Look for other reliable sources of the same event.
Question : Can an old picture become fake news?
Objectives
Understand composites and recycled pictures
Discover reverse image search
Trace a rumour through time
Today's language goal
To tell the story of a recycled picture over time, we need the words of tracing (reverse image search, composite, original, recycled, crop) and the contrast past simple / present perfect.
Documents
The viral post
Since 2011, after nearly every big hurricane in the United States, the same picture comes back: a shark swimming down a flooded street next to a car. It was said to be Puerto Rico in 2011, then Houston, Daytona Beach and Florida. In 2022, one version came from a satirical account whose name had been cropped out of the screenshot.
"The image of the shark was lifted from a 2005 photograph of a kayaker being trailed by a great white shark" Snopes
The press as counterpoint
As early as 2011, The Washington Post explained the picture was fake by finding the original 2005 photo from the magazine Africa Geographic. Read the article
Grammar lesson: past simple or present perfect
To tell the story of a recycled picture over time, we need past simple or present perfectFor the teacher: how to run it (8 to 10 minutes)
Read: “Since 2011, after nearly every big hurricane, the same picture comes back.” Ask: is the story finished? No: it can still come back.
Draw the timeline 2005 to 2022 and today. Place “was taken in 2005” (finished, dated) and “has come back many times” (up to now).
Students copy; insist on the time words that go with each tense.
Quick check, then exercises, then the timeline activity.
On the board, to copy
Rule
Use the past simple for a finished action at a precise time. Use the present perfect for an action linked to now: an experience, a repeated action up to now, or a period that is not finished (since, for).
Form
past simple: verb + -ed or irregular: The photo was taken in 2005.
present perfect: have / has + past participle: The picture has come back many times.
past simple with: in 2005, in 2011, ago, last year, when.
present perfect with: since 2011, for fifteen years, ever, never, already, so far.
Use
Dated events of the timeline: past simple.
The story of the rumour up to now: present perfect.
Questions about experience: Have you ever seen this picture?
Examples from the lesson
The original photo was taken in 2005 for Africa Geographic.
In 2011, The Washington Post explained that the picture was fake.
Since 2011, the shark has appeared after nearly every big hurricane.
In 2022, one version came from a satirical account.
Common mistakes
Not The picture has appeared in 2011., but The picture appeared in 2011.
Not Since 2011, the picture comes back., but Since 2011, the picture has come back.
Not I have seen it yesterday., but I saw it yesterday.
Not It has been shared since ten years., but It has been shared for ten years.
Quick check (2 minutes, hands up or mini whiteboards)Past simple or present perfect?
In 2005, a photographer (take) ______ the photo.
Since then, the shark (swim) ______ through many floods.
In 2011, The Washington Post (find) ______ the original.
(you / ever / see) ______ this picture?
Show the answers
1. took. 2. has swum. 3. found. 4. Have you ever seen.
Exercises
EntryRecognition. Say which tense is used and why: finished and dated (F), up to now (N), experience (E).
The photo was taken in 2005.
The picture has come back after many hurricanes.
Have you ever used reverse image search?
In 2022, a satirical account posted it.
Fact-checkers have debunked it many times.
The Washington Post explained it in 2011.
Show the answers
1. past simple, F. 2. present perfect, N. 3. present perfect, E. 4. past simple, F. 5. present perfect, N. 6. past simple, F.
CoreGap-fill. Put the verb in the past simple or the present perfect.
In 2005, the magazine Africa Geographic (publish) the original photo.
Since then, the shark (become) a symbol of fake news.
In 2011, people (say) it was Puerto Rico.
The picture (be) shared millions of times so far.
Two years ago, I (see) it on my feed.
Snopes (check) it several times since 2011.
In 2022, someone (crop) the account's name.
I (never / use) TinEye.
Show the answers
1. published. 2. has become. 3. said. 4. has been. 5. saw. 6. has checked. 7. cropped. 8. have never used.
StretchProduction. Tell the story of the shark picture in six sentences: four dated events in the past simple, two sentences in the present perfect.
