UNIT 18

　　TEXT

　　Ever thought about cheating on a test? Of course not. But some students are not quite so honest …

　　Honesty: Is It Going Out of Style?

　　Stacia Robbins

　　According to a recent poll, 61 percent of American high school students have admitted to cheating on exams at least once. It can be argued such a response my not mean much. After all, most students have been faced with the temptation to peek at a neighbor's test paper. And students can be hard on themselves in judging such behavior. However, there are other indications that high school cheating may be on the rise.

　　More and more states are requiring students to pass competency tests in order to receive their high school diplomas. And many educators fear that an increase in the use of state exams will lead to a corresponding rise in cheating. A case in point is students in New York State who faced criminal misdemeanor charges for possessing and selling advance copies of state Regents examinations.

　　Cheating is considered to be a major problem in colleges and universities. Several professors say they've dropped the traditional term paper requirement because many students buy prewritten term papers, and they can't track down all the cheaters anymore.

　　Colleges and universities across the nation have decided to do more than talk about the rise in student cheating. For instance, the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland launched a campaign to stop one form of cheating. As 409 students filed out of their exam, they found all but one exit blocked. Proctors asked each student to produce an ID card with an attached photo. Students who said they'd left theirs in the dorm or at home had a mug shot taken. The purpose of the campaign was to catch "ringers," students who take tests for other students.

　　The majority of students at the University of Maryland applauded the campaign. The campus newspaper editorial said, "Like police arresting speeders, the intent is not to catch everyone but rather to catch enough to spread the word."

　　We frequently hear about "the good old days", when Americans were better, happier, and more honest. But were they more honest? Maybe yes, a long time ago when life was very different from what it is today.

　　School children used to know the story of how Abraham Lincoln walked five miles to return a penny he'd overcharged a customer. It's the kind of story we think of as myth. But in the case of Lincoln, the story is true … unlike the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. Washington's first biographer invented the tale of little George saying to his father, "I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my ax." What is important in both stories, however, is that honesty was seen as an important part of the American character.

　　And these are just two stories out of many. Students in the last century usually didn't read "fun" stories. They read stories that taught moral values. Such stories pointed out quite clearly that children who lied, cheated, or stole came to bad ends.

　　Parents may have further reinforced those values. It's difficult to know. We do know that children didn't hear their parents talk of cheating the government on income taxes - there weren't any.

　　A clue as to why Americans may have been more honest in the past lies in the Abe Lincoln story. Lincoln knew his customer. They both lived in a small town. Would a check-out person at a large supermarket return money a customer? It's less likely. On the other hand, would overnight guests at an inn run by a husband and wife, steal towels? It's less likely.

　　Perhaps this tells us that people need to know one another to be at their honest best.

　　The vast majority of Americans still believe that honesty as an important part of the American Character. For that reason, there are numerous watch-dog committees at all levels of society. Although signs of dishonesty in school, business, and government seem much more numerous in recent years than in the past, could it be that we are getting better at revealing such dishonesty?

　　There is some evidence that dishonesty may ebb and flow. When times are hard, incidents of theft and cheating usually go up. And when times get better such incidents tend to go down.

　　Cheating in school also tends to ebb and flow. But it doesn't seem linked to the economy.

　　Many educators feel that as students gain confidence in themselves and their abilities, they are less likely to cheat. Surprisingly, some efforts to prevent cheating may actually encourage cheating - a person may feel "they don't trust me anyway," and be tempted to "beat the system." Distrust can be contagious. But, so can trust!

　NEW WORDS

　　honesty
　　n.　freedom from deceit, cheating, etc. 誠(chéng)實(shí)
　　style
　　n.　fashion 時(shí)髦
　　poll
　　n.　survey of public opinion by putting questions to a representative selection of persons 民意測(cè)驗(yàn)
　　admit
　　v.　state or agree to the truth of; confess　承認(rèn)，供認(rèn)
　　admission
　　n.　
　　temptation
　　n.　the act of tempting or being tempted　引誘；誘惑
　　peek
　　vi. look (at sth.) quickly, esp. when one should not　偷看
　　behavio(u)r
　　n.　way of behaving 行為
　　behave
　　v.　
　　indication
　　n.　sign or suggestion 跡象
　　competency
　　n.　ability; being competent 能力；勝任
　　diploma
　　n.　official paper showing that a person has successfully finished a course of study or passed an examination 文憑
　　corresponding
　　a.　matching 相應(yīng)的
　　criminal
　　a.　of crime
　　misdemeano(u)r
　　n.　crime that is less serious than, for example, stealing of murder 輕罪
　　charge
　　n.　accusation 指控
　　possess
　　n.　have, own 占有，擁有
　　advance
　　a.　made available before the date of general publication or release 預(yù)先的
　　regent
　　n.　member of a governing board （學(xué)校董事會(huì)的）董事
　　drop
　　vt. give up; discontinue 放棄；革除
　　traditional
　　a.　of or according to tradition 傳統(tǒng)的
　　tradition
　　n.　
　　requirement
　　n.　sth. required; sth. demanded as a condition 要求；必要條件
　　prewritten
　　a.　written beforehand; written in advance
　　psychology
　　n.　science of the mind 心理學(xué)
　　psychological
　　a.　
　　launch
　　vt. start, set going 發(fā)起；發(fā)動(dòng)
　　campaign
　　n.　series of planned activities for some special purpose 運(yùn)動(dòng)
　　file
　　vi. march or move in a line 排成縱隊(duì)行進(jìn)
　　exit
　　n.　way out of a place 出口（處）
　　proctor
　　n.　臨考人
　　ID card
　　n.　identity card 身份證
　　dorm
　　n.　(short for) dormitory 宿舍

