Berühmte Täuschungen in der Geschichte

by Vocafy Geprüft

Englisch (USA) B2 12 Fragen History & culture

Entdecke berühmte Streiche, überzeugende Fälschungen und die Hinweise, die die Wahrheit ans Licht brachten.

1. 1. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Welche falsche Vorstellung vermittelte dieser Bericht?

   On April Fools' Day in 1957, the BBC showed people in Switzerland picking spaghetti from tree branches.

   • Spaghetti was first invented in Switzerland.
   • Spaghetti grows on trees.
   • Spaghetti can only be made by hand.

   Show solution

   • Spaghetti grows on trees.

   Einige Zuschauer fragten sogar, wie sie ihre eigenen Spaghettibäume anbauen könnten. Der Bericht nutzte den seriösen Stil einer Nachrichtensendung, um den Scherz glaubwürdig erscheinen zu lassen.

2. 2. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Welche Behauptung war erfunden?

   An April Fools' advertisement from Taco Bell announced that the restaurant company had bought the Liberty Bell and would rename it. The company later admitted that the announcement was a joke.

   • The company had bought a famous historic bell.
   • The company had paid for repairs to the bell.
   • The company had started selling small copies of the bell.

   Show solution

   • The company had bought a famous historic bell.

   Die Liberty Bell ist ein Symbol der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeit, was die Vorstellung eines Kaufs durch ein Unternehmen besonders aufsehenerregend machte.

3. 3. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Was war der Riese von Cardiff wirklich?

   A huge stone figure was dug up on a New York farm and presented as a human body that had turned to stone. It had actually been carved from gypsum and buried beforehand.

   • A naturally formed rock that happened to resemble a person.
   • A copy made from the remains of a real giant.
   • A statue presented as the remains of a giant.

   Show solution

   • A statue presented as the remains of a giant.

   Besucher bezahlten dafür, die Figur zu sehen. Sie vor ihrer geplanten Entdeckung zu vergraben, trug dazu bei, einem künstlich hergestellten Objekt den Anschein eines antiken Fundes zu verleihen.

4. 4. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Wie wurden die Feen auf den ersten vier Fotos geschaffen?

   The Cottingley photographs appeared to show two English girls with fairies. Decades later, both women admitted that the first four photographs used paper figures.

   • Fairy shapes were painted onto the finished photographs.
   • Paper cutouts were placed in front of the camera.
   • A special lens made ordinary people look tiny.

   Show solution

   • Paper cutouts were placed in front of the camera.

   Ein Foto kann eine inszenierte Szene genau festhalten. Die Kamera nahm echte Gegenstände auf, aber diese Gegenstände waren keine echten Feen.

5. 5. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Warum ließ die Erwähnung Herschels die Geschichte glaubwürdiger erscheinen?

   In 1835, a New York newspaper published invented reports about life on the moon, including winged creatures. The reports falsely linked these discoveries to the respected astronomer John Herschel.

   • His reputation gave the invented discoveries an appearance of scientific authority.
   • His name showed that several independent scientists had confirmed the discoveries.
   • His involvement meant that he had personally traveled to the moon.

   Show solution

   • His reputation gave the invented discoveries an appearance of scientific authority.

   Der Name eines echten Experten kann einer falschen Geschichte Glaubwürdigkeit verleihen, selbst wenn der Experte die Behauptungen nie aufgestellt hat.

6. 6. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Warum hieß die Besatzung die Scherzbolde an Bord willkommen?

   In the Dreadnought hoax, pranksters used disguises and fake official messages to gain access to a British warship. They were presented as royal visitors from Abyssinia, now called Ethiopia.

   • The crew knew they were actors taking part in a public performance.
   • The crew believed they were British officers carrying out an inspection.
   • The crew believed they were members of a visiting foreign royal party.

   Show solution

   • The crew believed they were members of a visiting foreign royal party.

   Der Streich beruhte auf Zeichen eines offiziellen Status statt auf einer überzeugenden persönlichen Identität. Die vermeintliche königliche Delegation erhielt eine offizielle Führung.

7. 7. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Wobei half Lustig seine angebliche offizielle Rolle?

