What is exactly a lie？ Is it anything we say which we know is untrue？ Or is it something m

ore than that？ For example, suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from you, you say: "I wish I could help you but I'm short of money myself". In fact, you are not short of money, but your friend is in the habit of not paying his debts and you don't want to hurt his feeling by reminding him of this. Is this really a lie？

A scientific study of lying shows women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a "white lie" such as when a woman at a party tells another woman that she likes her dress when she really thinks it looks terrible. However, this is only one side of the story. Other researches show that men are more likely to tell more serious lies, such as making a promise which they have no intention of fulfilling. This is the kind of lie politicians and businessmen is supposed to be particularly skilled at: the lie from which the liar hopes to profit or gain in some way.

Research has also been done into the way people's behavior. changes in a number of small, apparently unimportant ways when they lie. It has been found that if they are sit ting down at the same time, they tend to move about in their chairs more than usual. To the trained observer they are saying "I wish I were somewhere else now".

This passage tells us that______.

A．telling lies is often necessary in order to avoid being defeated

B．telling lies is often bad because people ought not to be dishonest

C．telling lies is sometimes necessary in order not to hurt someone else's feelings

D．telling lies is not bad at all in most cases