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Parents might say “honesty is the best policy,” but when it comes to talking with their own children, mom and dad lie surprisingly often, finds a new study carried out by researchers in the University of Toronto, Canada.
Almost every parent in the study admits having come up with some tales to influence a child’s actions and feelings. For example, a parent is annoyed by a child’s crying and says, “The police will come to get you if you don’t stop crying now.” In another example, an uncle has just died and the child is told that he has become a star to watch over the child.
Whether parents lie to benefit themselves or to protect the child, researchers suggest such tall tales could give children mixed messages at a time when they are trying to figure out how to deal with the social world.
Lies could also harm the parent-child relationship. It could even keep children from learning certain rules. “If I am always lying to the child in order to get the child to do X, Y, or Z, then they have never learned why they should do X, Y, or Z.” Heyman, one of the researchers, said.
Heyman also said, “It is common for parents to try out various ways, including lying, to guide a child, but most parents never think about how it will influence their child. I think parents should figure it out in advance what their general beliefs are, so when it comes to the situation you’re working with your beliefs rather than what comes into your head at the moment.”
What did the researchers find out in their recent study?
题目问的是“最近的研究发现什么？”。该题属于细节题。第一段说的就是一项研究发现，即，父母在和孩子们说话中经常会说谎，故选D。
补充：一般文中，but后面出现的句子信息是我们所要重点关注的；finds a new study ...其实是主谓倒装结构，主语是a new study，谓语是finds，宾语是前面but引出的句子，即研究结果。
What do the underlined words “tall tale” in paragraph 3 mean?
题目问的是“第三段中的tall tales指的是什么？”。该题属于推理题。一般，such如果出现在某一名词前，那么该名词往往回指的是上文中的一些情况，所以要想知道tall tales之意，要看看上文。上文提到了一些父母跟孩子谈话中所涉及到的谎言例子，而且根据下文中所说的“could give children mixed messages at a time when they are trying to figure out how to deal with the social world.”都可以推断出tall tales指的就是那些混杂着谎言的故事。
According to the research, how may children be affected by their parents’ lies?
题目问的是“根据研究，父母的谎言会对孩子产生什么影响”。该题属于推理题。第三段提到“such tall tales could give children mixed messages at a time when they are trying to figure out how to deal with the social world.”，由此可推理出，父母的谎言会影响孩子们对于社会的理解，故选C。
What’s Heyman’s suggestion for parents?
题目问的是“Heyman对父母的建议是什么”。该题属于细节题。
最后一段提到Heyman说的一段话，其中“I think parents should...”一句就是对父母的建议，由此可知他认为父母应该提前想清楚自己普遍信奉的原则，因此，一旦遇到类似的情况，你就会用你信奉的原则而不是一时冲动去处理问题。故选B（Guide their children on sound beliefs.在合理的信奉的原则之上引导孩子。）