The art of deception
Read The art of deception and check the IELTS Reading answers. Forty years ago, the research psychologist Dr Paul Ekman was addressing a group of young psychiatrists in training when he was asked a question, the answer to which has kept him busy ever since. Suppose the group wanted to know whether…
Passage preview
Forty years ago, the research psychologist Dr Paul Ekman was addressing a group of young psychiatrists in training when he was asked a question, the answer to which has kept him busy ever since. Suppose the group wanted to know whether a particular patient who swears they are telling the truth really is. They look and sound sincere. So here is the question: is there any way you can be sure they are telling the truth? Ekman did not know the answer then, but he wanted to find out.
Vocabulary from this passage
10 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- concede verb
To admit, often unwillingly, that something is true.
In the passage:
"Ekman concedes he was skeptical when the producer first approached him": he admits an earlier doubt.
Synonyms: admit, acknowledge
Opposites: deny
- conviction noun
An official court decision that someone is guilty of a crime.
In the passage:
"unfair convictions": here a conviction is a court finding of guilt, not a strong belief (Q33).
Synonyms: guilty verdict
Opposites: acquittal
- fleeting adjective
Lasting for a very short time.
In the passage:
"most people will fail to spot these fleeting signals of inner torment": micro-expressions last under a fifteenth of a second (Q30).
Synonyms: brief, momentary
Opposites: lasting, permanent
- grave trouble noun phrase
A very serious problem or danger that is likely to have bad results.
In the passage:
Q40 says "serious consequences"; the passage says the liar "would be in grave trouble if they were found out".
Synonyms: serious consequences, serious trouble
Opposites: minor problem
- inaccurate impression noun phrase
A mistaken idea about something, formed from what you see or hear.
In the passage:
Q32's box word "false beliefs" matches "create the quite inaccurate impression among audiences" in the passage.
Synonyms: false belief, wrong idea
Opposites: accurate picture
- manifestly adverb
In a way that is clear and obvious to everyone.
In the passage:
"the producer's manifestly serious and well-intentioned reasons": Ekman saw the producer's seriousness as obvious (Q35).
Synonyms: clearly, obviously
- on ethical grounds adverb phrase
Because of beliefs about what is morally right or wrong.
In the passage:
"has always refused to use his skills in that way on ethical grounds": a reusable phrase for a principled reason.
Synonyms: for moral reasons, as a matter of principle
- profess to verb phrase
To claim to have a feeling or quality, often without proof.
In the passage:
"Ekman, incidentally, professes to have been a terrible liar": the writer reports his claim without confirming it (Q37).
Synonyms: claim to, maintain that
- regardless of adverb phrase
Without being affected by, or taking into account, a particular factor.
In the passage:
Q29 option says "common to all people"; the passage says the facial muscles are standard "regardless of language and culture".
Synonyms: common to all, whatever
- win over verb phrase
To persuade someone to support or approve of you or your idea.
In the passage:
"he was won over because the series is unusual in several respects": Ekman changed his mind after his doubts.
Synonyms: persuade, convince
Answers with explanations
- 27. C
Ekman was **addressing** a group of **young psychiatrists in training** when one of them **asked a question**, so he was teaching them: they were his **students**. Patients are only the subject of the question, and the group was in training, not fellow experts.
- 28. B
The interviews led to his **discovery** of **micro-expressions**, the idea his work rests on, so the writer mentions them to show **where his theories began**. Only one patient admitted lying, so this isn't about how often patients lie. The film was slowed down, not changed by filming.
- 29. A
The key word is **universal**: the seven basic emotions are expressed the same way **regardless of language and culture**, so micro-expressions are **common to all people**. The idea comes from Darwin and is confirmed, not refuted. The paragraph also says these expressions are **impossible to suppress**, which rules out controlling them.
- 30. B
**Few … can detect lying** matches **only 50 people** out of **15,000** being able to spot the **fleeting signals** that show someone is lying. The sentence says **most people will fail** to see them. The training comes later, so not all his subjects were trained.
- 31. B
**In great demand** becomes **called in by the FBI and CIA** and **countless more … agencies**, plus workshops for many kinds of people. The agencies asked for his help rather than distrusting it. The techniques need only **a little more training**, not a decade, and the list of users is wide, not limited.
- 32. C
**Feared the possibility of encouraging viewers’** becomes **fearful that the show would … create the … impression among audiences**, and **inaccurate impression** becomes **false beliefs**. Don't be pulled towards accuracy: it is the same root as **inaccurate**, but the gap needs the viewers' wrong ideas.
- 33. E
**Unfair convictions**, where a juror wrongly finds someone guilty, mean **justice** is **not being carried out**. Crimes and criminals are mentioned in the same paragraph, but the thing that fails to happen is justice.
- 34. H
**Not aware of any other comparable programme** matches **the first time, as far as Ekman is aware**, and a single person's matches **just one scientist**. A scientist's work is his **research**, the box word that fits.
- 35. D
**Another pleasant surprise** matches **impressed**, and **the … of the show's producer** matches the producer's **reasons for making the programme**. The reasons behind an action are its **motives**.
- 36. F
**Happy with the show's overall** matches **good enough**, because **80-90 per cent of the show is based on fact**. How close the show stays to the facts is its **accuracy**.
- 37. NOT GIVEN
The deciding word is **regrets**. The passage says only that he **professes to have been a terrible liar** as a boy. It never says how he feels about those lies now. For TRUE the writer would need to say he regrets them, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- 38. NO
The statement says good liars **tend to be good at detecting lies**, a link between the two skills. Ekman **observes** that the two abilities are **completely unrelated**. That clash makes the answer NO.
- 39. NOT GIVEN
**Poker players** appear only as an example of people who are not **true** liars. The passage never says Ekman worked with them. It does say he refused to coach people running for high office, but that is a different group, so don't take it as a NO. The answer is NOT GIVEN.
- 40. YES
**More interested in** becomes **prefers to focus on**, and **serious consequences** becomes **the liar would be in grave trouble**. The writer states his preference directly, so the statement agrees with the writer's claims.