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How Many Lies Do the Children Tell You?
Mothers who feel their children don' t appreciate them can add another grievance to the list: half
the time, their children are lying to them．A study designed to expose the truth about lying shows that
undergraduates lie to their mothers in 46% of their conversations．Still, mums should feel better than
total strangers, who are told lies an astonishing 77 % of the time．
Bella Depaulo and a team of psychologists from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, asked
77 undergraduates to keep a record of all their conversations for a week, and write down whethe
r they lied at any time．DePaulo named lying broadly, as "when you intentionally try to mislead
someone", so she would catch the smallest of lies.
The students told an average of two lies a day．They said they had been studying when they had
been out drinking．One told his parents that a textbook cost $50 rather than $20 so that they would
send him extra money．Female students constantly told their plain-looking roommates that they were
pretty．"They are everyday lies," says DePaulo.
DePaulo and her colleagues conclude that people tend to tell fewer lies to those they feel closest to．
College students lied to their best friends 28% of the time but lied to acquaintances 48% of the time．
In close relationships, people were more likely to tell "kind-hearted" lies, designed to protect feelings,
rather than self-serving lies.
Romantic partners are somewhere between close friends and acquaintances．Students lied to
romantic partners about a third of the time. DePaulo thinks that unmarried lovers can expect less honesty
than best friends because of the insecurity that comes with romance.
Mothers can take heart from one other finding. They may have been lied to, but at least their children
talked to them．The students were recorded telling few lies to their fathers because they had little
interaction with them.
1. According to the passage, college students felt closest to ______.
A. mothers
B. best friends
C. acquaintance
D. romantic partners
2. Female students lied to their roommates to .
A. get money from them
B. offer them the services
C. gain more security
D. make them happy
3. What is the purpose of this article?
A. To present a fact.
B. To argue an idea.
C. To tell a story.
D. To explain a theory.
