Passage 47
学霸导读 假新闻背后有着怎样的真相？
“A lie can travel half way around the world before the truth can put its boots on.” That quote is usually attributed to Mark Twain， the 19th-century American humorist （ 幽默作家 ）. In today’s Internet world of “fake news”， lies spread even f 1 and the truth is having trouble f inding its boots.
The term “fake news” became popular after Donald Trump was elected as U.S. president in 2016. For v 2 reasons， the new president was not in favor with most of the media. Up to 90 percent of the news stories about him were negative and some of them p 3 to be untrue. Trump began calling the stories published by the major news media outlets “fake news”. The term stuck （ 被接受 ） and now many Americans， even those who feel hatred （ 憎恨的 ） for Trump， say that they no longer trust the media， with only 30 percent f inding it to be credible.
To make matters worse， most young people say that they get their news from social media sites on which facts are mixed with rumors， half-truths and c 4 lies. This has led to young people becoming confused as to what is true and what is not true. In the latest PISA， which tested 15-year-olds worldwide on academic subjects， fewer than one in ten of the examinees were reported to be able to distinguish facts from o 5 . A Stanford University study suggested similar f indings. It showed that students at all levels of education could not tell real news from fake news. In one instance （ 例子 ）， 80 percent thought that a paid advertisement was a real news story.
Fake news is spread by people who have a bias. They want to inf luence public opinions either in favor of or a 6 something or someone. It is important， then， for young people to r 7 when they are being manipulated （ 操纵 ） and to be skeptical （ 怀 疑 的 ） of unverif ied information.
Traditional media, such as newspapers and television, are still the more credible sources of information. Reporters are professionally t 8 to look for facts, and editors have the job of making sure those facts are correct. However, if you are getting most of your information online, you have to be your own editor. In that c 9 , the f irst thing to do is to look at the writer of a post. Is this person known to be credible? Does the site where you read the post have a bias? Has it been wrong before? Next, look for other sources from mainstream media to verify the information before you believe it to be true or form an opinion. In other words, by putting on your truth boots you won’t be fooled into c 10 lies.
1.__________2.__________3.__________4.__________5.__________
6.__________7.__________8.__________9.__________10.__________
高频词汇
fake /feɪk/ adj. 假的，假装的
favor /'feɪvər/ n. 支持；赞同
credible /'kredəbl/ adj. 可信的，可靠的
rumor /'ruːmər/ n. 流言；谣传；传闻
distinguish /dɪ'stɪŋgwɪʃ/ v. 区别
bias /'baɪəs/ n. 偏见；偏心；偏袒
mainstream /'meɪnstriːm/ adj. 主流的
verify /'verɪfaɪ/ v. 证明；证实