Introduction

Do you know when someone is lying to you? Are all lies bad? Could they be a way to preserve society??Sam and Rob discuss the social benefits of lying and teach you some vocabulary. Honestly.

This week's question

A competition is held in Cumbria in the UK every year to find and award the title of "The Biggest Liar in the World". But which type of people are not allowed to take part?

a) Farmers

b) Lawyers

c) Estate agents

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript??

Rob

Hello. This is 6 Minute English. I'm Rob.

Sam

And I'm Sam.

Rob

In this programme, we’re talking about biscuits.

Sam

Really? That’s not what I was told… oh hold on, you’re lying.

Rob

Yes, you’re right, Sam. I am lying simply to demonstrate our topic – lying and how to detect it. You detected my lie very easily, Sam!

Sam

I could tell by the smirk on your face that you were telling a?fib?– that’s the word for a small, inoffensive lie.

Rob

To be honest, talking about lie detecting will be much more interesting than biscuits. But first, let’s start with a question for you to answer. A competition is held in Cumbria in the UK every year to find and award the title of "The Biggest Liar in the World". But which type of people are not allowed to take part?

a)???Farmers

b)???Lawyers

c)???Estate agents

What do you think, Sam?

Sam

I’d be lying if I said I knew – but based on personal experience I’d say estate agents – they’d find it too easy!

Rob

Ha – well that’s your opinion but I’ll let you know if you’re right at the end of the programme. So, lying is something I’m sure a lot of us do – sometimes to avoid trouble, sometimes to cheat people, or sometimes just to impress someone – did you know I can speak seven languages, Sam?

Sam

That’s just a barefaced lie, Rob! But I can see how easy lying can be, and that’s what neuroscientist Sophie Scott thinks. Here she is on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Seriously’ podcast, explaining how we sometimes lie just to be nice!

Sophie Scott, neuroscientist

Often what we mean by lying is someone setting out to?deceive?us with their words or their actions but actually normal conversation probably can only happen because we don’t actually say all the time exactly what we really think and what we really mean. And that kind of cooperation is?at the heart, I think, of a lot of social interactions for humans and I think that’s one of the strong pushes to make conversation polite and therefore frequently not actually truthful.

Rob

So Sophie mentions two types of lying. There’s the one when we try to?deceive?someone – so that’s trying to hide something by tricking someone to gain an advantage.

Sam

Hmm, that’s like you getting me to pay ￡10 for a cinema ticket when actually they were only ￡5. That’s just dishonest, but there are also what I like to call?white lies?– small lies we tell to avoid upsetting someone. Those are lies that aren’t intended to give you an advantage.

Rob

Yes, Sophie Scott says we use them in normal conversation – when we don’t say what we really mean.

Sam

So, we want to make conversation polite because we want to cooperate with each other – she says cooperation is?at the heart. Something that’s?at the heart?is the most important or essential part.

Rob

Now telling lies is one thing but how do you know if we’re being lied to??Sometimes there are telltale signs, such as someone’s face turning red or someone shuffling their feet.

Sam

But if you really want to know if someone is lying, maybe we should listen to Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire. Here he is speaking on the ‘Seriously’ podcast…

Richard Wiseman, psychologist, University of Hertfordshire

Liars in general say less. They tend to have a longer what's called?response?latency, which is the time between the end of the question and the beginning of the answer. And there also tends to be an emotional distance in the lie – so the words ‘me’,’my’, ‘I’ – all those things tend to drop away in lies and it’s much much harder for liars to control what they’re saying and how they’re saying it, so focus your attention there, you become a better lie detector.

Rob

Some good advice from Richard Wiseman. So to detect lies we need to listen out for the?response?latency?– a term used in psychology to describe the time taken between a stimulus or question and a response to it. The bigger the gap, the more chance there is that someone is lying. Is that a good summary, Sam?

