Few Facts about Lies

What exactly is alie?Is it anything we say which we know is untrue?Or is it something more thanthat?For example,suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from

you.You say"Iwish I could help you but I'm short of money myself."In fact,you are notshort of money but your friend is in the habit of not paying his debts and youdon't

want to hurt his feelingsby reminding him of this. Is this really a lie?

Professor JerealdJellison of the University of Southern Californiahas made a scientific study of lying. According to him,women are better liarsthan men,particularly when

telling a"whitelie," such as when a woman at a party tells another woman that she likesher dress when she really thinks it looks awful.However,this is only one sideof the

story. Otherresearchers say that men are more likely tell more serious lies,such as makinga promise which they have no intention of fulfilling. This is the kind of lie

politicians andbusinessmen are supposed to be particularly skilled at:the lie from which theliar hopes to profit or gain in some way.

Research has alsobeen done into the way people's behavior changes in a number ofsmall,apparently unimportant ways when they lie.It has been found that if theyare sitting

down at the time,they tend to move about in their chairs more than usual.To the trained observerthey are saying"I wish I were somewhere else now."They also tend totouch

certain parts of theface more often,in particular the nose.One explanation of this may be thatlying causes a slight increase in blood pressure.The tip of the nose is very

sensitive to suchchanges and the increased pressure makes it itch （痒）.

Another gesturewhich gives liars away is what the writer Demond Morris in his book Manwatchingcalls"the mouth cover".He says there are several typical forms of

this,such ascovering part of the mouth with the fingers,touching the upper-lip or putting afinger of the hand at one side of the mouth.Such a gesture can be interpretedas an

unconscious attempton the part of the liar to stop himself or herself from lying.

Of course,suchgestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth,or moving about in a chaircannot be taken as proof that the speaker is lying. They simply tend to occur

more frequently inthis situation. It is not one gesture alone that gives the liar away but awhole number of things,and,in particularly,the context in which the lie istold.

Which of thefollowing is not a gesture to suggest that one lied?

A.He or she will rubthe nose.

B.Liars tend tocover part of his or her mouth.

C.The liar is likelyto put on a red face.

D.Liars are likely tohave more frequent movement when sitting in their chairs.