HOMEWORK

PART 1: FOCUS ON READING

Reading One: Looking for the Lie

I. Examine the quotes from reading one. Choose the answer that best explains what the person
intended to say.
1. “The liar stereotype exists in just about every culture …. and its persistence ‘would be
less puzzling if we had more reason to imagine that it was true’ ”.
a. The liar stereotype is widespread and true.
b. The liar stereotype is widespread and false.

2. “We humans are active, creative mammals who can represent what exists as if it did not
and what doesn’t exist as if it did”.
a. Humans are able to use rational thought.
b. Humans have imagination.

3. “Concealment, obliqueness, silence, outright lying –all help to hold Nemesis at bay; all
help us abide too-large helpings of reality”.
a. Too much reality is bad for us.
b. Too much lying is bad for us.

4. “Before long, we would stop speaking to each other, television would be abolished as a
habitual felon, politicians would be confined by house arrest and civilization would come
to a standstill”
a. Social interaction is built on truth.
b. Social interaction is built on lies.

PART 2: VOCABULARY

I. Read the selection. Fill in each blank with the word from the box that matches the definition
under the blank.

betrayal elusive insurmountable quest

deception empirical outright regardless of
delusions foolproof plagued by
 Truth and History

Strangely, a nation first has to remember something before it can begin to forget it. Only when nations
turn away from their subjective (1) ____________ about the past can they join with others in peaceful
union. The European Union is a convincing example. The nations of Europe fought against each other in
two worldwide conflicts in the 20th century. Only after Germans faced the enormity of their past could
they stop being (2) ____________ it. (3)____________ the difficulty, until the French understood their
role in World War II, they could not move on. In fact, each nation in Europe, to one degree or another,
had to overcome the almost (4) ____________ obstacles of its own past in order to build a strong
European Union.

The instrument used in this (5) ____________ for truth was not personal memory but history: the
(6)____________, professional study of the past, based on facts, proof, and evidence. Historians believe
in the pursuit of truth no matter how (7) ____________ it may be. But history is not comfortable reading
because it shows us how we may be lying to ourselves about the past. It reveals the myths and even
(8)____________ lies we invent about our countries to be a (9)____________ of the truth. But without a
powerful desire for truth among ordinary citizens, history books can become a simple instrument for
political (10) ____________.

The new Europe, “bound together” as the historian Tony Judt has written, “by the signs and symbols of
its terrible past, is a remarkable achievement,” but there is no (11)____________ way to keep the lessons
of the past alive unless they are taught to the coming generations.

Clues

1. False beliefs
2. Tormented by
3. Despite
4. Overwhelming
5. Search
6. Objective
7. Difficult to find
8. Complete
9. Breach
10. Trickery
11. Sure and certain