Unit 5To Lie Or Not To Lie – The

Doctors Dilemma

I .Warming-up

1.When do you tell lies?

2.Do you always believe a doctor’s diagnosis?

3.Do you think that a doctor has good reasons to tell lies?

4. Would you prefer to be told the truth about a serious illness you had? Why?

II. While-reading

1.       Divide the class into 2 groups. the first group: to go over the first part of the

text. (par.1-5) and find out the reasons why some doctors tell lies to their seriously ill patients

the second group: to go over the second part of the text (par.6-9) looking for the author’s reasons why patients should be told the truth.

Suggested answer: 1)      Doctor’s reasons for telling lies. -Lies may benefit the patients. -Lies may help speed recovery. -Such lies differ sharply from self-serving ones. -The seriously ill don’t want to know the truth

about their condition. -Telling them the truth of their condition, patients

may recover more slowly, or deteriorate faster, perhaps even commit suicide.

-Deceptive practices will “do not harm” and may well help their patients.

2)      The author’s reasons why patients should be told the truth.

-Evidence is now being provided that it is untrue that lies can be helpful.

-Studies show that an overwhelming majority of patients do want to be told the truth and that they feel betrayed when they learn that they have been kept in the dark.

-We are also learning that truthful information, humanely conveyed, helps patients cope with illness. It helps them tolerate pain better, need medicine, and even recover faster after surgery.

-Lies invade the autonomy of patients and render them unable to make informed choices concerning their own health.

-Dying patients who are lied to be about their condition can’t make decisions about the end of life.

-Lies also do harm to doctor’s integrity and their credibility.

-Lies also hurt those doctors who are honest with their patients.

-Lies injure the entire medical profession.

Summary Questions and concluding Remarks

1. What is the doctor’s dilemma? 2. What do many doctors choose to do? 3.What are some of the disadvantages of

doctor’s lying? 4.What is the author’s attitude toward this

issue? Why? 5. Is there any other profession in which

lies can be justified?

III. Language Points

1.Paraphrase the sentence” the requirements of honesty often seem dwarfed by greater needs”.

2. What does “doctor confront such choices often and urgently” mean?

3.Try to paraphrase the sentence “Ours is a profession…’as far as possible do no harm’”.

4. What does “sound more encouraging than facts warrant” mean?

5.       How do you understand “the illusory nature… be documented.”?

6.What does “advocates of benevolent deception” mean?

7.What is the difference between integrity and credibility?

8.What does “it” refer to in line 50? 9.What does “refrain from objecting” mean? 10.Whom do practitioners” in line 62 refer to? 11.How do you understand “serious

consequences seem avoidable only through deception”?

12.How do you understand “such practices are peculiarly likely to become deeply rooted”?

2.       New Word Study

Dilemma: a difficult choice to be made between two possibilities

The doctor’s dilemma is whether he should tell the patient the truth or not.

He was faced with the dilemma of whether or not to go back to Russia.

Conceal: hide, keep secret Tell me the truth; you can’t conceal it

forever. Don’t try to conceal anything from me. I

know the whole thing inside out.

Dwarf: 1. n. a person animal or plant of much less than the usual size.

The dwarf sees farther than the giant, when he has the giant’s shoulders to mount on.

They are dwarfs besides Shakespeare. 2.       vt. Cause to appear small by comparison. The newly-built 40-story hotel dwarfs all the other bui

ldings nearby. The brilliance of his poetry dwarfed the accomplishme

nts of his contemporaries. AT times: sometimes; once in a while We have noodles for lunch at times. As my father is getting on in years, he gets very

sleepy at times.

Recover: get well, strong, etc. again He’s home now recovering from a heart attack. He has just recovered from a severe illness. Distort: give a false or misleading account of You’ve distorted what he said. The driver distorted the facts of the accident to

escape blame. Contrary to: completely opposite to; different from Everything he has done is contrary to what he

said he would do. Contrary to popular belief, the desert can be a

beautiful place. The doctor’s face was grave when he told us

the news.

Grave: serious The doctor has told us that Peter’s condition

is very grave and he will probably die. Tolerate: allow or endure without protest The ability to tolerate pain varies from

person to person. The workers said they couldn’t tolerate the

poor working condition any longer. Integrity: honesty, uprightness A man of integrity is a man of moral principle. To

say that a man has integrity is to say more than that he is honest. A man of integrity can be trusted.

