Passage 3  (山东省聊城市2008年高三年级模拟（四）D篇)  阅读理解

Some critics of American society say that dishonesty is rampant (猖獗) in the Federal Government. One example they city took place during March and April, 1980. For a whole month, they say, the United States lied to its allies (同盟国).

Cyrus Vance, who was then Secretary of State, was given the task of telling Great Britain, Japan, France, Germany and others that the United States would not take military action against Iran as long as we had the cooperation of our allies. Secretary of State Vance knew that the sudden attack to get out the American captives was already planned while he was talking to our allies. But he also knew that the reason for this deliberate lying was to save lives. The primary purpose of the deception(欺骗) was not to trick our allies but to mislead the Iranian kidnappers(绑架者) so that a rescue attempt could take place. 

Many students of ethics believe that lying for the sake of one’s country is justifiedin certain cases. In this case, having lied for the sake of his country, Secretary Vance secretly wrote a letter of resignation before the attack took place. By submitting(提交) his resignation before the attack, he showed that the result had nothing to do with his resignation. It can be said that former Secretary of State Vance deceived other governments only for humanitarian reasons. Then, once he had lied, he resigned.

In that case, it is argued, lying may be justified. Without the deception, the rescue mission could not have taken place. Of course, dishonesty in government—at local, state and national levels—does not always have such noble reasons. A prime example is the so called Watergate Affair.

Most Americans were surprised and outraged by the news of Watergate Affair. But many Europeans were surprised at our surprise. Some European observers explained that they tend to think of lying；cheating, deception and corruption(腐败) as part of politics and government.

71. Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance lied, to the allies__________.

A. to mislead Iranian government B. on the purpose of saving lives

C. for the sake of his own benefit D. in order to get their cooperation

72. From the passage we learn that the United States ___________. 

A. tricked their allies into attacking Iran   

B. took military action to capture Iranian kidnappers

C. undertook a rescue mission with the help of their allies

D. carried out an attack to rescue some Americans from the Iranian kidnappers

73. According to the passage, many students regard Vance’s lying as________.

A. a reason for his resignation B. reasonable and acceptable

C. unbelievable and unreasonable D. an indication of his dishonesty

74. The author, like most Americans, regards the Watergate Affair as___________.

A. uncommon in politics and government B. part of politics and government

C. justified dishonesty in government D. a lie with noble reason    

75. What is the best title of the passage?

A. The US government – a responsible government. 

B. Cooperation means military success.

C. Should all dishonesty be criticized? 

D. Lying, a normal phenomenon in Europe.

答案  71.B  72.D  73.B  74.A  75.C