Winston Churchill didn't really exist, say teens

Winston Churchill didn't really exist, say teens

A fifth of British teenagers believe Sir Winston Churchill was a fictional character, while many think Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur and Eleanor Rigby were real, a survey shows.
The canvass of 3,000 under-twenties uncovered an extraordinary paucity of basic historical knowledge that older generations take for granted.
Despite his celebrated military reputation, 47 per cent of respondents dismissed the 12th-century crusading English king Richard the Lionheart as fictional. In contrast, a series of fictitious characters that have featured in British films and literature over the past few centuries were awarded real-life status.
King Arthur is the mythical figure most commonly mistaken for fact - almost two thirds of teens (65 per cent) believe that he existed and led a round table of knights at Camelot.
Holmes, the detective, was so convincingly brought to life in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novels, their film versions and television series that 58 per cent of respondents believe that the sleuth really lived at 221B Baker Street.
Fifty-one per cent of respondents believed that Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest, robbing the rich to give to the poor, while 47 per cent believed Eleanor Rigby was a real person rather than a creation of The Beatles.
The study also shows a marked change in how people acquire their historical knowledge these days. More than three-quarters of those polled (77 per cent) admitted they did not read history books, and 61 per cent said that they changed channels rather than watch historical programmes on television.
Paul Moreton, the channel head of UKTV Gold which commissioned the poll, said that while there was no excuse for demoting real historical figures such as Churchill, the elevation of mythical figures to real life showed the impact good films could have in shaping the public consciousness.
"Stories like Robin Hood are so inspiring that it's not surprising people like to believe these characters truly existed," he said.

Question 1 Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text:
a) All the people interviewed were not older than 19.
b) Richard the Lionheart was a famous soldier.
c) 221B Baker street was the home of a real detective
d) Nowadays people read more about history rather than watching historical documents.

Question 2 Answer these questions in your own words:
a) Who ordered the survey and what did the results show?
b) What effect can films have on our perception of history?

Question 3 Find a word or phrase in the text that means the same as:
a) par. 2 survey
b) par. 3 appeared
c) par. 7 considerable

Question 4 Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning
a) Despite being a mythical figure, almost two thirds of teens believed King Arthur.
Although………………………………………………………….
b) 47 per cent believed Eleanor Rigby was a real person.
Eleanor Rigby was ……………………………………………………..
c) "Stories like Robin Hood are so inspiring that it's not surprising people believe these characters truly existed," he said.
d) He said that ……………………………………………………………………

Question 5 Write a short essay (120 to 150 words) on the following topic:
 What is the best way to learn about history?
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