Engaños famosos de la historia

by Vocafy Verificado

Inglés (Estados Unidos) B2 12 preguntas History & culture

Explora bromas famosas, falsificaciones convincentes y las pistas que revelaron la verdad.

1. 1. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Qué idea falsa presentó este reportaje?

   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.

   Algunos espectadores incluso preguntaron cómo cultivar sus propios árboles de espagueti. El reportaje usó el estilo serio de un noticiero para que la broma resultara convincente.

2. 2. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Qué afirmación fue inventada?

   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.

   La Campana de la Libertad es un símbolo de la independencia estadounidense, lo que hizo que la idea de una compra por parte de una empresa resultara especialmente llamativa.

3. 3. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Qué era realmente el Gigante de Cardiff?

   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.

   Los visitantes pagaban por ver la figura. Enterrarla antes de su descubrimiento planificado ayudó a darle a un objeto fabricado la apariencia de un hallazgo antiguo.

4. 4. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Cómo se crearon las hadas de las primeras cuatro fotografías?

   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.

   Una fotografía puede registrar con precisión una escena montada. La cámara captó objetos reales, pero esos objetos no eran hadas reales.

5. 5. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Por qué mencionar a Herschel hizo que la historia pareciera más creíble?

   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.

   El nombre de un experto real puede dar credibilidad a una historia falsa, incluso cuando el experto nunca hizo esas afirmaciones.

6. 6. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Por qué la tripulación les dio la bienvenida a los bromistas a bordo?

   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.

   La broma se basó en señales de estatus oficial, en lugar de una identidad personal convincente. La supuesta comitiva real recibió una visita guiada oficial.

7. 7. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Qué le permitió hacer a Lustig su supuesto cargo oficial?

   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 también recurrió al secretismo y a la urgencia para disuadir a los posibles compradores de verificar su historia con las autoridades.

8. 8. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Cuál era el engaño principal?

   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.

   La exhibición comenzó en el siglo XVIII, mucho antes de que las computadoras pudieran jugar al ajedrez. Su gabinete estaba diseñado para ocultar al operador durante la inspección.

9. 9. Elige la respuesta correcta.

   ¿Cómo engañó este objeto a los espectadores?

   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.

   Los materiales reales no garantizan una presentación veraz. Su disposición y la historia asociada a ellos pueden crear una impresión falsa.

10. 10. Elige la respuesta correcta.

    ¿Qué conclusión se desprende de este relato?

    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.

    Los escritores también inventaron una hermana que supuestamente descubrió los poemas después de la muerte de Malley, lo que le daba al envío una historia de fondo creíble.

11. 11. Elige la respuesta correcta.

    ¿Por qué estos hallazgos debilitaron la afirmación original?

    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.

    Considera si el cráneo y la mandíbula respaldaban la idea de que pertenecían a un solo individuo.

    Show solution

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

    Las pruebas analizaron las propiedades químicas de los huesos en lugar de confiar en su apariencia envejecida. La antigüedad aparente era parte del engaño.

12. 12. Elige la respuesta correcta.

    ¿Qué hallazgo descarta más directamente el origen declarado?

    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.

    Compara la fecha más temprana posible de los materiales con el período de escritura declarado.

    Show solution

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

    Esto es un anacronismo: algo aparece en un período en el que aún no podría haber existido. Los materiales físicos pueden revelar que una afirmación histórica es falsa.