Honesty，my mum always used to tell me，is the best policy．Of course，this didn’t include her when she told me that if I didn’t eat all my vegetables Father Christmas would find out and wouldn’t give me any presents．
But when it comes to medicine．I had assumed it was important to always be honest with my patients．After all，the doctor-patient relationship is based on trust，and therefore honesty is essential．Or so I thought．
I had just started working in geriatrics(老年病科)．Mr. McMahon was brought in when his belly was found very swollen．I took a medical history from his daughter who’d accompanied him in the ambulance．She’d been his main carer for years．I stood looking at him as she gave a detailed history．“Has he lost any weight recently?”I asked．“Well，it’s funny you should mention that，but yes．”she said slowly．There was silence for a few moments．“Why? What are you worried about?”she asked．I hesitated．She was obviously very involved in his care and it was only fair that I told her the truth．“Well．we need to prove it’s not cancer．”I said and talked briefly about some of the tests I was going to order．
Half an hour later, a nurse called me：“Mr. McMahon’s daughter broke down--she said you told her he had cancer．”My heart sank．By the time I arrived at the ward，my consultant was already there，explaining that we still had to run lots of tests and that it was by no means confirmed that he had cancer．I stood silently at the end of the bed．My consultant was obviously angry with me and as we left Mr. McMahon，she turned to me．“Why on earth did you do that?”she asked in disbelief．I looked at her and bit my lip．“She asked me what I was worried about and I told her．”I said，hanging my head．“And give her more to worry about?”replied my consultant．“You don’t say the word‘cancer’until it’s confirmed．Even if you suspect it，think very carefully before you tell people.”
As it turned out, it wasn’t cancer．But I did learn that when someone is stressed and worried about their loved one they’re sometimes selective in what they hear and as a doctor it’s important to be mindful of this．In being truthful，I’d made the situation worse．
小题1:The purpose of the first two paragraphs is to show that the author_____．
A．misunderstood the doctor-patient relationship
B．was anxious to receive Christmas gifts
C．regarded honesty as the best policy
D．had an unhealthy eating habit小题2:The author’s consultant was angry with him because________．
A．he told the daughter what he suspected
B．he delayed running the necessary tests
C．he failed to confirm the patient’s disease
D．he forgot what the consultant had advised小题3:The author hung his head (the underlined part in Paragraph 4) because he was feeling________．
A．helpless
B．hurt
C．disappointed
D．guilty小题4:What lesson has the author learnt from his experience?
A．Learning from parents is necessary．
B．Jumping to a conclusion is dangerous．
C．Telling the truth may not always be the best solution．
D．Selecting pleasant words may not be the perfect policy．