Sam

Sort of, Rob. Richard also suggests we focus on – or concentrate on – what and how people are saying things too. There’s probably more to it than just that.

Rob

Well now you know how to detect my lies, Sam, maybe honestly is the best policy – as they say. So I’m now going to give you an honest answer to the question I asked earlier. A competition is held in Cumbria, in the UK, every year to award the title of "The Biggest Liar in the World". But which type of people are not allowed to take part?

a)???Farmers

b)???Lawyers

c)???Estate agents

Sam

I guessed c) estate agents.

Rob

And you are wrong, I’m afraid. Lawyers, as well as politicians, are not allowed to enter the competition. It’s claimed "they are judged to be too skilled at telling?porkies" –?porkies?is an informal word for ‘pork pies’ and that rhymes with ‘lies’.

Sam

Fascinating stuff, Rob and that’s no lie! But now, shall we recap some of the vocabulary we’ve heard today?

Rob

Why not? A?fib?is a small inoffensive lie.

Sam

A?white lie?is also a small lie, told to avoid upsetting someone.

Rob

When you?deceive?someone, you try to hide something by tricking them to gain an advantage.

Sam

When something is?at the heart?of something, it is the most important or essential part of it. And we heard about?response latency?– a term used in psychology to describe the time taken between a stimulus or question and a response to it.

Rob

OK, thank you, Sam. That’s all from 6 Minute English. We look forward to your company next time. Goodbye!

Sam

Bye everyone!

Vocabulary

fib

small inoffensive lie

white lie

small lie, told to avoid upsetting someone

deceive

try to hide something by tricking people to gain an advantage

at the heart

most important or essential part

response latency?

a term used in psychology to describe the time taken between a stimulus or question and a response to it?

porkies

informal word for 'lies'

雙語版Transcript

Hello. This is6 Minute English. I'm Rob.

大家好，這里是六分鐘英語，我是羅伯。

And I'm Sam.

我是薩姆。

In thisprogramme, we're talking about biscuits.

在本期節(jié)目中，我們將談到餅干。

Really? That'snot what I was told… oh hold on, you're lying.

真的？那不是別人告訴我的……等等，你在撒謊。

Yes, you'reright, Sam.

是的，你是對的，薩姆。

I am lyingsimply to demonstrate our topic – lying and how to detect it.

我撒謊只是為了表明我們的話題——撒謊以及如何識破它。

You detected mylie very easily, Sam!

你很容易就識破了我的謊言，薩姆！

I could tellfrom the smirk on your face that you were telling a fib – that's the word for asmall, inoffensive lie.

我可以從你臉上的假笑分辨出你在撒小謊——那是形容小的、無傷大雅的謊言的單詞。

To be honest,talking about lie detecting will be much more interesting than biscuits.

說實話，談?wù)摐y謊比談?wù)擄灨捎腥ざ嗔恕?/p>

But first,let's start with a question for you to answer.

但首先，讓我們以一個你要回答的問題開始。

A competitionis held in Cumbria in the UK every year to find and award the title of"The Biggest Liar in the World".

英國坎布里亞郡每年都會舉辦一場比賽，評選出"全球最大騙子"。

But which typeof people are not allowed to take part??a) Farmers, b) Lawyers, or c)Estate agents?

但是哪種人是不允許參加的呢？a)農(nóng)民，b)律師，還是c)房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀人？

What do youthink, Sam?

你覺得呢，薩姆？

I'd be lying ifI said I knew – but based on personal experience I'd say estate agents –?they'dfind it too easy!

如果我說我知道，那就是在撒謊——但根據(jù)我的個人經(jīng)驗，我會說是房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀人——他們會發(fā)現(xiàn)說謊太容易了！

Ha – wellthat's your opinion but I'll let you know if you're right at the end of theprogramme.

哈哈，這是你的觀點，但我會在節(jié)目最后告訴你是否回答正確。

So, lying issomething I'm sure a lot of us do?– sometimes to avoid trouble, sometimesto cheat people, or sometimes just to impress someone?– did you know I canspeak seven languages, Sam?

