English Vocabulary Exercises for B2 – Truth and lies

1. Complete the text with the correct form of the verbs below.

disguise      exaggerate      lie      manipulate      pass      photoshop

Taste the goodness!

You can’t say that adverts 1………………………… about products to consumers, but I think it’s true to say they 2………………………… what products can do. Advertisers try to 3………………………… our emotions with images of attractive people and places. Furthermore, they have been known to 4………………………… images so that products look better than they really are. Often, food and drinks manufacturers 5………………………… off products which have too much sugar as ‘energy food’ and 6………………………… the fact that some products contain ingredients that are not good for us.

2. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs.

cheat      fabricate      fib      fool      mislead      swear

1   Sam was told to leave the exam because he was using his mobile phone and ………………………… .

2   The children were ………………………… when they said that the dog ate the cake.

3   You have to ………………………… to tell the truth in a court of law.

4   That tattoo isn’t real! She’s just trying to ………………………… us.

5   The thief claims that the police ………………………… the evidence against him.

6   Jack ………………………… his parents about what he had really been doing on Friday evening.

3. Listen to the dialogues and choose the correct answers (a-c).

Dialogue 1

1   What is Jessica doing at the beginning of the dialogue?

a   Making an excuse

b   Telling the truth

c   Cheating

2   What does Tom want Jessica to do?

a   Deceive somebody

b   Lie about something to somebody

c   Own up to something

3   What does Jessica find difficult to do?

a   Tell a lie

b   Tell the truth

c   Fool Tom

Dialogue 2

4   What is Grace doing?

a   Photoshopping a picture

b   Disguising her friend

c   Telling the truth

5   What does Grace say she hasn’t done?

a   Improved the story

b   Made the story more amusing

c   Fabricated a story

6   What does Leo think a newspaper should do?

a   Portray things as more interesting than they are

b   Tell the truth

c   Reveal secrets

4. Complete the sentences with the correct verbs.

1   A lot of people won’t tell you anything face to face, but the r____________ all their secrets on the internet.

2   Nicola l____________ to me about the date of her party!

3   He always m____________ excuses for his mistakes and never accepts responsibility for anything!

4   Alex o____________ up to breaking the window and promised to pay for a new one.

5   The machine d____________ his voice so you didn’t know who was speaking.

5. Choose the correct words to complete the sentences.

1   The newspapers gave a very biased / manipulative report and criticised the government.

2   It’s so honest / hypocritical to tell people to help when you don’t do anything yourself!

3   Andy is really manipulative / direct and tries to control everything so that it always favours him.

4   I like Sara’s direct / ethical manner, even if she sometimes criticises what I have done.

5   There are new medical treatments such as gene therapy which raise ethical / dishonest issues.

6   I wanted to give Frank an open / honest answer, but I couldn’t tell him his suit looked awful, could I?

6. Match the adjectives below with the descriptions.

devious      fake      hypocritical      straight      trustworthy      truthful

1   Someone who is honest and says what they think. ……………

2   Someone who tricks others in order to get what they want. ……………

3   Something which is not genuine. ……………

4   Someone who can be relied upon to do the right thing and to be honest. ……………

5   Someone who says only what is true. ……………

6   Someone who says one thing, but does another. ……………

Extra exercises

1. Complete the sentences with the verbs below.

cheat      disguise      exaggerate      fool

make      photoshop      swear      tell

1   Why don’t you just ……………………… an excuse if you don’t want to go to the party?

2   Don’t ……………………… ! You can’t have walked 100 km!

3   I ……………………… that I didn’t take your watch. It wasn’t me!

4   If you ………………………, your test paper won’t be accepted.

5   Mary’s story didn’t ……………………… me. I knew she was lying.

6   That picture can’t be real. Did you ……………………… it?

7   Tom couldn’t ……………………… the fact that he’d been crying.

8   ……………………… me the truth! Did you, or did you not, delete that fire from my computer?

2. Complete the sentences with the adjective form of the nouns below.

bias      ethic      hypocrite      manipulation      truth      trust

1   If you aren’t ……………………… with me about your part in the incident, I won’t be able to trust you again.

2   That shop is looking for a ……………………… person to look after their accounts.

3   You’re ……………………… about the referee’s decision because you want your team to win.

4   Is it ……………………… to buy expensive electronic devices when the people that make them are paid so little?

5   Lola’s rather ……………………… . I don’t like the way she tries to control me and my other friends.

6   It would be ……………………… of me to accept Ruby’s invitation when I don’t actually like her.