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Intermediate
Reading comprehension
Holidays and festivals
Reporting statements
Advanced
Text: "Britain's press play the fool" (left)
Reading comprehension (below)
Idioms and expressions with "fool"
What do you think?

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"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool."

—Richard Feynman (1918-1988)

Would you believe it if somebody told you of the successful development of a genetically modified "whistling carrot"? - that is, carrots that have been specially engineered to grow with tapered air holes in their side? When fully cooked, these air holes cause the vegetable to whistle.

You guessed right! The story is taken from "Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time".

Learn English #3 Intermediate | •Advanced

Read the newspaper story below, and then answer the questions that follow it.

Britain's press play the fool

Britain's newspapers have played their annual April Fool's jokes on their readers with a string of hoax stories.

"The Sun" reckons gipsies have set up camp on the Queen's lawn at Windsor Castle using a 650-year-old law. The paper reckons the gipsies claim to be descended from the original builders of the castle who got permission to pitch tents there from King Edward lll. It's described as a 'disaster' for the Queen, but gipsy leader Ralph Fitteris is quoted as saying: "We could do her a good deal on tarmac."

"The Mirror" reckons sheep with St George's Cross markings on their coats are being used to trim the pitch at the new Wembley. It says the natural fertiliser of their droppings has reduced the need for chemicals meaning less allergic reaction on players. The paper quotes a Wembley spokesman as saying: "It's based on methods going back centuries. We are not being taken for fools."

Meanwhile "The Daily Mail" has what it bills as a 'Royal picture exclusive' of Prince Charles and Prince Harry shopping for sexy undies. The pictures show Royal look-alikes examining bras and knickers at what is described as an exclusive lingerie shop near Windsor Castle. Prince Charles was said to have been torn between a white bodice and a racy scarlet one from the shop's "la premiere d'Avril" range.

• Text from Ananova.com

Reading comprehension

True or false?

		true	false
1.	Newspapers always print false stories on April Fool's Day.
2.	Windsor Castle was built by gipsies.
3.	Edward lll was king of England 650 years ago.
4.	The story in "The Mirror" says that the sheep at Wembley Stadium make the grass grow faster.
5.	Natural fertilisers cause less of an allergic reaction than chemical ones.
6.	"The Daily Mail" printed photos of Prince Charles and Prince Harry.

Exercises

1. Idioms and expressions with "fool".

Complete the sentences with the correct form of one of the expressions below.

fool (someone)
fool around
fool around with
make a fool of someone
make a fool of yourself
(be) nobody's fool
(be) foolhardy
(be) foolproof

Please ensure a Java Virtual Machine is installed and enabled

2. More exercises
You will find more exercises relating to this text in the Intermediate section:

What do you think?

Do you celebrate April Fool's Day in your country? Or is there a similar festival at another time of the year? If not, do you think it would be a good idea to introduce such a day? What day would you suggest for it, and why? Which of the three hoaxes mentioned in the article do you think is most convincing? Would any of the hoaxes work in your country? If so, what changes would need to be made to them? If not, why not?

Do you personally enjoy playing practical jokes and tricks on people? Do you like it when people play practical jokes on you?

More exercises

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