   Victor Lustig posed as a government official and invited scrap-metal dealers to discuss buying the Eiffel Tower for dismantling. He had no authority to sell it.

   • Show that the tower belonged to him personally.
   • Make a fraudulent offer look like official government business.
   • Guarantee that the buyer would preserve the tower.

   Show solution

   • Make a fraudulent offer look like official government business.

   Lustig nutzte außerdem Geheimhaltung und Zeitdruck, um potenzielle Käufer davon abzuhalten, seine Geschichte bei den Behörden zu überprüfen.

8. 8. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Was war die zentrale Täuschung?

   The Mechanical Turk appeared to be a machine that could play chess. Its cabinet actually concealed a skilled human player who controlled the moves.

   • A human's skill was presented as a machine's ability.
   • The opponent secretly selected the moves for both sides.
   • The machine repeated one fixed game regardless of its opponent's moves.

   Show solution

   • A human's skill was presented as a machine's ability.

   Die Vorführungen begannen im achtzehnten Jahrhundert, lange bevor Computer Schach spielen konnten. Der Schrank war so konstruiert, dass er den Bediener während der Inspektion verbarg.

9. 9. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

   Wie führte dieses Objekt die Betrachter in die Irre?

   The 'Feejee Mermaid,' promoted by showman P. T. Barnum, was made by joining the upper body of a monkey to the tail of a fish.

   • It displayed a genuine sea animal whose unusual features had been misunderstood.
   • It presented a newly discovered species under an invented name.
   • It combined parts of real animals to imitate a creature from legend.

   Show solution

   • It combined parts of real animals to imitate a creature from legend.

   Echte Materialien garantieren keine wahrheitsgetreue Darstellung. Ihre Anordnung und die damit verbundene Geschichte können einen falschen Eindruck erwecken.

10. 10. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

    Welche Schlussfolgerung ergibt sich aus diesem Bericht?

    Two Australian writers invented a dead poet named Ern Malley and submitted poems under his name to a literary magazine. The editor published the poems without knowing that the poet was fictional.

    • The editor wrote the poems and knowingly published them as a joke.
    • The poems existed, but their supposed author and his life story were invented.
    • Ern Malley was a real poet whose work was published after his death.

    Show solution

    • The poems existed, but their supposed author and his life story were invented.

    Die Autoren erfanden auch eine Schwester, die angeblich nach Malleys Tod die Gedichte entdeckt hatte, und gaben der Einsendung damit eine glaubwürdige Hintergrundgeschichte.

11. 11. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

    Warum stellten diese Befunde die ursprüngliche Behauptung infrage?

    The Piltdown remains were presented as evidence of an early human. Later tests showed that the skull was human, the jaw came from an orangutan, and the bones had been stained to look older.

    • Different remains had been combined to look like a single early human.
    • The dark stain proved that all the bones were equally old.
    • The animal jaw proved that the skull could not be human.

    Überlege, ob Schädel und Kiefer dafür sprachen, dass es sich um ein einziges Individuum handelte.

    Show solution

    • Different remains had been combined to look like a single early human.

    Bei Tests wurden die chemischen Eigenschaften der Knochen untersucht, statt sich auf ihr alt wirkendes Aussehen zu verlassen. Das scheinbare Alter war Teil der Täuschung.

12. 12. Wähle die richtige Antwort aus.

    Welcher Befund widerlegt die behauptete Herkunft am unmittelbarsten?

    A set of diaries was presented as Hitler's own wartime writing. Tests found that the paper and some binding materials were not made until after World War II.

    • Private diaries may be less reliable than official records.
    • A later owner might have stored the notebooks differently.
    • The notebooks contained materials that did not exist when they were supposedly written.

    Vergleiche die frühestmögliche Datierung der Materialien mit dem behaupteten Entstehungszeitraum des Textes.

    Show solution

    • The notebooks contained materials that did not exist when they were supposedly written.

    Das ist ein Anachronismus: Etwas erscheint in einer Zeit, in der es noch nicht existiert haben konnte. Physische Materialien können eine falsche historische Behauptung entlarven.