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Questions

NOTE: The World Health Organization (WHO) is an agency of the United Nations “responsible for international public health.” The Trump administration has asserted that the Chinese Communist Party controls the WHO. U.S. intelligence concluded that COVID-19 originated in a government-run lab in Wuhan, China.

1. Describe the news story cartoonist Lisa Benson is illustrating in this cartoon.

2. Tone is the attitude a cartoonist takes towards a subject. Which pair of words best describes the tone of this cartoon?
a) thoughtful/serious
b) sympathetic/compassionate
c) sarcastic/humorous
d) exasperated/irritated
e) heartened/motivated

3. Which do you think would make the best title for this cartoon?
a) Nothing to see here
b) Pulling the wool over their eyes
c) As blind as a bat
Explain your answer.


Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.

Cartoon by Lisa Benson

Answers

1. After U.S. intelligence concluded that COVID-19 originated in a government-run lab in Wuhan, China that was experimenting with the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it’s “extremely unlikely” that COVID-19 leaked from lab.

Following their “investigation,” U.N. officials claimed covid is much more likely to have been transmitted from animal to human (the original story was that covid was spread from a wild animal market in Wuhan) than to have come from the Chinese government-run lab. (In the beginning, it was believed that the virus was spread through bats that were purchased for consumption in the Wuhan market.)

2. c) sarcastic/humorous

3. Opinion question. Answers vary.