Fake news is killing peoples minds

Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

1 Warmer
One of these headlines is true and four are fake news (news which isnt really true). Can you find the
true event?
1. Pope supported Trump in the US presidential election 4. Scientists trying to bring back the mammoth
2. U2s Bono rescued in terror attack 5. Mobile phone found on Mars
3. Dogs officially more intelligent than 56% of humans

2 Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers will help you.

campaign insist spread freedom of speech attend

1. The ____________________________ of something is its growth or development so that it affects a larger

number of people. (para 1)
2. ____________________________ is the legal or natural right to say what you believe is true, without being
stopped or punished. (para 1)
3. A ____________________________ can be a series of actions that try to produce political or social change, or
a series of things that a politician does to try to win an election. (para 1)
4. If you ____________________________ that something is true, you say many times that it is true. (para 3)
5. If you ____________________________ an event, you are present at the event. (para 3)

claim digital hack inauguration massive

6. An ____________________________ is a ceremony that officially celebrates someone beginning a new job,

especially the president of a country. (para 3)
7. If you ____________________________ something, you say that it is true, even though there is no definite
proof. (para 4)
8. If people ____________________________ someones computer, they connect to it secretly and often
illegally. (para 4)
9. If something is ____________________________, it is very large. (para 7)
10. If you are ____________________________, you use computers and the internet. (para 7)

3 Find the information

Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible.
1. Who is Tim Cook?
2. According to Donald Trump, how far back did the crowd reach at his inauguration?
3. What did Kellyanne Conway call the Trump administrations lies?
4. How many times were fake anti-Clinton stories shared on Facebook before the US presidential election?
5. How many times were fake pro-Clinton stories shared on Facebook before the US presidential election?
6. To be able to affect the result of an election, one fake news article would need to have the same effect as how
many TV campaign ads?
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NEWS LESSONS / Fake news is killing peoples minds / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

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Fake news is killing peoples minds
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
Fake news is killing peoples
minds, says Apple boss, Tim Cook
Kevin Rawlinson
11 February, 2017
1 Fake news is killing peoples minds, Tim Cook,
the boss of Apple, has said. The technology boss
said companies like Apple need to create tools
that will help to stop the spread of lies, without
limiting freedom of speech. Cook also said
governments should lead information campaigns
to stop fake news. Fake news in politics was
particularly common during recent election
campaigns. During these campaigns, supporters
of each side used fake news to try to win
the election.
2 At the moment, unfortunately, some of the
people that are winning are the people that try
to get the most clicks, not tell the most truth,
said Cook. Its killing peoples minds. All the
technology companies need to create some tools
that help to reduce the amount of fake news.
We must try to do this without limiting freedom
of speech and freedom of the press but we must
also help the reader.
3 There were fake news reports on both sides of
the recent US election battle but many people
believe Donald Trumps campaign benefitted
more from fake news reports. And the US
presidents team insisted that a huge crowd
attended his inauguration, when the evidence
showed only a small audience was there. Trumps
spokesman, Sean Spicer, insisted that the event
attracted the largest audience ever to watch an
inauguration and Trump said he believed
the crowd went all the way back to the
Washington Monument.
4 Images from the inauguration showed the
crowd was quite small and did not get close
to the Washington Monument. Senior aide
Kellyanne Conway later described the Trump
administrations lies as alternative facts. Hillary
Clinton claimed that there was no evidence her
emails were hacked but the FBI director, James
Comey, said it was likely they were hacked.
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2017
NEWS LESSONS / Fake news is killing peoples minds / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
5 A study by economists at Stanford University and
New York University published two months after
Novembers US presidential election found that
just before the election, fake anti-Clinton stories
were shared 30 million times on Facebook and
pro-Clinton stories were shared eight million
times. It said: The average American saw and
remembered 0.92 pro-Trump fake news stories
and 0.23 pro-Clinton fake news stories. Just over
half of those who remembered seeing fake news
stories believed them.
6 But the study showed that fake news reports on
social media were not very powerful in changing
the result of the election. To change the result of
the election, a single fake article would need to
have the same effect as 36 television
campaign ads.
7 But Cook still demanded action to decrease the
influence of fake news. We need the modern
version of a public service announcement
campaign. It can be done quickly, if we make an
effort. There has to be a massive campaign. We
have to reach every kind of person and every age
group. We need a new course for the modern kid,
for the digital kid.
8 In some ways, kids will be the easiest to
educate. At least before a certain age, they
listen and understand easily and they then
encourage their parents to act. We saw this with
environmental issues: kids learnt at school and
came home saying to their parents, Why are you
throwing this plastic bottle away?
Guardian News and Media 2017
First published in The Guardian, 11/02/17
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Fake news is killing peoples minds
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
4 Comprehension check
Match the beginnings and endings to make statements about the text.
1. In the recent US presidential election, supporters a. more people at his inauguration than images from
of both sides the event showed.

2. The boss of Apple believes that b. are children.

3. Donald Trumps supporters said there were c. said they believed them.

4. Fake news stories about Hillary Clinton ... d. used fake news to try to win the election.

5. More than half the people who remembered e. ... were shared on Facebook thirty-eight
seeing fake news stories million times.

6. Tim Cook thinks the easiest people to educate f. governments should take action to stop
about fake news fake news.

5 Chunks
Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text.
1. speech freedom of
2. crowd the was small quite
3. just the election before
4. be quickly it done can
5. certain a before age
6. easiest the educate to

6 Two-word phrases
Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make phrases from
the text.
1. news a. media
2. small b. bottle
3. no c. issues
4. social d. report
5. environmental e. evidence
6. plastic f. audience
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NEWS LESSONS / Fake news is killing peoples minds / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

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Fake news is killing peoples minds
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
7 Word-building
Complete the table using words from the text.

verb noun
1. announce
2. support (person)
3. direct (person)
4. act
5. elect
6. read (person)

8 Discussion
Do you believe everything you see on TV or the internet, or read in the newspapers? Why? Why not?

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NEWS LESSONS / Fake news is killing peoples minds / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

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Fake news is killing peoples minds
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
KEY

1 Warmer 5 Chunks

Headline 4 is true. 1. freedom of speech

2. the crowd was quite small
3. just before the election
2 Key words 4. it can be done quickly
5. before a certain age
1. spread 6. the easiest to educate
2. freedom of speech
3. campaign
4. insist 6 Two-word phrases
5. attend
6. inauguration 1. d
7. claim 2. f
8. hack 3. e
9. massive 4. a
10. digital 5. c
6. b
3 Find the information
7 Word-building
1. the boss of Apple
2. to the Washington Monument 1. announcement
3. alternative facts 2. supporter
4. 30 million 3. director
5. eight million 4. action
6. 36 5. election
6. reader
4 Comprehension check

1. d
2. f
3. a
4. e
5. c
6. b
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NEWS LESSONS / Fake news is killing peoples minds / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

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