English · Première, Terminale (B1 to C2), Bac pro

Assessment out of 20

End of sequence written test. Suggested time: 55 minutes. Total: 20 points. The documents come from cases studied in class; misleading pictures are described, never reproduced.

Read one step, do it, then go on to the next one.

Step 1

Documents

Document 1 · The viral post

June 2024, one month before the Paris Olympic Games. Facebook pages publish four pictures of the Eiffel Tower engulfed in flames, at night. One post is shared nearly 800 times. In January 2024, a similar video had been viewed millions of times on TikTok.

Document 2 · The fact-check

AFP Fact Check, 2024: the visuals had been circulating online for months. No fire had been reported at the Eiffel Tower, and an AFP journalist based in Paris saw that the monument was undamaged.

Step 2

Part A · Understanding the documents 6 points

1. Who published the pictures, on which network, and when? 1 point

2. Which piece of evidence in Document 2 proves that the pictures are fake? 1 point

3. Name two other steps of AFP's checking method from Session 4. 2 points

4. Sort into two columns, content and frame: the flames; the name of the Facebook page; the date, June 2024; the tower at night. 2 points

Step 3

Part B · Language and key ideas 6 points

5. Rewrite with a modal of deduction: I am sure the picture of the Pope in a white puffer jacket was generated by AI. 1 point

6. Report this sentence: Katy Perry: “I couldn’t make it to the Met. I had to work.” 1 point

7. Explain the difference between an AI image, a fake (a montage) and a picture out of context, with one example from the sequence for two of them. 2 points

8. Match each sentence with a technique of the Overton window: “Everybody does it.” / “An expert says so” (no name) / “80% of people agree” (no source) / a joke repeated every day. 2 points

Step 4

Part C · Writing: our class column, True or Tale? 8 points

9. In March 2023, a picture of Pope Francis in a huge white puffer jacket was shared by tens of thousands of accounts on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook. Write the True or Tale? column about it (150 to 200 words): what is circulating, what was checked, the verdict and one piece of advice for readers. 8 points

Help for writing

To begin with, …
However, …
As … said, “…”
On balance, …

Step 5

Marking scheme

Part A · Understanding the documents: 6 points
Part B · Language and key ideas: 6 points
Part C · Writing: our class column, True or Tale?: 8 points

Total: 20 points

Answer key

Facebook pages, in June 2024, one month before the Paris Olympic Games.
An AFP journalist in Paris saw that the tower was undamaged, and no fire had been reported.
Two of: reverse image search, finding the original upload, the live webcam feed, the fire service, other media, the company that runs the monument (1 point each).
Content: the flames, the tower at night. Frame: the page name, the date (0.5 point each).
The picture of the Pope in a white puffer jacket must have been generated by AI.
Katy Perry said (that) she couldn’t make it to the Met because she had to work. Accept: she hadn’t been able to.
An AI image is made from nothing by software (the Pope, Midjourney, March 2023). A montage puts real pictures together (the shark, taken from a 2005 photo of a kayaker). A picture out of context is real but shown with a false date or place (the shark again, after each hurricane) (1 point for the definitions, 1 for the examples).
Bandwagon effect; fake expert or unnamed authority; figure with no source; repetition and humour (0.5 point each).
See the model answer and the teacher marking grid.

Model answer

What is circulating. In March 2023, a picture of Pope Francis in a huge white puffer jacket went viral on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook. Thousands of users admired his “new style”.

What was checked. Fact-checkers such as Full Fact and Reuters found that the picture had been created with the AI tool Midjourney. No newspaper or agency had a real photo of the Pope wearing this jacket, and the details of the hands and the glasses looked strange.

Verdict. Tale. The picture must have been generated by AI.

Our advice. Before you share a surprising picture, ask yourself why no other source shows the same thing. If nobody reliable reports it, wait: speed is not the same as truth.