Scientific article: Unusual diagnostic techniques

1. A real smile.

Look at these photos of people smiling. One of the photos shows a real smile. The other two are false. Which is the real smile?

2. Read.

Read the article from the magazine section of a Sunday newspaper and find out how to identify a real smile.

Behind the smile

1 Try this simple test. Stand in front of a mirror. Now imagine that a good friend has given you a birthday present but you really don't like it. Try and smile as if you loved it. Look at your smile in the mirror. If someone smiled at you like this, would you know it was false?

2 The truth is, we are surprisingly bad at telling whether the expression on someone's face corresponds to what they are really feeling. If someone looks happy, we tend to believe they are happy. Studies reveal that even experts in lie detection like police officers and psychiatrists find it very hard to tell when someone is lying to them.

3 But this could change, thanks to researchers at San Francisco University. They have discovered that a false smile not only feels different, it also looks different. What's more, a fake smile is actually controlled by a different part of the brain. In a real smile, a particular muscle around the eye contracts, which causes the skin around the eye to tighten and create lines. When you put on a false smile, this doesn't happen. The researchers say that if you know what you are looking for, a person's face can tell you if they are lying or not.

4 So, could a police officer know a suspect is lying simply by looking at their face? Yes, but not always, say the researchers. Police officers could be trained to interpret facial expressions, they say, but around 10 per cent of the population are what they call "natural liars", and natural liars are almost impossible to catch.

How do you identify a real smile? Have a look at the answer.

See answer

You can identify a real smile by looking at someone's eyes. A real smile causes the skin around the eye to tighten and create lines.

3. A magazine article.

You are going to write a magazine article. Before you do, look at the article in exercise 1 again and think about these questions:

  1. How does the article start? Why?
  2. What two questions does the article contain? Does the article answer the questions? Why does the article ask these questions?
  3. What is the style of the article?
    very formal | quite formal | quite informal | very informal

Click here to see the article and then see the answers.

  1. The article starts with "Try this simple test". It asks the reader to do something. The article does this to attract the reader's attention and create interest.
  2. The two questions are:
    "If someone smiled at you like this, would you know it was false?"
    "So, could a police officer know a suspect is lying simply by looking at their face?"
    The article asks the questions and then answers them. Questions make the article feel more interactive – they invite the reader to participate actively.
  3. The article is quite informal in style. It imitates the style of a conversation. It asks the reader to do something, and it asks the reader questions. The article also uses pronouns that are common in informal style: you to talk about people in general; they to mean "he or she"; and we to refer to everybody, including the writer.

4. Write.

1. A magazine article.

You're going to write a magazine article.

Write a magazine article about iridology. Click here to see some notes about iridology. The notes are not in any particular order, so you will need to put them in a logical order when you write your article.

A person's iris can tell you about their health

Iridology can't diagnose specific diseases

The iris is the coloured part of the eye
Examples (imagine the iris to be the face of a clock):
- a mark on the iris at 6 o'clock = a problem with the kidneys
- a mark at 3 o'clock = an inherited heart problem
- orange discoloration = a pre-disposition to diabetes
- a grey or white ring around iris = problems with cholesterol

Iridology is good at detecting problems early - information about genetic weaknesses can help to prevent future problems

Iridologists examine the iris using a microscope, looking for marks and discoloration - any marks or discoloration tell the iridologist about: (1) genetic strengths/weaknesses, and (2) the current state of health of the body and its organs

Everyone's iris is unique to them

Iridology is the study of the iris

Iridology divides the iris into zones - each zone represents a different part of the body

Try and do these things in your article:

  • Ask the reader to do something or to think about their personal experience.
Try this (simple test) ...
Look at your eyes in a mirror ...
Have you ever (noticed that) ...?
  • Ask the reader questions and answer the questions.
Could a police officer know someone is lying simply by looking at their face?
The answer is, yes/no/not really/not always.
The truth/fact is ...
That depends on ...

  • Use the pronouns you have studied in this unit:
– you to refer to people in general
– they to refer to "he or she"
– we to refer to everybody, including "you" and "me"

Your article should be between 120 and 180 words long. Check spelling, grammar and the organisation of your article.