April Fool’s Day
READING
1 Tick ([latex]\checkmark[/latex]) the qualities you need to be a news journalist.
[latex]\Box[/latex] funny
[latex]\Box[/latex] confident
[latex]\Box[/latex] positive
[latex]\Box[/latex] warm
[latex]\Box[/latex] adventurous
[latex]\Box[/latex] intelligent
[latex]\Box[/latex] charming
[latex]\Box[/latex] active
[latex]\Box[/latex] serious
[latex]\Box[/latex] brave
[latex]\Box[/latex] talented
[latex]\Box[/latex] cheerful
2 SPEAKING Work in pairs. What other adjectives can you think of?
3 SPEAKING Would you like to be a journalist? Say why or why not.
4 On April Fool’s Day in many English-speaking countries, people play jokes on others. Journalists are usually serious, but sometimes they play jokes, too. Do you have a similar day in your country?
5 Read and listen to the article. Which photo relates to each story? Order the dates of the stories under the pictures to match them.
April Fool’s Day
In 1957 the BBC news programme Panorama told its viewers that Swiss farmers were enjoying a really good year for their spaghetti crop. They showed a film of the farmers picking the pasta from their trees. Many people believed the story and some of them even phoned up the BBC to ask how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. The date, of course, was April 1st, or April Fool’s Day – the day when people in many countries across the world like to play jokes on each other.
April 1st seems to be very popular with journalists. They have the extremely important job of reporting the news to us. For 364 days a year they need to be serious. But for one day a year they allow themselves to forget this responsibility for a few minutes and have a bit of fun trying to fool their readers or viewers.
There are many great examples of funny April Fool’s Day jokes from the newspapers and TV.
For example, in 2008 BBC News claimed that penguins could fly. It said that their cameraman had seen this happen while filming at the South Pole. He said that, luckily, he had filmed the event, and they showed some video of penguins taking off and flying through the air. Of course, the BBC later admitted they had made up the whole story and used special effects to create the film.
In 1981 the Daily Mail had a story about a Japanese runner in the London marathon. The man was still running days after the race had finished. The story explained that the athlete had misunderstood the rules of the race. Instead of running for 26 miles, he believed he needed to run for 26 days. The paper said that he was lost somewhere in the middle of the British countryside.
And there’s certainly nothing new about these types of stories. Back in 1878 The Daily Graphic newspaper in the USA had a story about the famous scientist Thomas Edison. It told its readers that Edison had invented a food machine that would feed the human race. It didn’t explain how the machine worked, just that it would make any kind of food using air, water and earth. Many people believed the story and Edison got letters from people all over the country.
It’s not just journalists who enjoy trying to fool us. Many big companies have joined in the fun over the years. In 1998 a famous fast food restaurant used a whole page advert in one of the daily newspapers to tell us that it was going to sell a hamburger for left-handed people. It said that the new burger was just the same as the normal burger, but they had turned all the ingredients 180° in the bun. They said it would be easier for left-handed people to eat. Thousands of people went to restaurants to try and buy one.
So when people tell you not to believe everything you read in the newspapers, they might be right – especially on April 1st!
6 Read the article again. Which story are these people talking about?
THINK VALUES
Being able to laugh at yourself
1 SPEAKING Three people were told about the spaghetti trees. They all believed the story. Here’s what they said when they found out the truth. In pairs, discuss each reaction. Whose reaction do you like most? Why?
‘How could I believe that? I feel really stupid and embarrassed.’
‘It is funny, but I do feel a bit silly for believing it.’
It’s a really great story. I think it’s funny that I believed it.’
2 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Think of a time when you were the target of a joke. How did you feel? Do you feel differently about it now?
GRAMMAR
Reported statements
1 Look at the article above again. How are these statements reported? Write down how the underlined words change. Then use the example sentences to complete the rule.
2 Complete the sentences with say or tell.
3 Rewrite these quotes as reported speech.
VOCABULARY
Fun
1 Work in pairs. Read the sentences and think of a sentence to follow each one to explain the meaning of the word in italics.
2 Match the sentences on the left with the sentences on the right.
3 SPEAKING Discuss in pairs.
1 Who’s the funniest person you know?
2 Are you good at telling jokes? Why or why not?
3 Do you always get jokes? What do you do when you don’t understand?
4 Have you ever played a good joke on someone? What was it?
5 What’s the funniest thing you have ever done?
WRITING
A news report
Choose one of the headlines below and write a short news report for it. Try to include two examples of reported speech.
Found – the world’s funniest joke
GOOD JOKE GOES WRONG
Fun for everyone at school party