我確信撒謊是我們很多人都會做的——有時是為了避免麻煩，有時是為了欺騙別人，有時只是為了給別人留下深刻印象——薩姆，你知道我會說七種語言嗎？

That's just abarefaced lie, Rob!

那個謊言太厚顏無恥了，羅伯！

But I can seehow easy lying can be, and that's what neuroscientist Sophie Scott thinks.

但我能明白撒謊有多么容易，神經(jīng)學家索菲·斯科特就是這么認為的。

Here she is onBBC Radio 4's 'Seriously' podcast, explaining how we sometimes lie just?to benice!

她在BBC廣播4頻道的Seriously播客節(jié)目中解釋了我們有時為了友善而撒謊。

Often what wemean by lying is someone setting out to deceive us with their words or theiractions,?but actually normal conversation probably can only happen becausewe don't actually say all the time exactly what we really think and what wereally mean.

通常我們所說的撒謊是指某人用他們的語言或行為來欺騙我們，但實際上在正常的對話中可能會撒謊，因為我們并不是一直都在說我們真正認為的和我們真正想說的。

And that kindof cooperation is at the heart, I think, of a lot of social interactions forhumans and I think that's one of the strong pushes to make conversation politeand therefore frequently not actually truthful.

我認為，那種合作是人類許多社會交往的核心，我認為那是促使人們禮貌交談的強大推動力之一，因此，交談往往并不真實。

So Sophiementions two types of lying.

蘇菲提到了兩種類型的撒謊。

There's the onewhen we try to deceive someone – so that's trying to hide something by?trickingsomeone to gain an advantage.

其中一種是當我們試圖欺騙某人時，所以那是說企圖通過欺騙某人來隱藏某些東西，以獲取優(yōu)勢。

Hmm, that's likeyou getting me to pay ￡10 for a cinema ticket when actually they were only ￡5.

嗯，那就像你讓我花10英鎊買電影票，而實際上它們僅賣5英鎊。

That's justdishonest, but there are also what we like to call white lies – small lies wetell to avoid upsetting someone.

那就是不誠實，但也有我們喜歡稱之為善意的謊言——我們?yōu)榱瞬皇箘e人心煩而說的小謊。

Those are liesthat aren't intended to give you an advantage.

那些謊言并不是為了給你帶來好處。

Yes, SophieScott says we use them in normal conversation – when we don't say what wereally mean.

是的，索菲·斯科特說我們在正常談話中會撒謊——那時我們沒有說出我們真正想說的話。

So, we want tomake conversation polite because we want to cooperate with each other – shesays cooperation is at the heart.

所以，我們想要使交談有禮，因為我們想要與對方合作——她說合作是核心。

Somethingthat's at the heart is the most important or essential part.

某事是核心就是說它是最重要或最必要的部分。

Now tellinglies is one thing but how do you know if we're being lied to?

撒謊是一回事，但是你怎么知道我們是否被騙了呢？

Sometimes thereare telltale signs, such as someone's face turning red or someone shufflingtheir feet.

有時會有一些明顯的跡象，比如某人的臉變紅了，或者某人坐立不安。

But if youreally want to know if someone is lying, maybe we should listen to RichardWiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire.

但是如果你真的想知道某人是否在撒謊，或許我們應(yīng)該聽聽赫特福德大學心理學家理查德·懷斯曼的說法。

Here he isspeaking on the 'Seriously' podcast…?Liars in general say less.

這是他在Seriously播客上談到的……說謊者通常說得較少。

They tend tohave a longer what's called response latency, which is the time between the endof the question and the beginning of the answer.

他們所謂的反應(yīng)時間往往更長，那是指提問結(jié)束到回答開始之間的時間。

And there alsotends to be an emotional distance in the lie?– so the words 'me', 'my','I' – all those things tend to drop away in lies?and it's much much harderfor liars to control what they're saying and how they're saying it,?sofocus your attention there, you become a better lie detector.

