Big online companies like Amazon, Expedia, and Trustpilot are working together to stop fake reviews. They have made a group called the Coalition for Trusted Reviews. This group wants to stop people who write fake reviews to make money. Fake reviews can trick people into buying bad products and can hurt a company’s good name.

The group is worried about how AI technology can be used to make lots of fake reviews quickly. Some companies in the group are using AI to find fake reviews. The group will set rules for finding fake reviews, share good ways to manage online reviews, and share information about companies that sell fake reviews. Amazon’s Vice President, Dharmesh Mehta, says that companies need to work together and share information to stop fake reviews and protect shoppers.

Tripadvisor, a website for booking trips, found 1.3 million fake reviews on its website in 2022. It says that working together is important to stop fake reviews. This is because people who write fake reviews often live in places where there are no laws against it. The Coalition for Trusted Reviews will help by getting big online companies to work together and share what they know to fight against fake reviews.

Original news source: Amazon, Expedia and Trustpilot unite to fight fake reviews (BBC)

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Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a copy of the article. In their groups, students should read the article and then work together to write a concise summary of the main points. After a designated amount of time, have each group share their summary with the class.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Ask the students to form pairs. Give each pair a list of questions related to the article, such as “Do you trust online reviews?” or “Have you ever been tricked by a fake review?” In their pairs, students should take turns asking and answering the questions. After they have finished, have a class discussion where students can share their opinions and experiences.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write a selection of vocabulary words from the article on the board. Divide the class into two teams. Choose one student from each team to come to the front of the class. Show them a vocabulary word and they must draw a quick sketch to represent the word. Their team must guess the word based on the drawing. The team that guesses correctly earns a point. Continue until all the words have been drawn and guessed, then tally up the points to determine the winning team.

– Speed Summarizing
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs. Give each pair a copy of the article. Set a timer for 5 minutes. In their pairs, students should take turns summarizing the article to each other. When the timer goes off, they should switch roles and continue summarizing. Repeat this process for a total of 3 rounds. After the activity, ask a few students to share their summaries with the class.

– Future Predictions
Instructions: In pairs or small groups, ask the students to discuss and make predictions about the future of online reviews. What changes do they think will be made to prevent fake reviews? How will technology evolve to combat this issue? After they have had some time to discuss, have each group share their predictions with the class. Encourage them to support their ideas with reasons and evidence from the article.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Who is working together to stop fake reviews online?
2. What is the name of the group they made?
3. Why do they want to stop people from writing fake reviews?
4. How can AI technology be used to make fake reviews quickly?
5. How will the group help find fake reviews?
6. How many fake reviews did Tripadvisor find on its website in 2022?
7. Why is it important for companies to work together to stop fake reviews?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

Big online companies like Amazon, Expedia, and Trustpilot are working together to stop fake reviews. They have (1)______ a group called the Coalition for Trusted Reviews. This group wants to stop people who write fake reviews to make money. (2)______ reviews can trick people into buying bad (3)______ and can hurt a company’s good name.

The group is worried about how AI technology can be used to (4)______ lots of fake reviews quickly. Some companies in the group are using AI to (5)______ fake reviews. The group will set (6)______ for finding fake reviews, share good ways to manage online reviews, and share information about companies that sell (7)______ reviews. Amazon’s Vice President, Dharmesh Mehta, says that companies need to work together and (8)______ information to stop fake reviews and protect shoppers.

Tripadvisor, a website for (9)______ trips, found 1.3 million fake reviews on its website in 2022. It says that (10)______ing together is important to stop fake (11)______. This is because (12)______ who write fake reviews often live in places where there are no laws against it. The Coalition for Trusted Reviews will help by getting big online companies to work together and share what they know to fight against fake reviews.
Go to answers ⇩

Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a fake review?
2. How would you feel if you bought a product based on a fake review?
3. Do you like reading online reviews before buying something? Why or why not?
4. Do you think it’s important for companies to work together to stop fake reviews? Why or why not?
5. What are some ways that AI technology can be used to make fake reviews?
6. How do you think fake reviews can hurt a company’s good name?
7. Have you ever written an online review? If so, what did you write about?
8. Do you think it’s fair for companies to share information about other companies that sell fake reviews? Why or why not?
9. What do you think should happen to people who write fake reviews to make money?
10. How do you think the Coalition for Trusted Reviews can help stop fake reviews?
11. Have you ever been tricked into buying something because of a fake review? If so, what happened?
12. Do you think websites like Tripadvisor should be responsible for finding and removing fake reviews? Why or why not?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. online
2. reviews
3. fake
4. group
5. companies
6. AI
7. information
8. shoppers

Meanings:
(a) Something you do on the internet
(b) A team of people working together
(c) People who buy things
(d) Facts or details about something
(e) Opinions about products or services
(f) Businesses or organizations
(g) Not real or genuine
(h) Technology that can think and learn like a human
Go to answers ⇩

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. What is the name of the group that wants to stop fake reviews?
(a) Group for Fake Reviews
(b) Coalition for Trusted Reviews
(c) Online Companies Alliance
(d) Trustpilot and Expedia

2. Why are fake reviews a problem?
(a) They can make companies more popular
(b) They can help companies make more money
(c) They can trick people into buying bad products
(d) They can improve a company’s reputation

3. How can AI technology be used to create fake reviews quickly?
(a) By using computer programs to generate reviews
(b) By hiring people to write fake reviews
(c) By copying real reviews and changing the names
(d) By asking customers to write fake reviews

