Active Skills for Reading 1 (Unit 12: The Power of Stories)


CHAPTER 2 - Internet Hoaxes

Reading Skill - Identifying Cause and Effect

One relationship between two ideas in a text is cause and effect In the text, the cause can come before or after the effect. Using the word because in a sentence can help show the cause. The idea that follows because is the cause; for example, I can't sleep (effect) because I drank too much coffee (cause).

A. Read the following pairs of sentences which relate to the passage. Which is the cause and which is the effect? Write C or E.

Paragraph 2


  1. The airline ran a special promotion.
    Many people visited the airline's website.

  2. Airfare is expensive.
    People asked the airline for discounts.

Paragraph 3


  1. There was a hurricane.
    New Orleans was flooded.

  2. People were afraid.
    A photo of a giant crocodile was sent around the Internet.

Paragraph 4


  1. People send the chain email to their friends.
    People believe they might make money.

  2. The sender claims he thought it was a lie, but it was actually true.
    More people believe the email.

B. Scan the passage to find the causes and effects mentioned above. Were your answers correct?

C. Now read the entire passage carefully.

Internet Hoaxes

The Internet is a fast and convenient way of sending and obtaining information, but it's also a very easy way to spread misinformation. And new hoaxes pop up almost every day about anything from shocking celebrity deaths to mystery objects in foods. Here are three examples of Internet hoaxes.

Pay what you weigh

On April 1, 2011, New Zealand Air began advertising a one-day fare sale-pay what you weigh. The airline's website offered visitors a chance to pay a dollar amount that was equal to their weight in kilograms. The idea was "more weight = more fuel = more cost" and many people believed it. The promotion brought thousands of visitors to the company's website and became a popular news story. In the end, though, the promotion turned out to be an April Fool's1 joke.

Croc on the loose

While the streets of New Orleans were still flooded after a terrible hurricane, a frightening email was sent around the Internet. It included a photograph of an immense crocodile over five meters long. According to the message, it had been swimming around the flooded city eating people. It was later discovered that the photographs of the crocodile were of one that was caught in the Congo2 years before.

Earn money through emails

The following email hoax fooled many people. The sender claims that a large company will pay you to send their email to as many people as possible. For every person that you send the email to, the company promises you will receive $5; for every person that person sends it to, you'll get $3; and for every third person those people send it to, you will be paid $1. To make the lie even more believable, the sender says that at first he thought it was a hoax, but the company soon sent him $800.

1 April Fool's Day is celebrated as a day when people play tricks and hoaxes on each other.
2 The Congo is an area in Africa.

Chapter - 2: Before You Read - Believe It or Not! Chapter - 2: Reading Comprehension - Check Your Understanding

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