Russian-American Race
For the last homework assignment, I gave my students the task of finishing a famous Russian joke. Problem. At the height of the Cold War, a U.S. racing car easily beat a Russian car in a two-car race. How did the Russian newspapers truthfully report this in order to make it look as though the Russian car had outdone the American car?
The joke was that the Russian newspapers truthfully reported that the Russian car came in second and the American car second to last.
One of my students, William, got a different idea and wrote a whole article.
AMERICAN CAR STOPS RUNNING LONG BEFORE RUSSIAN CAR FINISHES RACE
A Russian car and an American car were competing in a two-car race. At one point, the American car mysteriously drove off the race course and stopped. Of course, this meant that the race was over for them. All that the Americans could do was watch on the sidelines for the Russian car to reach the end of the course, which it completed successfully. The outcome of the race was in no way uncertain. Congratulations, Russians!
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