4. What will the Coalition for Trusted Reviews do?
(a) Set rules for finding fake reviews
(b) Share good ways to manage online reviews
(c) Share information about companies that sell fake reviews
(d) All of the above

5. Which online company found 1.3 million fake reviews on its website?
(a) Amazon
(b) Expedia
(c) Trustpilot
(d) Tripadvisor

6. Why is it important for companies to work together to stop fake reviews?
(a) Companies want to make more money from fake reviews
(b) People who write fake reviews often live in places without laws against it
(c) Fake reviews can help companies become more popular
(d) Companies don’t want to share information with each other

7. How will the Coalition for Trusted Reviews help fight against fake reviews?
(a) By creating laws against fake reviews
(b) By hiring more people to write real reviews
(c) By getting big online companies to work together
(d) By shutting down websites that have fake reviews

8. Who said that companies need to work together and share information to stop fake reviews?
(a) Tripadvisor’s CEO
(b) Amazon’s Vice President
(c) The Coalition for Trusted Reviews
(d) Dharmesh Mehta

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. The group wants to encourage people to write fake reviews to make money.
2. The group will also share information about companies that sell fake reviews.
3. Fake reviews cannot trick people into buying bad products and improve a company’s reputation.
4. Some companies in the group are not using AI to identify fake reviews.
5. The group will not establish rules for identifying fake reviews and share ineffective ways to manage online reviews.
6. Amazon, Expedia, and Trustpilot are part of a group called the Coalition for Trusted Reviews.
7. The Coalition for Trusted Reviews aims to encourage collaboration between big online companies to combat fake reviews and protect shoppers.
8. The Coalition for Trusted Reviews is concerned about the use of AI technology to create fake reviews quickly.
Go to answers ⇩

Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. What is the name of the group that wants to stop fake reviews?
2. Why are fake reviews a problem for companies?
3. How can AI technology be used to make fake reviews?
4. What did Tripadvisor find on its website in 2022?
5. How will the Coalition for Trusted Reviews help fight against fake reviews?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Who is working together to stop fake reviews online?
Big online companies like Amazon, Expedia, and Trustpilot.

2. What is the name of the group they made?
The group is called the Coalition for Trusted Reviews.

3. Why do they want to stop people from writing fake reviews?
They want to stop people from writing fake reviews because fake reviews can trick people into buying bad products and can hurt a company’s good name.

4. How can AI technology be used to make fake reviews quickly?
AI technology can be used to make fake reviews quickly by automatically generating and posting fake reviews without a person having to write them.

5. How will the group help find fake reviews?
The group will help find fake reviews by setting rules for finding them, sharing good ways to manage online reviews, and sharing information about companies that sell fake reviews.

6. How many fake reviews did Tripadvisor find on its website in 2022?
Tripadvisor found 1.3 million fake reviews on its website in 2022.

7. Why is it important for companies to work together to stop fake reviews?
It is important for companies to work together to stop fake reviews because people who write fake reviews often live in places where there are no laws against it. By working together and sharing information, companies can better fight against fake reviews and protect shoppers.
Go back to questions ⇧

Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) made
(2) Fake
(3) products
(4) make
(5) find
(6) rules
(7) fake
(8) share
(9) booking
(10) work
(11) reviews
(12) people
Go back to questions ⇧

Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. online
Answer: (a) Something you do on the internet

2. reviews
Answer: (e) Opinions about products or services

3. fake
Answer: (g) Not real or genuine

4. group
Answer: (b) A team of people working together

5. companies
Answer: (f) Businesses or organizations

6. AI
Answer: (h) Technology that can think and learn like a human

7. information
Answer: (d) Facts or details about something

8. shoppers
Answer: (c) People who buy things
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. What is the name of the group that wants to stop fake reviews?
Answer: (b) Coalition for Trusted Reviews

2. Why are fake reviews a problem?
Answer: (c) They can trick people into buying bad products

3. How can AI technology be used to create fake reviews quickly?
Answer: (a) By using computer programs to generate reviews

4. What will the Coalition for Trusted Reviews do?
Answer: (a) Set rules for finding fake reviews

5. Which online company found 1.3 million fake reviews on its website?
Answer: (d) Tripadvisor

6. Why is it important for companies to work together to stop fake reviews?
Answer: (b) People who write fake reviews often live in places without laws against it

7. How will the Coalition for Trusted Reviews help fight against fake reviews?
Answer: (c) By getting big online companies to work together

8. Who said that companies need to work together and share information to stop fake reviews?
Answer: (d) Dharmesh Mehta
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. The group wants to encourage people to write fake reviews to make money. (Answer: False)
2. The group will also share information about companies that sell fake reviews. (Answer: True)
3. Fake reviews cannot trick people into buying bad products and improve a company’s reputation. (Answer: False)
4. Some companies in the group are not using AI to identify fake reviews. (Answer: False)
5. The group will not establish rules for identifying fake reviews and share ineffective ways to manage online reviews. (Answer: False)
6. Amazon, Expedia, and Trustpilot are part of a group called the Coalition for Trusted Reviews. (Answer: True)
7. The Coalition for Trusted Reviews aims to encourage collaboration between big online companies to combat fake reviews and protect shoppers. (Answer: True)
8. The Coalition for Trusted Reviews is concerned about the use of AI technology to create fake reviews quickly. (Answer: True)
Go back to questions ⇧