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GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · ADVANCED (C1-C2)

BATS - THE
TRUTH
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1 Warm up
Bats! What do you think of when you hear this word? Write down the first five things you think of.
• ______________________________
• ______________________________
• ______________________________
• ______________________________
• ______________________________

Look at what you wrote.

1. How many things are positive?
2. How many things are negative?

2 Watch part 1
Watch the first part of "Why bats aren’t as scary as you think" (0:00 – 1:51) and decide if these
sentences are true or false, according to the information in the video.

1. People think that seeing just one bat means that there are thousands ready to attack them.
2. All bats look more or less the same.
3. Bats have both a positive and negative impact on our everyday lives.
4. Bats can save farmers money.

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BATS - THE TRUTH

Now match the beginning and ending of these phrases and find the meaning of the word in bold.

1. Movies reinforce ... a. ... can be detrimental to humans.

2. Bats that eat insects ... b. ... control pests.

3. Insects like mosquitoes and earworms ... c. ... disperse seeds to regrow rainforests.

4. Some types of bats feed on flowers, ... d. ... misconceptions about bats being dangerous.

5. Bats that eat fruit ... e. ... pollinating lots of different types of plants.

1. : creatures that are harmful to humans

2. : to spread something over a wide area

3. : harmful, having a negative effect

4. : ideas that are based on incorrect information

5. : moving pollen from one part of a plant to another part, or plant, so that seeds
are produced

Think of examples of these things:

1. other pests that are detrimental to humans
2. other creatures that pollinate plants and disperse seeds
3. other animals that people have misconceptions about from movies

3 Watch part 2

Read the introduction to this part of the video (1:51 – 4:00) and answer the questions.

So, bats are good and perhaps we haven’t been so great at giving them credit, but what made
them the villains?

1. What do you think a villain is?

2. What do you think is the topic of this part of the video?

Watch and check your ideas.

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BATS - THE TRUTH

Watch this part of the video again and write in the missing words from these sentences. The missing
words have the same meaning as the words in brackets. The first letter is given.

1. But vampires come from European (a group of people’s traditional stories and culture) f
...
2. ... describing a (dead body) c that rises from the dead and feeds on human blood,
not a bat.
3. These (keen to take part in violence) b bats were foreign to the Spanish conquistadors.
4. The story of Dracula took off quickly, reaching the stage in 1924 and onto (films and movies) the
s s in 1931...

What did you learn about these people from the video:

Hernan Cortes Bram Stoker Dracula

4 Watch part 3

The third part of the video (4:00 – 6:27) is about the relationship between vampire bats and diseases.
Before you watch, read the sentences from the video and match the words in bold with their meanings.

1. I lead a group of researchers that studies disease transmission by bats.

2. The two areas that I’m quite excited about are ... called transferable vaccines...
3. ...there’s really a strong human component why that happens.
4. The capturing of wildlife ... and deforestation are examples ...
5. ... human encroachment on bats’ natural habitat....
6. The species ... rely on pristine, intact tropical rainforests

a. clean and untouched

b. one part of a larger process or system
c. substances that are put into the body to prevent disease in the future
d. the act of gradually removing something from someone
e. the destruction of trees in a large area, usually caused by human activity
f. the spread of something from one individual or place to another

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BATS - THE TRUTH

Now watch the final part of the video and answer these questions:

• What is the purpose of Dr Daniel Streicker’s research?

• How do bats come into contact with humans and what is the result?
• What can we do to help bats?

5 Language in context

Choose the best meaning for these informal expressions in bold from the video, using the context to
help you.

1. Another area where bats catch a bad rap is the potential transmission of viruses.

a. actively harm people

b. get a negative reputation
c. get sick

2. (...) whether bats do have an unusual number of human infecting viruses is really an issue that’s
still up for debate

a. controversial
b. totally unknown
c. very clear

3. But ultimately if you wanted to do more, that would be something called a transmissible vaccine...
I’m hoping that we’ll get there with the bats, but it might be a decade or so.

a. do more research
b. locate more bats
c. manage to find a solution

4. Tell everyone, tell our friends, tell our family, how neat bats are and how important they really are.

a. tidy and clean

b. friendly and loving
c. interesting and cool

Can you think of any other contexts where you could use these expressions?

6 Talking point

Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.

1. Have you changed your mind about bats at all, through watching this video?
2. What action could you take to help bats in your area?

