Spotting false stories

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Check your understandingReading comprehension
7. 7Listen: a fact-checker at workListening comprehension
8. 8Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
9. 9What does it mean?Grammar exercise
10. 10Reported speechGrammar rule
11. 11What did they say?Grammar exercise
12. 12Say it naturallySpeaking practice
13. 13Game: two truths and a lieSpeaking practice
14. 14Let's discussDiscussion
15. 15Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: report itGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: how to spot fake newsDiscussion

Words

• headline/ˈhedlaɪn/

  the title of a news story, in large letters

• source/sɔːrs/

  the person, place or website that information comes from

• mislead/ˌmɪsˈliːd/

  to make someone believe something that is not true (mislead – misled – misled)

• go viral/ˌɡoʊ ˈvaɪrəl/

  to spread very quickly on the internet

• rumor/ˈruːmər/

  a story that people tell each other, which may not be true

• exaggerate/ɪɡˈzædʒəreɪt/

  to say that something is bigger, better or worse than it really is

• reliable/rɪˈlaɪəbl/

  that you can trust

• fact-check/ˈfækt tʃek/

  to check whether the facts in a story are true

• catchy/ˈkætʃi/

  easy to remember, and fun to repeat

• stumble upon/ˈstʌmbl əˌpɑːn/

  to find something by chance

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about the news.

1. Where do you usually get your news?
2. Do you ever share a post or an article without reading all of it?
3. Have you ever believed a story that turned out to be false?

Grammar rule

Reported speech

Statements: say (that) + clause · tell + person + (that) + clause

When we report what someone said, the tense usually moves back:

They said	We report
"He is fine."	She said (that) he was fine.
"He has died."	The post said (that) he had died.
"I will check it."	Dana said she would check it.
"We can help."	They told us they could help.

say or tell?

say something: She said (that) he was fine. · tell someone something: She told us (that) he was fine. (not She said us)

Instructions: tell someone (not) to do something

"Check the source." → Experts tell us to check the source. · "Don't share it!" → She told me not to share it.

If it is still true, you can keep the present: She said he is fine.

More in this unit's grammar lesson.