Why Do Politicians Lie So Badly?
Grammar: Advanced passives and hedging language
A Level 5 English lesson exploring society.
What's in this lesson
A Level 5 (advanced) ESL lesson on society, practising advanced passives and hedging language. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary and discussion questions.
From the reading: Why Do Politicians Lie So Badly?
There is a peculiar paradox at the heart of modern democracy: the people hired to persuade us are, statistically speaking, remarkably bad at it. Political scientists have long argued that voters are not swayed by rational argument so much as by gut feeling — and yet politicians continue to spend billions crafting elaborate messages that no one quite believes. It has been estimated that the average political campaign speech contains more hedged claims per minute than any other form of public discourse, which may explain why audiences tend to trust them about as much as a weather forecast in April.
Vocabulary
- amounts to
- cited as
- held against
- hums along
- a turning point
- at scale
- In the long run
- On balance
- plausible deniability
Discussion questions
- Have you ever trusted a politician completely?
- Is it possible to be honest and win an election?
- What makes a political speech actually memorable?
Why Do Politicians Lie So Badly?
Grammar: Advanced passives and hedging language
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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