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BATS - THE TRUTH

Transcripts

2. Watch part 1

Narrator: If you think of a bat, you might picture something scary or maybe movies
reinforced a misconception. Joker: You’re as blind as a bat.

Batman: Exactly. If there’s a bat nearby, it must be ready to attack, and if there’s one,
there’ve got to be thousands... Whatever the thought, it’s often not a positive
one. But what if so many of these beliefs about bats just aren’t true, and in
reality, we need bats way more than they need us.

Dr Ricardo Medellin: Bats represent the second largest group of mammal species in the world, just
second to rodents. There’s over fourteen hundred species, they are by far the
most diverse group of mammals.

Narrator: This diversity can be seen in their diets, the way they move, whether or not
they migrate or hibernate, and especially in their physical characteristics.

Dr Ricardo Medellin: You will see bats that have huge ears, tiny ears, big eyes, little eyes, long-
snouted, short-snouted, huge bats, tiny bats, and each bat is different in what
they do in the environment.

Narrator: The roles may be different, but the impacts are positive.

Kristen Lear: Bats are really important to our everyday lives for several main reasons. One
is that they help control pest insect populations.

Narrator: Pests that are tasty meals for bats can be incredibly detrimental to us. Some
can kill us, others destroy our food, which impacts the economy.

Kristen Lear: Bats also pollinate lots of different plants around the world. And then finally
a lot of bats eat fruit and help disperse the seeds and help regrow places like
tropical rainforests.

Narrator: So, bats are good and perhaps we haven’t been so great at giving them credit,
but what made them the villain?

Dr Ricardo Medellin: Let’s start with the word vampire.

Narrator: That’s right, if we’re talking about bats as villains, then we have to bring up this
guy. But vampires come from European folklore, describing a corpse that rises
from the dead and feeds on human blood, not a bat... So, to figure this out,
let’s start here and rewind.

Dr Ricardo Medellin: Along comes HernÃąn CortÃľs, the first night that CortÃľs and the soldiers
spent in Mexico, there were these little animals that fly at night and then they
land on the horses and then they bite them and eat their blood.

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BATS - THE TRUTH

Narrator: These bloodthirsty bats were foreign to the Spanish conquistadors because
they’re native to this region. But eventually the stories of these creatures found
their way to Europe and onto the pages of Irish author Bram Stoker’s horror
masterpiece...

TV: Count Chocula No, not quite... Dracula.

Dr Ricardo Medellin: Which is one of my favourites for obvious reasons, it’s a beautiful novel. But
I think that Bram Stoker needed his Dracula to move long distances fast. And
then he said, I know what my Dracula is going to do. He is going to turn into
a bat. And then he’s going to fly long distances, turn into a human being and
bite the girl. That’s the moment when the identity and the public image of bats
was like that and then it started climbing down like this. Terrible.

Narrator: The story of Dracula took off quickly, reaching the stage in 1924 and onto
the silver screen in 1931, setting the tone for how bats would be perceived in
popular culture for the century ahead.

Narrator: But wait, what about these guys? Let’s hear from an expert...

Batman: Hello, boys and girls. No, not him, him.

Dr Daniel Streicker: There’s only three species of vampire bats, the hairy legged vampire bats,
and the white winged vampire bat, the third species though, is the common
vampire bat. I lead a group of researchers that studies disease transmission by
bats.

Narrator: Another area where bats catch a bad rap is the potential transmission of
viruses.

Dr Daniel Streicker: Virtually all living animals have viruses. Really, whether bats do have an
unusual number of human infecting viruses is really an issue that’s still up for
debate. One of the most exciting things is exploring whether or not we can
control diseases within wild bat populations. The two areas that I’m quite
excited about are one called transferable vaccines, this is an idea of an oral
vaccine, but it’s integrated into a gel, which is spread onto a bat topically. You
spread that onto some bats, release them, and then the other bats will groom
the vaccine off of and potentially become vaccinated. But ultimately if you
wanted to do more, that would be something called a transmissible vaccine.
A vaccine that spreads more like an infectious virus. I’m hoping that we’ll get
there with the bats, but it might be a decade or so.

Narrator: But in the meantime...

Dr Daniel Streicker: Just because bats do have those viruses, it doesn’t mean that we need to fear
bats, generally, when these viruses are being transmitted from bats to humans,
there’s really a strong human component why that happens.

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BATS - THE TRUTH

Narrator: The capturing of wildlife for animal markets and deforestation are examples
of how human encroachment on bats’ natural habitat may lead to virus
transmission.