　mug
　　n.　the face or mouth
　　shot
　　n.　a single photograph
　　mug shot
　　n.　(sl.) photograph of a person's face, used for purposes of identification 面部照片
　　ringer
　　n.　any person who pretends to be another 冒名頂替者
　　applaud
　　vt. praise esp. by striking one's hands to gether 拍手稱(chēng)贊
　　campus
　　n.　university; the grounds of a university, college, or school 大學(xué)；校園
　　editorial
　　n.　leading article 社論
　　arrest
　　vt. seize (sb.) in the name of the law 逮捕
　　speeder
　　n.　person who drives an automobile at a higher speed than is lawful 違法超速駕駛者
　　intent
　　n.　purpose; intention
　　frequently
　　ad. at short intervals, often 頻繁地
　　overcharge
　　vt. charge too much 對(duì)...要價(jià)太高
　　customer
　　n.　person who buys goods from a shop, esp. regularly 顧客
　　myth
　　n.　神話
　　unlike
　　prep. not like, different from
　　cherry
　　n.　櫻桃
　　biographer
　　n.　person who writes about another person's life 傳記作家
　　ax(e)
　　n.　斧子
　　character
　　n.　mental or moral qualities that make one person, race, etc. different from others 性格，品質(zhì)
　　moral
　　a.　concerning principles of right of wrong　道德的
　　reinforce
　　vt. encourage of strengthen 加強(qiáng)
　　tax
　　n.　稅，稅款
　　clue
　　n.　sth. that helps to find an answer to a question 線索
　　check-out
　　n.　desk where one pays the bill of the goods one has chosen 結(jié)帳處
　　supermarket
　　n.　large shop where one serves oneself with food and goods 超級(jí)市場(chǎng)
　　overnight
　　a.　for or during the night 住一夜的；一整夜的
　　inn
　　n.　small hotel 小旅館，客棧
　　towel
　　n.　毛巾
　　vast
　　a.　very big
　　numerous
　　a.　many
　　watch-dog
　　a.　organized or acting as a watchful guardian, esp. against unlawful practice 起監(jiān)督作用的
　　dishonesty
　　n.　the quality of being dishonest
　　reveal
　　vt. make known 揭露
　　evidence
　　n.　sign or proof 證據(jù)
　　ebb
　　vi. (of the tide) flow back from the land to the sea; grow less; become weak or faint 落潮；低落，衰退
　　flow
　　vi. (of the tide) come in; rise; run or spread smoothly （潮）漲；上升；流
　　incident
　　n.　event; happening 事件
　　theft
　　n.　(the act of, an instance of) stealing
　　tend
　　vi. have a tendency 易于，往往會(huì)

　　link
　　vt. join or connect 連接；聯(lián)系
　　economy
　　n.　經(jīng)濟(jì)　
　　anyway
　　ad. at all; in any case 究竟；無(wú)論如何
　　tempt
　　vt. attract (sb.) to do sth. wrong or foolish 引誘
　　system
　　n.　體制；制度
　　systematic
　　a.
　　distrust
　　n.　lack of trust; mistrust 不信任，懷疑
　　contagious
　　a.　tending to spread easily from person to person 傳染的
　　
　　PHEASES & EXPRESSIONS

　　out of style
　　no longer fashionable 過(guò)時(shí)的，不再流行
　　according to
　　as stated or shown by; in a way that agrees with 按照，根據(jù)
　　(be) faced with
　　面對(duì)
　　be hard on
　　對(duì)...過(guò)分嚴(yán)厲
　　on the rise
　　increasing steadily 在增長(zhǎng);在加劇
　　a case in point
　　a very good example　恰當(dāng)?shù)睦��?br />　　all but
　　all except 除了...都
　　(be) different from
　　unlike, not the same as　與...不同
　　think of ... as
　　regard as
　　in the case of
　　就...來(lái)說(shuō),至于
　　come to
　　arrive at a particular state or position 變成(某種狀態(tài))
　　lie in
　　exist in 在于
　　on the other hand
　　from the opposed point of view 另一方面,反過(guò)來(lái)說(shuō)
　　at one's best
　　in as good a state as possible 處于最佳狀態(tài)
　　go up
　　rise; increase 上升;增加
　　go down
　　fall; decrease 下降;減少

　　PROPER NAMES

　　Stacia Robbins
　　斯泰茜婭.羅賓斯
　　Maryland
　　馬里蘭(美國(guó)州名)
　　Abe
　　艾貝(Abraham的昵稱(chēng))
　　Abe

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