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| ■ 東京大学過去問２００９年（５） |
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次の文章を読み、以下の問いに答えよ。 When people hear that I'm writing an article about the way human beings deceive each other, they're quick to tell me how to catch a liar. Liars always look to the left, several friends say; liars always cover their mouths, says a man sitting next to me on a plane. Beliefs about （ (1) ） are numerous and often contradictory. Liars can be detected because they move a lot, keep very still, cross their legs, cross their arms, look up, look down, make eye contact or fail to make eye contact. Freud thought anyone could spot people who are lying by paying close enough attention to the way they move their fingers. Nietzsche wrote that "the mouth may lie, but the face it makes nonetheless tells the truth." Most people think they're good at spotting liars, but studies show otherwise. It is wrong to expect that professionally trained people will have the ability to detect liars with accuracy. In general, even professional lie-catchers, like judges and customs officials, perform, when tested, （ (2) ）. In other words, even the experts would have been right almost as often if they had just tossed a coin. Just as it is hard to decide who is lying and who is not, it is also much more difficult （ (3) ） tell what is a lie and what is not. "Everybody lies," Mark Twain wrote, "every day; every hour; awake; asleep; in his dreams; in his joy; in his grief." First, there are the lies which consist of not saying something. You go out to dinner with your sister and her handsome boyfriend, and you find him utterly unpleasant. When you and your sister discuss the evening later, isn't it a lie for you to talk about the restaurant and not about the boyfriend? What if you talk about his good looks and not about his offensive personality? Then there are lies which consist of saying something you know to be false. Many of these are harmless lies that allow us to get along with one another. When you receive a gift you can't use, or are invited to lunch with a co-worker you dislike, you're likely to say, "Thank you, it's perfect" or "I wish I could, but I have a dentist's appointment," rather than speak (4)the harsher truth.There are the lies we teach our children to tell; we call them manners. Even our automatic response of "Fine" to a neighbor's equally mechanical "How are you?" is often, when you get right down to it, a lie. More serious lies can have a range of motives and implications; for example, lying about a rival's behavior in order to get him fired. But in other cases, not every lie is one that needs to be uncovered. We humans are active, creative animals who (5)can represent what exists as if it did not, and what doesn't exist as if it did. Concealment, indirectness, silence, outright lying ー all contribute to the peace-keeping of the human community. Learning to lie is an important part of growing up. What makes children able to start telling lies, usually at about age three or four, is that they have begun developing a theory of mind, the idea that what goes on in their heads is different from what goes on in other people's heads. With their first lie to their parents, the power balance shifts a little: they now know something their parents don't know. With each new lie (6)they gain a bit more power over the people who believe them. After a while, the ability to lie becomes just another part of their emotional landscape. Lying is just so ordinary, so much a part of our everyday lives and everyday conversations, that we hardly notice it. The fact is that in many cases it would be more difficult, challenging and stressful for people to tell the truth than to lie. Can't we say that deceiving is, （ (7) ）, one characteristic associated with the evolution of higher intelligence? At present, attempts are being made by the US Federal Government to develop an efficient machine for "credibility assessment," （ (8) ）, a perfect lie detector, as a means to improve the nation's security level in its "war on terrorism." This quest to make the country safer, however, may have implications for our everyday lives in the most unexpected ways. How will the newly developed device be able to tell which are truly dangerous lies and which are lies that are harmless and kind-hearted, or (9)self-serving without being dangerous? What happens if one day we find ourselves with instruments that can detect untruth not only in the struggle against terrorism but also in situations that have little to do with national security: job interviews, tax inspections, classrooms, bedrooms? A perfect lie-detection device would turn our lives upside down. Before long, we would stop speaking to each other, television would be abolished, politicians would be arrested and civilization would come to a halt. It would be a mistake to bring such a device too rapidly to market, before considering what might happen not only if it didn't work ー (10)which is the kind of risk we're accustomed to thinking about ー but also what might happen if it did. Worse than living in a world filled with uncertainty, in which we can never know for sure who is lying to whom, might be to live in a world filled with certainty about where the lies are, thus forcing us to tell one another nothing but the truth. （１） 空所(1)を埋めるのに最も適切な表現を次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア why people lie イ the timing of lying ウ what lying looks like エ the kinds of lies people tell （２） 空所(2)を埋めるのに最も適切な表現を次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア as accurately as expected イ not much better than chance ウ somewhat worse than average エ far better than non-professionals （３） 下に与えられた語を正しい順に並べ替え、空所(3)を埋めるのに最も適切な表現を完成させよ。ただし、下の語群には、不要な語が一つ含まれている。 look, tend, than, think, to, to, we （４） 下線部(4)の意味内容として最も近いものを次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア how you really feel イ the lies children tell ウ a visit to the dentist エ why you don't like lunch （５） 下線部(5)を和訳せよ。 （６） 下線部(6)の意味内容として最も近いものを次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア They become less dependent on others. イ They learn more clearly to tell right from wrong. ウ They realize that their parents are just like other people. エ They understand that they are being encouraged to learn how to lie. （７） 空所(7)を埋めるのに最も適切な表現を次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア in vain イ after all ウ in no way エ by contrast （８） 空所(8)を埋めるのに最も適切な表現を次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア all the same イ by all means ウ in other words エ on the other hand （９） 下線部(9)で説明されているliesはこの文脈では何を意味するか。次のうちから最も適切なものを１つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア 自分にとっては安全で使いやすい嘘 イ 自動的に出てくる、たわいのない嘘 ウ 自己犠牲を必要とする割に無難な嘘 エ 利己的だが、国家にとって安全な嘘 （１０） 下線部(10)で説明されているriskとは、この場合どのようなものか。15~20字の日本語で具体的に説明せよ。 （１１） 以下は筆者の見解をまとめたものである。空所(a)~(d)を埋めるのに最も適切な語を下の語群から選び、必要に応じて適切な形にして記せ。同じ語は一度しか使えない。 As human beings, we cannot （ (a) ） lying at times. Indeed, sometimes lying （ (b) ） people from unnecessary confrontation. In many cases, peace in human society is （ (c) ） because not all the truth is （ (d) ）. avoid, invite, maintain, protect, reveal, struggle |
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