April´s Fool´s Day

April Fool´s day is celebrated in different countries on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fool´s Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but it´s widely recognized and celebrated as a day when people play practical jokes and hoaxes on each other.

In France and Italy children and adults traditionally tack paper fish on each other´s back as a trick and shout "april fish" in their local language.

To know more about this day link to: http://www.wartgames.com/themes/holidays/aprilfools.html for April Fool´s Day powerpoint.


Tasks:
1. Related to this topic, you can find some vocabulary such as:
hoax / -es: a deception, especially a practical joke.
to hoax: to deceive or play a  joke on (someone)
fool, foolish, foolishness and some idioms: Act the fool, Make a fool of oneself, Live in fool´s paradise, Make the fool....
The aim of this task is to learn as many related words as possible, so look up the meaning of the new words and expressions.


2. Watch some of the most famous hoaxes on April Fool´s day in history, and see what happens.



3. To practise PAU exams, read April Fool´s Day! text and answer the questions.

April Fool´s Day!

In Spain, many people play tricks on December 28, Holy Innocents´day. In many countries, jokes are played on April 1, April Fool´s Day. The resaon seems to be that, up until the mid-sixteenth century, France celebrated New Year´s Day on April 1, but in 1562 Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new calendar to the Christian world, which changed the date of the New Year to january 1. At that time news travelled slowly and some people continued to celebrate on April 1. These poor, misinformed people were referred to as "April Fools" and other people played tricks on them.

Nowadays, it seems that new technologies provide fresh ways of playing tricks on April 1. The Internet has given birth to a rise in popularity and proliferation of tricks and hoaxes. E-mail inboxes are bombarded with messages warning of terrible viruses that cause users to delete important data from their computers, or of credit card cheats that request personal information, including passwords and bank account numbers. In August 2001 an e-mail containing a photo of a shark trying to attack a helicopter was received by e-mail throughout the world. The e-mail claimed the photo was National Geographic´s "Photo of the Year", but National geographic said that the photo was a fake and finally found the people responsible for making the composite image.

Questions

1. Are the statements True or False? Justify your answers with the evidence from the text.

1. New Year´s Day has always been celebrated on the same day.

2. New technologies help people to avoid tricks.

2. Answer the following questions according to the information given in the text, Use your own words.

1. How did the tradition of April Fool´s Day originate?

2. How can you play a trick on someone using the new technologies? Give two examples.

3. Find in the text synonyms for:

1. New (adj)

2. Remove by "cutting out or erasing" (verb)

3. Tricks (noun)

4. Copy (noun)

4. Rewrite the following sentences, the meaning should be the same as that in the sentence above.
1. She arrived home. Her husband didn´t cook dinner before.
When she arrived home .......... (yet)


2. They were shown a picture of an attacking shark.
A picture............


3. "The e-mail warned about terrible viruses infecting computers". He said
He told.....


4. He received an e-mail. Its content was spam.
He received an e-mail......


5. Write a composition (80-120 words) on one of the following options:
1. can you tell a joke that you have played on someone or one that has been played on you?
2. How has the Internet changed people´s habits?

Source: Universidad de Andalucia, adapted