ENG009 Sample FINAL EXAM

Name: __________________________ I.D. #: __________________________

Duration: 2 hrs.

Read and annotate the following text titled “What Happens When TikTok Is the Main Source of News
and Information” by Sam Wineburg and Nadav Ziv (2022); then answer the questions.

1) On TikTok users are liable to find restaurant recommendations, lip-syncing snippets and false
claims stating that COVID-19 vaccines contain aborted fetal tissue and that crisis actors faked the
Uvalde school shooting in Texas. TikTok, along with Instagram, is where Gen Z searches for
information and entertainment. They often come up with a blurry mix between fact and fiction.

2) The internet is how Gen Z becomes informed - and too often misinformed - about the world. Nearly
40% of this generation, young people born between the late 1990s and early 2000s, prefers using TikTok
and Instagram as their search engines, according to recently released data.

3) These platforms showcase short videos, which is great for a new dance move or a fun meme. However,
they can be just as effective in spreading videos conveying misinformation and conspiracy theories. Just
because Gen Z grew up with social media does not mean they know how to evaluate the information
they find there.

4) Educational systems have been slow to respond, often providing students with dated strategies for
determining online credibility, such as dwelling on a website’s “About” page or checking to see when
the information was published or posted. Similar strategies like these are the equivalent of teaching 16-
year-olds to drive a Tesla by giving them a manual for a horse-drawn carriage. Education must meet
students where they are at, and that address is now on social media.

5) After administering a 2016 survey with colleagues at the Stanford History Education Group, students’
ability to separate digital fact from fiction could only be summarized in one word: “bleak.” In the
intervening years, fake news and misinformation have dominated the national conversation. But
awareness alone does not solve the problem.

6) In a 2021 follow-up, our research group surveyed over 3,000 Gen Zers, asking them to evaluate a grainy
video that claimed to provide evidence of U.S. voter fraud. The video was actually shot in Russia.
Students could find this out by searching online for the words “Democrat 2016 voter fraud video,”
which quickly brings up links to Snopes and the BBC debunking the claim. Yet the majority of those
surveyed were deceived, concluding that the video constituted “strong evidence” of American election
tampering.
7) Relying on social media platforms to solve the problem of misinformation is not enough because these
platforms cannot even be trusted to police themselves. Analysis by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue
found that 58% of TikTok videos relating to COVID vaccines lacked warning banners, despite the
company’s commitment to flag vaccine-related content. Poor information always seems to find a way to
slither through platform safeguards.

8) Media literacy that will empower younger generations needs to be more than an appendage to today’s
school curricula. The California State Department of Education’s Civic Engagement (2022), for
example, views media literacy as “one of 10 promising practices, alongside performance assessments
and service learning, to prepare Gen Z to become agents of positive change” (p.3).

9) The implementation of guidelines like these, however, is left to the discretion of individual teachers
who, already overworked, often pass the responsibility on to others or dispense with it in a lesson or
two. Teaching students to discern reliable information from inaccuracies or outright lies is too
important to be left to individual discretion. This means that in an information age, digital literacy
should be the foundation to practically everything schools teach.

10) We cannot stop Gen Z from relying on social media for information. Nor can we assume that a
presentation by a teacher or the school librarian matches the scale of the misinformation challenge. If we
want to reach today’s youth, we must use the tools they can relate to - including TikTok videos - to
teach the content we deem important. While doing so, students’ ability to identify misinformation can be
sharpened.

11) Math classes, for example, could be retooled to help students understand how algorithms curate the
content they see on social media platforms. Teachers can make clear how TikTok and Instagram’s
algorithms sacrifice credibility in order to keep users’ eyeballs glued to the screen.

12) Economics courses can help students understand the platforms’ business models in this “attention
economy,” and how profit motives align with the promotion of viral misinformation.

13) English courses could illustrate how small variations in search terms generate different results.
Searching “vaccines” on TikTok will direct the user to information from the World Health Organization.
Searching “vaccines heavy metals” will direct users to several videos releasing false claims.

14) The transformation of the curriculum must include all areas of study. It is already happening in several
schools where some innovative teachers are integrating digital literacy into core school subjects.

15) Today’s young people spend seven to eight hours a day online, around 3,000 hours a year. The challenge
of identifying online misinformation will not be solved with any single strategy. It will take a curriculum
overhaul to truly help Gen Z distinguish fact from fiction on the platforms where they spend their time.
Name: __________________________
Questions
1. What is the writer’s claim? Write it in your own words. (2pts.)

