2. 外语
  3. It is curious how much one despises and condemns the vices which one does not happen to possess. I am indeed not a severe man, n

It is curious how much one despises and condemns the vices which one does not happen to possess. I am indeed not a severe man, n

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问题      It is curious how much one despises and condemns the vices which one does not happen to possess. I am indeed not a severe man, nor would I permit myself to become intolerant of those failings which I share with others. But, having no particular temptation to be untruthful, I find myself believing that when one comes to think of it, truth is the major virtue and lying the most blameworthy of all the vices. I should like, therefore, to get my mind a little clearer on the truth question. I flatter myself, as I have said, that I am a truthful man: a man who, when he tells a lie, is careful not to forget that he has done so, and. who takes infinite precautions to prevent his being found out. This, in the end, is the only test by which you can distinguish the liar from the man of truth. The latter who is bothered by untruthfulness, is worried and anxious. The real liar, however, is merely amused: he doesn’t mind in the least even if he is subsequently exposed: he regards the truthful man as somewhat of a fool.
     But this surely is one of the many false statements with which the real liar will try hard to idealize his failing: It may be inevitable and even just to tell lies, but it cannot seriously be argued that such habits are intelligent. A lie is always an act of mental cowardice, whereas intelligence is brave. And yet there was Bismarck, and yet there was Napoleon--surely intelligent men, and surely liars. The problem, therefore, is not so simple as it seems.
     It was simple enough, in those old days, to define with approximate accuracy when a given statement ceased to be the truth and became a lie. The essential test was whether the maker of a false statement knew that he was saying something false, and consciously wished his audience to accept, and to remain under, this false impression. Life in civilized communities is a process of adjusting the personal to the social, of conforming the individual impression to the joint impressions of the common ’people. This process of adjustment leads inevitably and rightly to a certain unconscious deception. Absolute truth, whether unconscious or even conscious, is thus impossible. It is to relative truth only that we can hope to aspire.
The essential distinction between a truthful person and a liar lies in the fact that ______.
选项 A、the former feels uneasy about the untruths he happens to tell
B、the latter takes great care to hinder his untruths from being exposed
C、the former is willing to confess his untruthfulness when he tells a lie
D、the latter is only amazed if his untruths are disclosed
答案A
解析 事实细节题。原文第一段后两句说：诚实的人被自己不诚实的行为困扰，担心忧虑；而谎话家呢，只是觉得好笑而已，即使后来他的谎言败露，他也一点都不介意，倒认为诚实的人有点傻。由此可知A 为正确答案。B ：说谎的人很小心防止他的谎言被揭露；C ：诚实的人当他说谎的时候很乐意承认他的假话；D ；说谎的人只有在他的谎言被揭穿后才感到震惊；以上都与原文信息不符。
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