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STUDYING EXAMPLE CAUSE-AND-EFFECT ESSAY

Why Do We Lie?

As little children, most of us were taught the virtue of honesty from fairy tales and other stories. The story of Pinocchio, who begins life as pupput, teaches us the importance of telling the truth. The boy who lied by "crying wolf" too many times lost all his sheep as well as the trust of his fellow villagers. In the story of young George Washington, who lied about cutting down the cherry tree, we learn that he earns his father's praise only when he admits what he has done. Even though we know that "honesty is the best policy," why do we often lie in our everyday lives? The fact is that we lie for many reasons.

We sometimes lie to minimize our mistakes. While it's true that we all make blunders sometimes, some of us don't have the courage to admit them because we might be blamed for the errors. For example, students might lie to their teachers about unfinished homework. They might say that they left the work at home when, in fact, they didn't even do the work. These students don't want to seem irresponsible, so they make up an excuse — a lie — to save face.

Another reason we lie is to get out of situations that we don't want to be in. If we just don't want to attend the dorm meeting early on Saturday morning, we might give this excuse: “I’ve been fighting off a cold all week, and I need to sleep on Saturday morning, but I’ll be sure to attend the next meeting." We lie because we believe that telling the truth will cause problems. We may feel an obligation to maintain good relations with our dormmates. When we don't know how to say no and face whatever problems that may cause, we often use lies to avoid difficulties.

However, lies are not always negative; in fact, two kinds of lies can yield positive results. The first is commonly referred to as a "white lie." We tell white lies when we don't want to hurt other people's feelings. For example, if a good friend shows up with an unflattering new haircut, we could be truthful and say, “That haircut looks awful. It doesn’t suit you at all!" Instead, we are more likely to lie and say, "I like your haircut. It looks good on you," and spare our friend's feelings. The second kind of positive lie is the "protective lie." This one can help us get out of or avoid dangerous situations. Parents often teach their children to use this kind of lie. For example, parents tell their children not to say that they are home alone if they receive phone calls from strangers. In this situation, lying can prevent harm or disaster.

People lie for many reasons, both good and bad. However, before we resort to lying to cover up mistakes or to avoid unpleasant situations, perhaps we should rethink our motives for lying. We never know when our lies might be exposed and cause us embarrassment or the loss of people' s trust.

Task 13. To understand the content and organization of the essay better, answer the following questions:

1. What is the organization of the essay?



2. What is the writer’s main message in this essay?

3. How is the introduction begun?

4. What three examples of liers does the author give in this essay?

5. Find the thesis statement of the essay.

6. Is it a Focus-on-Cause or Focus-on-Effect essay?

7. How do you know this?

8. How are body paragraphs developed?

9. What connecting words are used? Underline them.

10. What is the conclusion?


Date: 2014-12-29; view: 1357


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