_______Tiktok is the main source of information for Gen z ,and its providing them with false information

which ncessatate media literacy which require corriculum change period

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2. Identify the pattern of development used in paragraph 4, and explain its usage there. Identify at least two
cue words/phrases that signal this pattern. (2pts.)

_____Comparison to the activesness of strategies . similar , like , equivalent of are the cue words .

To explain the effectiveness and the appropriatence of strategies currently used

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3. Explain the meaning of the following terms (boldfaced in the text) using context clues: (3pts.)

a. Appendage (par.8): add on , attachment , accessory .

b. Outright (par.9): clear , absolute , utter .
c. Overhaul (par.15): revision , remake .

4. Fill in the blanks with one example of a hedge based on the listed functions. (2pts.)

Function Example Paragraph number

To avoid over-generalizing Some 14

majority , 6

Often , 1,2,4
 Nearly 2

To show possibility Could 5,6

Seem to 7

Can 10

assume 10

5. Name two different types of evidence and mention the paragraph number. (2pts.)

Type 1: paragraph 6 is a study / survey

Pargraph 5 survey results
Type 2: paragraph 8 experts opinion
Paragraph 2 and 7 data from other sources

6. Explain the use of the simple past and passive voice in par. 6 (verbs underlined in the paragraph). (2pts.)

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Past: a study completed in the past shows

Passive voice: to focus on what was done and how it was conducted

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7. Paraphrase par. 15 and include an in-text reference. (3pts.)

According to |Ziv and Wineburg
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8. Explain the function of the following bold and underlined terms in the text. (2pts.)
 a) because (par.7): cause and effect/reasoning
b) yet (par.6): contrast
c) these (par.3): cohesive device (linking device)
d) according to recently released data (par.2): citation marker

9. Give an example for each of the following meta-discourse markers from the text and mention the
paragraph number where it appears. (2pts.)
a) Relative pronoun: whose (paragraph 1), who (paragraph 9)
b) Addition connector: and (paragraph 12), along with (paragraph 1)
c) Booster: must (paragraph 14), always (paragraph 7)
d) Context-clues marker: this means (paragraph 9)

10. Academic style: Rewrite the following sentences based on the requirements for each: (3pts.)

a) Using an impersonal it-clause with a reporting verb:

Poor information always seems to find a way to slither through platform safeguards.
It is important to note that poor information…..
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b) Using a complex noun phrase (nominalizations) to avoid “if” clauses:

If we want to reach today’s youth, we must use the tools they can relate to in order to teach the content

we deem important.

Reaching today’s youth requires the use of tools that they can relate to…

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c) Using passive voice to avoid ‘we’:

We cannot stop Gen Z from relying on social media for information.

Gen Z cannot be stopped from relying on social media for information.

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11. Replace the following multi-word verbs with more academic one-word verbs: (2pts.)

 Come up with (para.1): provide/offer

 Bring up (para.6): provides/mentions/claims/states

12. List 2 examples of reporting verbs from the article. Mention the paragraph number. (1pt.)
Summarize (paragraph 5)
Claim (paragraph 6)
Found (paragraph 7)
View (paragraph 8)

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13. Edit the following for errors in their APA citations. (4pts.)

a. S. Wineburg and N. Ziv (’22) (2022) believe that the problem requires immediate attention.
b. According to Sam Wineburg and Nadar Ziv (2022), the current solutions are ineffective.
c. The California State Department of Education’s Civic Engagement 2022, as cited in Wineburg &
and Ziv, (2022)emphasizes media literacy.
d. Wineburg & and Ziv (2022) claim that “educational systems have been slow to respond” (p.1).

Bonus: Suggest a connector to be added at the beginning of paragraph 14 to logically and explicitly
connect it to paragraphs 11/12/13. (1pt.) thus, hence, moreover

Writing: In a well-structured and developed paragraph, discuss two reasons that support those who
believe that curriculum change is necessary to help Gen Z distinguish fact from fiction on social media
platforms. Use citations from the text to support your ideas where relevant, and add the suitable citation
markers. Do not forget to include hedges and other text markers, begin your paragraph with a clear and concise
topic sentence, and end it with a strong concluding sentence. (20pts.)

- Topic sentence
- Don’t copy
- Use citations
- Add citation markers
- Paraphrase
- Use hedges
- Concluding sentence
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