Task 2 · Listening · Variant 17

Katie: Will? I'm home! Are you in there?

William: I'm in the kitchen.

Katie: Oh, hi! What are you doing here with the laptop?

William: Hi, Katie. Remember my birthday party last week?

Katie: The one that you decided to have a month after the actual date? Yeah, sure. Why?

William: I was talking to David the other day about why he hadn't shown up and I think he was not honest with me. It drives me crazy. So, I decided to search for some tips about how to detect if a person is lying in the future. I've been poring over a range of Internet resources the whole day.

Katie: Any results?

William: Well, it seems that this topic is of high interest to people all over the world. There are articles on deception in general, the reasons people lie, some statistics, and whatnot. There are tons of comments on body language, statement analysis, micro expressions and even forensic psychology.

Katie: Anything handy? Or have you got snowed under all this information?

William: Indeed, it seems too much. Can you help? I know you took a course on lies as part of your university curriculum.

Katie: I did. And I made a mental list of what I should pay attention to while talking to people. Yet, I'm not an expert on lie detection.

William: Do tell me.

Katie: First of all, I reckon that eye direction and lying have nothing in common. You cannot say if a person is being untruthful by noting their eyes moving to your left.

William: Ok. So, no eye tracking.

Katie: Exactly. Second, a guilty person will not necessarily get defensive and turn their head or body away. Think of Nicky, our sister, who typically goes on the offensive and nearly takes your head off if being accused of lying. And in most cases, she is not as innocent as she wants to be.

William: That's what David did. He went ape on me when I asked him why he wasn't there.

Katie: Did he try to change the subject?

William: He didn't, I did. I didn't want to listen to him shouting at me, so abruptly moved to another issue.

Katie: And?

William: And it seemed that he wanted the subject changed. He became more relaxed, started smiling. His whole face got involved and gestures seemed to be more natural.

Katie: So, he was probably untruthful with you. But, even so, does it change anything? He is still your best friend, isn't he?

William: I don't know Katie. I don't like when people lie to my face.

Katie: Neither do I.