Women consistently lie on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter to make their lives appear more exciting, a survey has found.
Researchers found that at least one in four women exaggerated or distorted what they are doing on social media once a month. The survey of 2000 women found they mostly pretended to be out on the town, when in fact they are home alone, and embellished about an exotic holiday or their job.
The most mon reasons for women to write “fibs” included worrying their lives would seem “boring”, jealousy at seeing other people’s more exciting posts and wanting to impress their friends and acquaintances.
Psychologists suggested that as people attempt to “stay connected” on social media, they can in fact “paradoxically” be left “more isolated”. They also said that the “more we try to make our lives seem perfect, the less perfect we feel”.
According to the OnePoll survey, one third of women surveyed admitted to “dishonesty” on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter at some stage.
Almost one in four admitted to lying or exaggerating about key aspects of their life online between one and three times a month while almost one in 10 said they lied more than once a week.
Nearly 30 percent of women lied about “doing something when I am home alone”, almost a quarter overstated their alcohol consumption while one in five were not truthful about their holiday activities or their jobs. Almost one in five women even lied about their “relationship status”.
“We work very hard presenting ourselves to the world online, pretending and attempting to be happy all the time which is exhausting and ultimately unfulfilling,” said Dr Michael Sinclair, a leading British consultant psychologist.
“Omitting the less desirable imperfections of our lives from the conversations with our `friends` online leads to less opportunity to feel empathized with(与…产生共鸣), resulting in a greater sense of disconnection from others.”
The survey was missioned by Pencourage, a new anonymous “diary-style” social media website.
【小题1】Which of the words below is closest in meaning to the underlined word “fibs” in Para 3?A．life experiences B．short storiesC．careful thoughtsD．insignificant lies【小题2】A woman tends to tell a lie online when she .A．hopes to make more friendsB．envies other people’s exciting lifeC．feels lonely at homeD．gets tired of the boring life【小题3】A woman might pretend to be happier online than she actually is by .A．avoiding conversations with friendsB．describing her holiday activitiesC．leaving out the imperfections in lifeD．overstating her trouble at work【小题4】According to Dr Michael Sinclair, constantly lying online may .A．eventually make one’s life more excitingB．actually lead to a sense of isolationC．really improve one’s sense of happinessD．scarcely have any influence on relationshipsD
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(答案→)D
解析：本文主要讲述的是在网络的虚拟交流中很多女性都或多或少地说谎，本文分析了具体的原因和可能导致的结果。
【小题1】D 推理题。根据本句The most mon reasons for women to write “fibs” included worrying their lives would seem “boring”, jealousy at seeing other people’s more exciting posts and wanting to impress their friends and acquaintances.可知这里是指女性在社交中会说一些她们认为不太重要的谎言。故D项正确。
【小题2】B 细节题。根据第二段最后一句jealousy at seeing other people’s more exciting posts and wanting to impress their friends and acquaintances.可知当她们看见别人的生活很精彩的时候，他们可能会说谎话。故B正确。
【小题3】C 推理题。根据文章倒数第二段“Omitting the less desirable imperfections of our lives from the conversations with our `friends` online leads to less opportunity to feel empathized with(与…产生共鸣), resulting in a greater sense of disconnection from others.”可知这些女性在网络交流的时候有意不要去考虑生活中的那些不完美的事情，让自己开心起来。但是这样只会让自己更加不开心。故C正确。
【小题4】B 推理题。根据文章倒数第二段Omitting the less desirable imperfections of our lives from the conversations with our `friends` online leads to less opportunity to feel empathized with(与…产生共鸣), resulting in a greater sense of disconnection from others.”可知这样的谎言只会导致a greater sense of disconnection from others.（一种更大的失落感）；故B正确。