How can you tell if someone's lying? The answer is, they're probably not. Traditional economics says that people are rational beings who will lie if it's to their advantage. A recent university study has shown that, actually, we're pretty honest --especially when we're at home. Researchers in Germany phoned people at home and asked them to toss a coin. There was a strong financial incentive to fake the result: if the coin landed tails-up, the participants would receive money or a gift ticket, while if the coin landed heads-up, they would get nothing. Because they were on the phone, they knew there was no risk of getting caught if they lied. And yet people told the truth.Over hundreds of tosses, a coin will land tails-up roughly 50% of the time. In this study 0ver half the people asked (55.6%) said that the coin landed heads-up, which meant they would receive nothing. Previous studies had found that people were more dishonest. In those laboratory studies, 75% of people reported a winning coin and claimed a reward. So the research team thinks it's being in our own homes which makes us play fair, although it's not yet clear why. In fact both types of study show people are surprisingly reliable. Even in the laboratory, 25% of people turned down a reward by telling the truth. The researchers say this is because honesty is highly valued in human society.We care about our reputation and our sense of ourselves as respectable people. So lying has a psychological cost and it seems this cost is more important than the financialbenefits of lying . When do people lie according to troditional economics? A) When they are at home B) When it's to their advantage . C) When they would receive nothing D) When it comes to financial benefits.
B
Money matters, no matter who or where you are. So when China's currency the yuan was devalued against the US dollar for three straight days in mid-August, the world felt the effects. As CNN put it: "If China sneezes, the world catches a cold." Why does it matter so much? The exchange rate is the term for the comparison of two currencies. It says how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. "Exchange rates play an important role in a country's level of trade. It is one of the most important determinants of a country's relative level of economic health," wrote Jason Van Bergen of Forbes.com. A higher currency makes a country's exports more expensive and imports cheaper, and vice versa . Devaluation means the same amount of RMB can be exchanged for fewer USD. For example, on Aug 11, the exchange rate of RMB to USD was 6.23, which meant $1 was worth the same as 6.23 yuan. Two days later, the rate changed to 6.4, meaning the value of RMB had dropped by 2.7 percent. So what does a weaker currency mean for our lives? It first affects those who want to travel to, or study in, the US. If your former classmate is leaving for a preparatory school in the US at the end of August, it now costs about 1,800 yuan more to exchange currency for 10,000 US dollars than it did earlier this month. However, since many currencies have decreased in value, the value of yuan is still relatively high despite the recent devaluation. This means it costs 1,200 yuan less to get 10,000 Canadian dollars now than it did in March. Even if we don't have plans to travel abroad, though, we could still be affected. For example, your mother will have to pay more if she buys directly from overseas websites with US dollars. And chances are that imported chocolate and potato chips will soon be a bit more expensive in your local supermarket. However, the weaker yuan is good news for Chinese exporters. It makes Chinese exports less expensive and it could boost the overseas sales that have been among the main reasons for China's economic... If the exchange rate of RMB to USD increased from 6.5 to 6.7, how much more percent would you pay when you bought a bag worth $100? A) 2.7 B) 5.4 C) 20.0 D) 3.1
D
*Question*
Before my first summer vacation at college, my roommate Ted asked to me to work with him on his father's farm in Argentina. The idea of spending two months in Argentine was exciting. Then I began having second thoughts. I had never been far from New England, and I had been homesick my first few weeks at college. What would it be like in a strange country? What about the language? The more I thought about it, the more the idea worried me. In the end I turned down the invitation. As soon as Ted asked somebody else to go, I began kicking myself. I had turned down something I wanted to do because I was scared, and had ended up feeling depressed. That unhappy summer taught me a valuable lesson out of which I developed a rule for myself: do what makes you anxious; don't do what makes you depressed. At the end of my senior year, I began to think about becoming a writer. But my professor was urging me to aim at teaching. I hesitated. The idea of trying to live by writing was a lot scarier than spending a summer in Argentina. Back and forth I went, making my decision, unmaking it. Suddenly I realized that every time I gave up the idea of writing, that downhearted feeling went through me. Giving up on what I really wanted to do depressed me. Right then I learned another lesson. To avoid that kind of depression meant having to bear a certain amount of worry and concern. When I first began writing articles, I was frequently required to interview big names. Before each interview I would get butterflies in the stomach and my hands would shake. One person I particularly admired was the great composer Duke Ellington. On the stage and on television, he seemed the very model of confidence. Then I learned Ellington still got stage fright. If the highly honored Ellington, who had appeared on the bandstand some 10,000 times over 30years, had anxiety attacks, who was I to think I could avoid them? I went on doing those frightening interviews. Then I realized to my astonishment that I was even looking forward to the interviews.... We can infer from the passage that the author _ . A) finds it difficult to make decision B) has found out what causes anxiety C) was inspired by Duke Ellington's stage fright D) no longer feels anxious about new experiences
**Answer**
C