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Quiz: What Is Misinformation?

Test what you learned in this chapter. Read each question, pick the best answer, then click Show Answer to see if you got it right.

1. What is misinformation?

  1. Wrong information someone shares without knowing it is wrong
  2. The official name for a news channel
  3. A kind of math problem
  4. A password trick from Chapter 6
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Misinformation is wrong information that someone shares without knowing it is wrong. They believed it and did not mean to fool anybody. It is the most common kind of wrong information online. The good news is that misinformation is fixable — a polite correction and a real source can clear it up.

Concept Tested: Misinformation

2. What is the main difference between misinformation and disinformation?

  1. Misinformation is always funny and disinformation is always sad
  2. Misinformation is shared by accident, while disinformation is shared on purpose to fool people
  3. They mean the same thing
  4. Only adults can share misinformation
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Misinformation is wrong information shared by accident — the sharer believed it. Disinformation is wrong information shared on purpose to fool people — the sharer knows it is a lie. Disinformation is more serious because it is a choice to harm. Both should be checked against a real source before sharing.

Concept Tested: Misinformation and Disinformation

3. What is a fact?

  1. A statement about how someone feels
  2. A story made up for a joke
  3. A statement that can be checked and shown to be true with evidence
  4. Any message with a lot of exclamation points
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. A fact is a statement that can be checked with evidence. "The Mississippi River is more than 2,000 miles long" is a fact — you can look it up and measure it. Facts do not change because someone disagrees. Opinions, on the other hand, are about feelings and beliefs, which can differ from person to person.

Concept Tested: Fact

4. What is a curiosity gap?

  1. A crack in the sidewalk near school
  2. A type of wifi signal
  3. A clear, honest headline
  4. When a headline tells you almost enough so you have to click to find out the rest
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. A curiosity gap leaves out the most important part on purpose, so readers feel an itch to click. "You won't BELIEVE what they found in the closet!" is a curiosity gap. The headline knows that not knowing feels itchy, and the click is how you scratch the itch. The cure is to pause and check.

Concept Tested: Curiosity Gap

5. Why do emotional hooks work on so many readers?

  1. Because feelings travel through your brain faster than thinking does, so you feel the story before you can check it
  2. Because readers are bad at reading
  3. Because emotions only happen on weekends
  4. Because emotional hooks use a secret language
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Emotional hooks grab you by feelings — anger, fear, awe, happiness — instead of by facts. Feelings travel through your brain faster than thinking does. By the time you have thought about whether the story is true, you have already felt it. Naming the feeling helps kick your thinking brain back on.

Concept Tested: Emotional Hook

6. What is satire?

  1. A serious news story printed in a paper
  2. Writing or video that uses jokes, exaggeration, and silly examples to make a point about real life
  3. A kind of password
  4. Another word for a rumor
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. Satire is humor with a point. A satirical headline might say "Local Cat Demands Pay Raise From Family." The joke is obvious to a careful reader, but somebody scrolling fast might mistake it for real news. Satire is not lying. The fix for mistaking satire is to slow down and check before sharing.

Concept Tested: Satire

7. Kai sees a headline: "SCIENTISTS DISCOVER LIVING DRAGON!! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE PHOTOS!" What should he do first?

  1. Share it with every friend right away
  2. Type his password to "claim" the dragon
  3. Pause, notice the hooks in the headline, and check a real source before sharing
  4. Demand more exclamation points
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The headline uses a shocking headline, a curiosity gap, and urgency cues all at once. That is a sign to pause and check a trusted source. A real science website can quickly tell Kai that no dragons have ever been discovered. Pausing before sharing saves his reputation and keeps a hoax from spreading.

Concept Tested: Shocking Headline and Urgency Cue

8. Aisha is reading a website and notices it says "Share this in the next 10 minutes!" What trick is this, and how should she respond?

  1. A curiosity gap; she should click faster
  2. An urgency cue; she should slow down because if it is true now, it will still be true in twenty minutes
  3. A fact; she should believe every word
  4. A news story; she should copy it into her homework
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. An urgency cue is a word or phrase that tries to make you act right now with no time to think. The right answer to any urgency cue is slow down. If a claim is true, it will still be true after you check it. Urgency is a classic sign of scams and misinformation.

Concept Tested: Urgency Cue

9. Liam is trying to tell a fact from an opinion. Which of these is an opinion?

  1. "Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit"
  2. "The Mississippi is the prettiest river in the country"
  3. "A year has twelve months"
  4. "The sun is bigger than the Earth"
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. "The Mississippi is the prettiest river in the country" is about feelings and taste — two people can disagree and both be right. The other three can be checked and shown to be true with evidence, so they are facts. Opinions are not lies, but they should not be shared as if they were facts.

Concept Tested: Fact and Opinion

10. A post has gone viral and millions of people have shared it in a few hours. Jordan is not sure whether to trust it. What does the chapter say?

  1. A viral post deserves extra checking, not less, because the same tricks that make people click also make people share
  2. If it is viral, it must be true
  3. Viral posts always come from scientists
  4. Viral posts cannot be checked
Show Answer

The correct answer is A. Viral posts are not always wrong — sometimes a true, kind story goes viral. But hoaxes and misinformation often go viral too, because emotional hooks and curiosity gaps make people click and share. The fact that something is viral does not make it true. It deserves extra checking, not less.

Concept Tested: Viral Post

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