Thinking for yourself

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: Rachel's juryListening comprehension
8. 8Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
9. 9What does it mean?Grammar exercise
10. 10Hedging: making a claim carefulGrammar rule
11. 11Make it carefulGrammar exercise
12. 12Say it naturallySpeaking practice
13. 13Is it true?Speaking practice
14. 14Let's discussDiscussion
15. 15Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: hedgingGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: check a claimDiscussion

Words

• assumption/əˈsʌmpʃn/

  something that you believe is true without proof (assume: the verb)

• bias/ˈbaɪəs/

  a tendency to prefer one side or idea, often unfairly

• evaluate/ɪˈvæljueɪt/

  to judge how good, useful or true something is

• misinformation/ˌmɪsɪnfərˈmeɪʃn/

  false information, especially when it spreads without anyone meaning to trick people

• jump to conclusions/ˌdʒʌmp tə kənˈkluːʒnz/

  to decide too quickly that something is true, without enough facts

• credible/ˈkredəbl/

  that can be believed or trusted

• sit on the fence/ˌsɪt ɑːn ðə ˈfens/

  to avoid choosing a side in an argument

• open-minded/ˌoʊpən ˈmaɪndɪd/

  willing to listen to and think about new or different ideas

• far-fetched/ˌfɑːr ˈfetʃt/

  very difficult to believe; unlikely to be true

• gullible/ˈɡʌləbl/

  too ready to believe what other people tell you, so easy to trick

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about thinking.

1. Have you ever been tricked by a fake photo or video? What happened?
2. Do you make decisions quickly, or do you like to think for a long time?
3. Who do you trust most when you need advice: friends, experts or the internet?

Grammar rule

Hedging: making a claim careful

Hedging means making a claim softer or more careful, so that it says only what the evidence shows.

Tool	Example
may / might / could + verb	This may explain the delay.
seem / appear + to + verb, or It seems / appears (that)…	The plan seems to be working. It appears that the file was deleted.
seem / appear + to have + past participle (about the past)	The fire seems to have started in the kitchen.
tend to + verb	Older drivers tend to drive more slowly.
be likely / unlikely to + verb, It's likely (that)…	Prices are likely to rise. It's unlikely that she'll win.
adverbs: probably, possibly, perhaps, apparently	The bridge was probably built in the 1800s.
suggest / indicate	The results suggest that sleep helps memory.

Words like some, many, often and usually also make a claim smaller: Some studies show… Older cars often use more gas.

Word order: probably usually goes after be and after helping verbs like will, but before a main verb and before a negative short form: It will probably snow. She probably knows. It probably won't snow. In American English, likely is also used like probably: He'll likely be late. For a possible "no", use may not or might not: It may not be true. (It couldn't be true means that it is impossible.)

Hedging is useful in essays, discussions and polite disagreement ("I tend to think…", "It seems to me that…", "I'd say…"). But don't hedge everything: when the evidence is strong, say so clearly.