而且謊言中也常常有情感上的距離，所以"我"，"我的"，"我"——所有這些詞往往不會出現(xiàn)在謊言中，而且說謊者很難控制他們要說什么以及如何說出來，所以集中注意力，你就會成為一個更好的測謊儀。

Some goodadvice from Richard Wiseman.

理查德·懷斯曼給出的一些好建議。

So to detectlies we need to listen out for the response latency – a term used in psychologyto describe the time taken between a stimulus or question and a response to it.

所以為了識破謊言，我們需要仔細傾聽反應(yīng)時間——這是心理學中用來描述從一個刺激或提問到對其反應(yīng)所花費的時間。

The bigger thegap, the more chance there is that someone is lying.

反應(yīng)時間越大，就越有可能有人在撒謊。

Is that a goodsummary, Sam?

是很好的總結(jié)嗎，薩姆？

Sort of, Rob.Richard also suggests we focus on – or concentrate on – what and how people aresaying things too.

還不錯，羅伯。理查德還建議，我們也要集中注意力——或關(guān)注人們在說什么，怎么說。

There'sprobably more to it than just that.

可能不僅限于此。

Well now youknow how to detect my lies, Sam, maybe honestly is the best policy – as?theysay.

現(xiàn)在你知道怎么識破我的謊話了，薩姆，也許誠實才是最好的策略——就像他們說的那樣。

So I'm nowgoing to give you an honest answer to the question I asked earlier.

所以我現(xiàn)在要誠實地給出你之前所回答問題的答案了。

A competitionis held in Cumbria, in the UK, every year to award the title of "TheBiggest Liar in the World".

英國坎布里亞郡每年都會舉辦一場比賽，評選出"全球最大騙子"。

But which typeof people are not allowed to take part??a) Farmers, b) Lawyers, or c)Estate agents?

但是哪種人是不允許參加的呢？a)農(nóng)民，b)律師，還是c)房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀人？

I guessed c)estate agents.

我猜是c)?房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀人。

And you arewrong, I'm afraid. Lawyers, as well as politicians, are not allowed to enterthe competition.

恐怕你答錯了。律師和政治家都不允許參加比賽。

It's claimed"they are judged to be too skilled at telling porkies" – porkies isan informal word for 'pork pies' and that rhymes with 'lies'.

據(jù)說"他們被認為太擅長說謊了"——"porkies"是"porkpies"的非正式說法，與"lies"押韻。

Fascinatingstuff, Rob and that's no lie!

很有意思，羅伯，這不是謊話！

But now, shallwe recap some of the vocabulary we've heard today?

但是現(xiàn)在，我們能回顧一下今天聽到的詞匯了嗎？

Yeah! Why not?

為什么不呢？

A fib is asmall inoffensive lie.

"小謊"是一種小的，無傷大雅的謊言。

A white lie isalso a small lie, told to avoid upsetting someone.

"善意的謊言"也是一個小謊，說出來是為了避免讓某人心煩。

When youdeceive someone, you try to hide something by tricking them to gain anadvantage.

當你欺騙某人時，你試圖通過欺騙他們來隱藏某事以獲得優(yōu)勢。

When somethingis at the heart of something, it is the most important or essential part of it.

當某物處于核心時，它就是最重要或最必要的部分。

And we heardabout response latency – a term used in psychology to describe the time takenbetween a stimulus or question and a response to it.

我們還聽到了"反應(yīng)時間"——這是心理學中用來描述從一個刺激或提問到對其反應(yīng)所花費的時間。

OK, thank you,Sam.

好的，謝謝你，薩姆。

That's all from6 Minute English.

以上就是本期六分鐘英語的全部內(nèi)容。

We look forwardto your company next time.

我們期待你的下次參與。

Goodbye!

再見！

Bye everyone!