Is it okay to tell white lies?
What white
lies do you tell? Why?
Do
you think it is okay to tell white lies? Why or why not?
The dictionary says a white lie is “a lie
about a small or unimportant matter that someone tells so the don’t hurt other
people. The biggest problem with white lies is that we need to make more and
more lies to cover the tracks of our
first lies. So we need to tell more and more lies. Once a lie is told it’s hard
to come clean and be honest again.
Here are three examples of when you should
tell the truth.
Someone from work asks you out for a date
and you don’t want to hurt his feelings so you say you have other plans. This
may seem like a small lie to not hurt your co-worker’s feelings and for peace. But
this opens the door for being asked
out again. It’s best to be honest to not have to lie again and again. You could
explain that you don’t think of the co-worker in a romantic way.
You want to stop a relationship but don’t
want to hurt the other person’s feelings. Staying in a relationship when you
don’t want to is worse. You’re going to have to lie about wanting to go places
together. You don’t help the other person by delaying the inevitable and making it seem you’re still interested. It’s best to
be honest even though it might hurt their feelings.
You just started a new job and your boss
explains what you have to do. It was confusing and you don’t fully understand.
When asked if you have any questions, you say ‘no’ because you don’t want to come off as being stupid. You should say
something like “I just want to be sure I understand.” Then ask your exact
question.
Let’s be honest. There are times when a
white lie seems to be the least best thing to say.
The common thing is each of these
situations is to not hurt another person. It might be said in each one that you
are being compassionate towards
another person. That you’re respecting their feelings.
The important thing to remember is, don’t
tell a lie to not do what you should do. Explain your situation. There may be
good reasons. Accepting responsibility for our actions, and not telling a lie
to cover them up, is about integrity.
Try
to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest
meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and
have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the
reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary
depending on how they are used.
The
answers are below the table.
cover the tracks
|
A
|
1
|
To be honest. To speak the truth about
something that was hidden and was a lie
|
come clean
|
B
|
2
|
Honesty, truth, to do what is correct and
honest
|
opens the door
|
C
|
3
|
will be judged in a certain way, how something
will be thought about or seen as
|
inevitable
|
D
|
4
|
An action that makes something possible for
other things/actions to follow
|
come off as
|
E
|
5
|
To hide something
|
compassionate
|
F
|
6
|
Something that will definitely/certainly
happen
|
cover them up
|
G
|
7
|
To care and be kind to others
|
integrity
|
H
|
8
|
To hide or to fix something so that there is
no evidence of some action. To make sure everything has bee fixed/done
properly
|
A=8, B=1, C=4, D=6, E=3, F=7, G=5, H=2
Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the
meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.
to
catch up with
The thief covered all his tracks that showed his past actions so the police
would not find out.
She asked him to come clean about. Was he dating another
woman or not?
If you are too easy and not
strict it opens the door for all the
lazy students to join your class.
It is inevitable that prices will rise.
Please wear some nice clothes.
You don’t want to come off as cheap
or poor.
To be a good nurse you need to
be compassionate.
In the movie we saw that the
police were covering up their
illegal actions.
If you want your business to
succeed a long time then you need to have integrity
with all customes.
Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the
words/phrases in your answer.
What is the problem about covering your tracks by telling white
lies?
Do you find it hard to come clean about things? Why or why
not?
How much do you agree that
telling white lies opens the door to
more lies?
Why is it inevitable that every child will lie?
What kind of person do you not
want to come off as? Why?
Would you like to be more compassionate? Why?
How do you feel when
politicians and other government people cover
up their lies and corruption?
How can we make politicians and
government people have more integrity?