Dr Ricardo Medellin: The species that are endangered are those species that rely on pristine, intact
tropical rainforests. Those animals are losing more and more of their space
because of our encroaching. This is the moment in which we have to think,
how can I help bats?

Kristen Lear: Bats get such a bad rap and so another big part of bat conservation is
education. Tell everyone, tell our friends, tell our family, how neat bats are
and how important they really are.

Dr Ricardo Medellin: Every day, we get benefits from them. Very rarely they get anything positive
from us. It’s time that we change that equation.

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BATS - THE TRUTH

Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
Call attention to the header image and set the task. Students should only have a minute to write five things,
working by themselves. Conduct a quick round up of answers from the class and see if feelings were generally
positive, negative or a mix. You could also ask students if they know their ideas are true, or if they just think so.
Tell students they are going to watch a video in three parts to find out more about bats.

2. Watch part 1

15 mins.
Explain the task and go over the true/false questions eliciting predictions about the answers. Then play the
first part of the video (0:00 – 1:51). Students should concentrate on watching rather than making notes as the
images they see will support their understanding. They should be able to remember the information to answer
the questions, but if they need a second viewing, that’s fine.
After watching, check answers, asking students to justify their choice. Then set the next exercise, which explores
some vocabulary from the video. All of the vocabulary in this lesson will be an appropriate addition to the lexis of
high-level students. The final activity will help activate this language so accept any reasonable answers.
1. T - If there’s a bat nearby, it must be ready to attack, and if there’s one, there’ve got to be thousands...
2. F - ...they are by far the most diverse group of mammals. ...huge ears, tiny ears, big eyes, little eyes, long-
snouted, short-snouted, huge bats, tiny bats...
3. F - The impact is positive.
4. T - Bats eat insects that destroy food crops saving $23 million dollars/year.

Answers for phrases:

1. d 2. b 3. a 4. e 5. c

Answers for definitions:

a. pests b. disperse c. detrimental d. misconceptions e. pollinating

Sample examples:
1) rats and mice; 2) bees and butterflies; 3) sharks

3. Watch part 2

15 mins.
Call attention to the introduction and elicit the meaning of villain. Ask students to predict the topic of this part
of the video and play the video for them to check their ideas. Then go over the instructions to the vocabulary
exercise and give students a minute or so, in pairs, to see if they can recall the missing words.

Play this part of the video again to check. Finally, set the discussion task and give students a few minutes in
pairs or small groups to share what they learned. Conduct a quick roundup of answers, encouraging students to
summarise the content and use some of the vocabulary from the exercise.
Answers:
1. A villain is a bad guy in a book or film (also a criminal)

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BATS - THE TRUTH

2. The topic is vampires.

ANSWERS:
1. folklore 2. corpse 3. bloodthirsty
4. silver 5. screen

4. Watch part 3

10 mins.
The final part of the video contains some technical information, so students will define some key vocabulary before
they watch. Give students a few minutes to read the sentences and match the words in bold with their meanings.
Then set the three questions and watch the video. Again, students should concentrate on watching rather than
making notes as the images they see will support their understanding. They should be able to remember the
information to answer the questions, but if they need a second viewing, that’s fine.
After watching, check answers, encouraging students to use vocabulary from the previous exercise. Finally set
the follow-up question and allow a few minutes for discussion.
1. f 2. c 3. b 4. e 5. d 6. a

Sample answers:
1. Sample answer: He is developing vaccines to control diseases within bat populations.
2. Sample answer: humans capture bats for sale in animal markets and are also responsible for deforestation, or
other loss of bat habitats. This results in virus transmission from bats to humans. (Note: it has been suggested,
although not in this video, that Covid 19 originated in bats).
3. Sample answer: education is key; we need to recognise the benefits that bats bring to us and stop the activities
mentioned in the answer to the previous question.

5. Language in context

10 mins.
In this stage students can focus on some informal multi-word expressions, or chunks, that appear in the video and
are often used in other contexts. Get students working alone or in pairs and give them a few minutes to read the
sentences and the options and then check answers. Finally, pose the follow-up question and elicit some ideas
from the class.
1. b 2. a 3. c 4. c

6. Talking point

5 mins.
Students have the opportunity to discuss some issues relevant to the main topic. Students can work in pairs or
small groups to discuss the questions. Encourage them to answer in full sentences, giving reasons and examples
for their ideas, and to explore alternative points of view. Monitor and make a note of student use of language –
positive and negative points – for feedback at the end of the session. Round up ideas at the end of the session.

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