In the long run: in the end, in the final analysis or outcome

You may make good grades by studying only before examinations, but you will succeed in the long run only by studying hard every day.

It pays in the long run to buy goods of high quality.

Arise: appear, come into existence The question then arises as to what we are

going to do once we get the equipment. At a later stage there arose new problems

which were even harder to solve. Alternative: a choice between two or more things,

any of the things to be chosen. As Bob would not accept the salary I could offer,

I have no alternative but to give the job to sb. else.

There are three alternative for his treatment and most doctors are for the first one

Go to great length: do everything that is necessary (to obtain a desired result)

He went to great lengths to prove to his girlfriend that he had earned his success by hard work.

He would go to great/any lengths to get what he wanted.

3. English and Chinese Phrase Chinese 造福病人 加快康复 各行各业 相形见绌 回避，免受打击 残酷的消息 遵守诺言 公众利益 例行体检 十分健康

English Benefit the patients Speed recovery Lines of work Be dwarfed by Shelter from Brutal news Uphold a promise The public interest A routine physical checkup In perfect health

说真话 大事化小 面临决择 为病人着想 截然不同 恶化的更快 自杀 遵循宗旨 对… . 有害 有了这样一条原则 不知不觉使用 骗人做法 说得更鼓舞人心 事实根据 绝症病人

Tell/utter the truth Minimize the gravity of Confront the choices For the patients’ own sake differ sharply from Deteriorate faster Commit suicide Be guided by a … precept Do harm to Armed with such a precept Slip into Deceptive practices Sound more encouraging The facts warrant The incurably ill

好处的实质 旨在 与…相反 压倒多数 感觉到被出卖了 被误导 妥当地告诉 忍受疼痛 出于好意的欺骗 使某人感到无能为力 作出正确的选择 与自己健康有关的 越来越注意到 在…过程中 把某人蒙在鼓里 度过余生

The nature of the benefits Be meant to do sth. Contrary to An overwhelming majority Feel betrayed Be misled humanely convey Tolerate pain Benevolent deception Render sb. unable Make informed choices Concerning one’s own health Be increasingly aware of In the course of Keep sb. in the dark Spend one’s remaining time

把 .. 了结 归根结底 怀疑受骗 对某人诚实 影响工作 保护性药品 整个医疗界 剧烈冲突 病人权利法案 可供选择的治疗方案 催要答复 想方设法 多年的做法、古老的做法 忍住不做、抑制不做 十分生气 感到无能为力

Bring…to a close In the long run Suspicion of deceit Be honest with sb. Undercut the work of Defensive medicine The entire medical profession Sharp conflicts The patiens’ bills of rights Alternatives for treatment Press for answers Go to great lengths Age-old practices Refrain from doing Bitterly resent Feel powerless

表态 急需做某事 公开辩论此事 对某事小心谨慎 根深蒂固 有损信誉 从中可得到安慰 不知者，不为所害

Take a stand There is urgent need t

o do sth. Debate this issue open

ly Be wary of sth. Be deeply rooted Erode trust There can be comfort i

n What you don’t know

can’t hurt you

4．Writings Directions ： You are the Staff Training

manager of ABC Company 。 The Managing Director of the Company made a phone call to you asking for information on PC Users’ Introductory Course 。 The following is a telephone message your secretary left for you 。

Telephone Message Date: 16 Oct. Message for : Mr. Krefeld From: Mr. Lacey, managing Director Message: About the PC users’ Introductory Course He asks for a copy of the training programme, want

s to know when the programme starts. He wants to speak to the participants.

Please write a letter to Mr. Lacey. Taken by: Jeremy Spencer  Write a letter of reply (100-120 words) to the Mana

ging Director, using the information from the telephone message.

Sample:

Dear Mr. Lacey, As requested, I enclosed a copy of the provisional

programme for the Introductory Course for your PC users. It will be held from 16 December to 20 December.

Following your phone call, I have set aside a session for you to speak to the participants. I have scheduled this for Tuesday, 17 December, 17, starting at 3:00 pm. 

I am now completing the final planning arrangements for course. Accordingly, I would be grateful if you could confirm that the proposed time on Tuesday will be convenient for you.

In addition, I would also appreciate receiving any comments you may have on the program by Friday of this week, if possible.

Yours sincerely,

M. L. Krefeld

Staff Training manager