Show the answers
For example: In 2005, a photographer took a picture of a kayaker trailed by a shark. In 2011, someone pasted the shark onto a flooded street. The Washington Post found the original the same year. In 2022, a satirical version circulated without its account name. Since 2011, the picture has come back after nearly every hurricane. It has fooled thousands of people.
Going further (for students heading to language studies)Advanced. Use the present perfect continuous and the past perfect. Rewrite and explain.
The rumour started in 2011 and it is still circulating. (has been ...ing)
When the Post published its article, the picture was already viral. (had gone)
Fact-checkers check it again and again since 2011. (correct the tense)
Show the answers
1. The rumour has been circulating since 2011. 2. When the Post published its article, the picture had already gone viral. 3. Fact-checkers have been checking it again and again since 2011. The continuous stresses the duration; the past perfect places one past event before another.
Words in action
To say it precisely, we need the right words
EntryMatch: composite, original, recycled, crop.
used again for another purpose
made by putting several pictures together
to cut off part of a picture
the first version
Show the answers
1. recycled. 2. composite. 3. crop. 4. original.
CoreComplete with: trailed, flooded, satirical, lifted. The shark was ______ from a 2005 photo of a kayaker ______ by a great white. It was pasted onto a ______ street. In 2022, a ______ account's name was cropped out.
Show the answers
lifted, trailed, flooded, satirical.
StretchExplain why a satirical post can become misinformation.
Show the answers
When the screenshot is cropped, the context disappears: people no longer see that it was a joke, so they take it as real.
Activities
Draw a timeline: 2005, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022. Note the place given each time.
Demo: reverse image search (Google Lens, TinEye) finds the first appearances of a picture.
Why does it come back? Fear, emotion, current events.
A satirical account is not a liar, but a cropped screenshot becomes misinformation: discuss.
Exercise
In three sentences, explain the difference between an AI picture, a composite and a picture taken out of context.
Answer keyAn AI picture is entirely made by software. A composite combines pieces of real photos, like the shark pasted into a street. A picture out of context is real but shown with a false date or place.
Figures of speech in the documents
Personification and metaphor: a picture that comes back, an image lifted
“the same picture comes back”; “The image of the shark was lifted from a 2005 photograph” (Snopes)
The picture comes back like a living creature that returns after every storm: a personification. Snopes says the shark was lifted: the verb means raised, but also stolen. This metaphor tells us in one word that the image was taken without permission and out of context.
EntryWhich verb makes the picture act like a living thing?
Show the answers
comes back.
CoreGive the two meanings of lifted, and say which one Snopes means.
Show the answers
To raise; to steal or copy. Snopes means copied, taken from another photo.
StretchInvent a name for a rumour that keeps coming back, and explain the image.
Show the answers
For example: a zombie rumour: it is killed by fact-checkers, but it rises again after every hurricane.
Gap-fill worksheet
Word bank : composite, reverse, 2005, satirical, context
The shark comes from a photo taken in ______.
Pasting two photos together makes a ______.
A ______ image search finds the origin of a photo.
A ______ account posts jokes.
A real picture can mislead if its ______ changes.
Answer key
2005
composite
reverse
satirical
context
Expression task
Now say it
Draw the timeline, then tell the story of the shark picture orally in one minute.
EntryThree dated sentences in the past simple.
CoreOne minute: five dates, then two sentences in the present perfect.
StretchEnd with the zombie image and one piece of advice about reverse image search.
Tools to use:
original, composite, recycled, crop
past simple / present perfect; since, for
reverse image search
Show a model answer
In 2005, a photographer took a picture of a kayaker followed by a great white shark. In 2011, the shark was pasted onto a flooded street. The Washington Post found the original that same year. Since then, the picture has come back after nearly every big hurricane, like a zombie rumour. So, before sharing, I run a reverse image search.
Levels
Level
Adjustment
Première (B1)
Timeline given, students place the cities.
Terminale (B1 to B2)
Use the present perfect: it has circulated since 2011.
C1/C2 extension
Essay question: is a joke still a joke once it is shared without its author?
Bac pro
Reverse search in pairs on a phone.
Homework
Pick a famous photo of a monument. Run a reverse image search and note the oldest date you find and the first site that published it.
Answer keyModel answer: a date, a named site, and one sentence on how reliable that site is (agency, museum, media outlet, personal account).