believe things that have no basis in fact. People are capable of embracing horrific precepts that seem incredible in retrospect. In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler had millions of followers who accepted his delusions about racial superiority. As Voltaire put it long before Hitler’s time, "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. "
    We are surrounded by illusions, some created deliberately. They may be subtle or may affect us profoundly. Some illusions, such as films and novels, we seek out and appreciate. Others can make us miserable and even kill us. We need to know if particular foods that taste perfectly fine can hurt us in the short term(as with Salmonella contamination)or in the long term(cholesterol), whether a prevalent virus is so dangerous that we should avoid public places, and what problems a political candidate may cause or resolve if elected. Gaining insights about the truth often is a challenge, and misconceptions can be difficult to recognize.
    We often believe stories because they are the ones available. Most people would identify Thomas Edison as the inventor of the incandescent light bulb. Although Edison perfected a commercially successful design, he was preceded in the experimentation by British inventors Frederick de Moleyns and Joseph Swan, and by American J. W. Starr.
    The biggest enemies of truth are: people whose job is to sell us incomplete versions of the available facts, our willingness to believe what we want and the simple absence of accurate information. Companies advertising products on television do not describe the advantages of their competitors’ products any more than a man asking a woman to marry him encourages her to date other men before making up her mind. It is a social reality that people encourage one another to make important decisions with limited facts.
    Technology has simplified and complicated the fact-gathering process. The Internet allows us to check facts more easily, but it also disburses misinformation. Similarly, a belief that videos and photos necessarily represent reality ignores how easily they can be digitally altered. Unquestioning reliance on such forms of media makes us more susceptible to manipulators: those who want to deceive can dazzle us with a modern version of smoke and mirrors.
By mentioning Thomas Edison, the author seems to emphasize that______.
选项 A、business successes may cover the truth
B、commercial activities may involve cooperation
C、irrational ideas may influence technological progress
D、misconceptions may be due to lack of information
答案D
解析 根据文中第三段的“We often believe stories because they are the ones available．Most people．．．by American J．W．Starr．”可知，我们常常相信那些能够得到的信息。爱迪生只是成功地完善了白炽灯的商业化设计，但大多数人会认为白炽灯的发明者是托马斯·爱迪生。在他之前，英国的发明者弗雷德里克·德·莫林斯和约瑟夫·斯万，还有美国的J·W·斯塔尔已经开始了白炽灯的实验。据此可知，通过引用托马斯·爱迪生的事例，作者是想强调信息缺乏可能会导致错误的想法。D项正确。
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