Reading Comprehension & Cloze

Unit 2  Lie Detectors

A lie detector is a machine that is designed to show if a person is telling the truth. It does this by measuring a person’s bodily reactions while he or she __1__. The machine records many body reactions while a person answers questions. It is __2__ the idea that stress produces changes in the body when a person does not tell the truth. Taking a lie detector test __3__ placing several devices on different areas of a person’s body. Rubber tubes on the chest and stomach record breathing. A device on the arm measures blood pressure. The body’s reactions are recorded by another device. __4__ a lie detector test, an expert first asks a series of questions that show __5__ the person’s body reacts when giving true and false answers. Then the expert asks the important questions. All this __6__ about two hours. Later, the expert reads the information and decides __7__ the person answered the questions truthfully. There is much debate about the use of a lie detector. Many people do not believe it really can tell if a person is lying. The American Polygraph Association says a trained expert can tell most times if the person has __8__. But even that organization admits that mistakes __9__ sometimes. The results of the test generally are not considered legal evidence in most United States courts. Some areas of the country have banned the use of lie detector tests as evidence. The Supreme Court has not __10__ ruled about the use of lie detector test results in the American legal system.

Cloze Test

(   ) 1. (A) has questioned                                  (B) is being questioned

             (C) is questioning                                    (D) has been questioning

(   ) 2. (A) based on                 (B) on the base of    (C) according to             (D) based by

(   ) 3. (A) interests                  (B) introduces         (C) involves                   (D) invites

(   ) 4. (A) While                (B) After                  (C) Since                  (D) During

(   ) 5. (A) how                         (B) why                         (C) what                  (D) where

(   ) 6. (A) costs                 (B) pays                         (C) spends               (D) takes

(   ) 7. (A) that                          (B) whether              (C) when                  (D) what

(   ) 8. (A) laid                          (B) lain                    (C) lied                    (D) lay

(   ) 9. (A) happen             (B) have                   (C) are                     (D) occur to

(   ) 10. (A) yet                         (B) already              (C) just                    (D) since

Reading Comprehension

(   ) 1. We can infer that a(n) _____ is often given a lie detector test.

(A) scientist             (B) scholar              (C) suspect              (D) expert

(   ) 2. In this article, it is suggested that when a person is lying, his or her _____ vary/varies.

            (A) bodily reaction  (B) smile                  (C) mental power    (D) facial expression

(   ) 3. It is up to the _____ to analyze the results of the lie detector test.

(A) author              (B) expert                (C) police                 (D) lawyer

(   ) 4. The American Polygraph Association agrees that _____.

            (A) the results of the lie detector test can serve as legal evidence in the court

             (B) the lie detector test is by no means dependable

             (C) the use of lie detector tests as evidence must be banned

             (D) there might be some mistakes about the results of the lie detector test

(   ) 5. There is _____ over the use of the lie detector and the results of the test.

            (A) controversy             (B) total denial        (C) no doubt     (D) common recognition