One of the most famous April Fool jokes was 4___________ by the BBC, relying 5__________ the then British Public’s unfamiliarity 6____________ non-British food. It was called, the “Great Swiss Spaghetti Harvest”
7____________ 1 April 1957, the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks 8__________ a very mild 9___________ and the virtual 10___________ of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti 11___________. It accompanied this announcement 12___________ footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of 13__________ down from trees.
Huge numbers of viewers were taken 14____________. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could 15__________ their own spaghetti tree. 16___________ this the BBC diplomatically replied, "17_____________ a sprig of spaghetti in a 18_________ of tomato sauce and hope for the best." Some are 19_________ hoping.
Probably the most outrageous 20___________, though, was the 1 April 1992 broadcast of America’s National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation program that revealed that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was 21____________ for President again. His new 22___________ slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio 23________ of Nixon delivering his candidacy 24__________. Listeners “25__________ their tops” at the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. 26__________ during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical 27_____________. Nixon's voice had been 28___________ by comedian Rich Little.
KEY
1. fallen
fall for something [no passive] (informal) to be tricked into believing something that is not true. E.g. I'm surprised you fell for that trick.
2. hoax
hoax /həʊks/ an act intended to make somebody believe something that is not true, especially something unpleasant. Sp. Broma, inocentada, engaño. E.g. a bomb hoax. Hoax calls. The emergency call turned out to be a hoax.
3. plausible
plausible /ˈplɔːzəbl/ (of an excuse or explanation) reasonable and likely to be true. E.g. Her story sounded perfectly plausible. The only plausible explanation is that he forgot.
4. played
VERB + JOKE crack, make, tell He's marvellous at telling jokes. | play He's always playing jokes on people.
5. on
6. with
7. On
8. to
9. winter
10. elimination
weevil: /ˈwiːvl/ a small insect with a hard shell, that eats grain, nuts and other seeds and destroys crops. Sp. gorgojo.
11. crop
bumper: /ˈbʌmpə(r)/ (approving) unusually large; producing an unusually large amount. E.g. a bumper issue (= of a magazine, etc.) A bumper crop/ harvest/ season/ year. Farmers have been celebrating bumper crops this year.
12. with
footage: part of a film showing a particular event. E.g. Old film footage of the moon landing. People see live footage of the war at home on their televisions.
13. spaghetti
strand: a single thin piece of thread, wire, hair, etc. E.g. a strand of wool. A few strands of dark hair. She wore a single strand of pearls around her neck.
14. in
take somebody in: to make somebody believe something that is not true. Deceive. E.g. She took me in completely with her story. Don't be taken in by his charm—he's ruthless.
15. grow/ plant
16. To
17. place
sprig: a small stem with leaves on it from a plant or bush, used in cooking or as a decoration. E.g. a sprig of parsley.
18. tin
19. still
20. hoax
hoax /həʊks/ an act intended to make somebody believe something that is not true, especially something unpleasant. Sp. Broma, inocentada, engaño. E.g. a bomb hoax. Hoax calls. The emergency call turned out to be a hoax.
21. running
22. campaign
23. clips
24. speech
25. blew
Complete text
Have you ever fallen for one? It’s not a holiday but nearly everyone knows the date of All Fools’ Day – April 1st in the English-Speaking World. Many Radio and Tv stations carry hoax broadcasts on the day and Newspapers try to catch their readers with false, but plausible reports.
One of the most famous April Fool jokes was played by the BBC, relying on the then British Public’s unfamiliarity with non-British food. It was called, the “Great Swiss Spaghetti Harvest”
On 1 April 1957, the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees.
Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied, "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." Some are still hoping.
Probably the most outrageous hoax, though, was the 1 April 1992 broadcast of America’s National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation program that revealed that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners “blew their tops” at the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice had been impersonated by comedian Rich Little.
Another NPR hoax story came in 2009, when All Things Considered reported from Belleville, Illinois where "the nation's first farm-raised whales are being grown and harvested."
Jamie Keddie's story:
