Elections. Voting ahead

The year 2024 will be the biggest ever year for voting. National elections will take place in around 64 countries, as well as in the European Union. An estimated two billion people – almost half the global population – could vote at some time this year. The results of these polls will bring big changes for the future of many people. Voters in the world's four largest electoral blocs – the EU, India, Indonesia and the USA – will be casting their votes. One of the first contests will be in Taiwan on January the 13th. For much of the year, eyes will be focused on events in the US. In November, there will be a repeat of the 2020 election if Donald Trump runs for President again.

Journalists are worried about how free and fair many elections will be. The website Bloomberg.com has already posed a question that is on the lips of many people. It asked: "Will 2024 be the year fake news destroys democracy?" Bloomberg said bad actors will use artificial intelligence to change the way people vote via phoney news articles. It said there will be "a storm of disinformation and digital manipulation unlike anything the world has ever seen". It added that disinformation has already begun to spread, and that this "gets harder to spot as fake with every passing month". Fact checkers will have to work extra hard to reduce the number of AI-based posts on social media.

Sources:

• https://time.com/6550920/world-elections-2024/
• https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-12-28/elections-2024-fake-news-could-destroy-democracy
• http://www.koreaherald.com/global_insite/view.php

True / False 

1) About 64 countries will hold national elections in 2024. T / F 

2) A maximum of one billion people could vote in elections this year. T / F 

3) Voters in the world's five largest voting blocks will vote. T / F 

4) The first country that will hold elections in 2024 is Malaysia. T / F 

5) A website asked a question that is on many people's lips. T / F 

6) The website said phoney articles will influence the way people vote. T / F 

7) The website said disinformation is already spreading. T / F 

8) Fact checkers have gone on strike due to too many fake news stories. T / F 

Synonym Match (The words in bold are from the news article. 

1. take place 

2. estimated 

3. vote 

4. focused 

5. repeat 

6. worried 

7. posed 

8. phoney 

9. spot 

10. reduce 

a. fixed 

b. put forward 

c. see 

d. go to the polls 

e. fake 

f. rerun 

g. happen 

h. cut 

i. approximate 

j. concerned