Lemon juice robber thought he was invisible

ESL Lessons: True Stories

A printable worksheet for story-based English conversation classes.

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: Lemon juice robber thought he was invisible

Warm-up

Have you ever used invisible ink?

Vocabulary Match

overestimate •• hidden
abilities •• stole from
invisible •• caught
inspire •• overrate
arrested •• skills
robbed •• motivate

Vocabulary Answers

overestimateoverrate
abilitiesskills
invisiblehidden
inspiremotivate
arrestedcaught
robbedstole from

True Story

Listen and fill in the blanks with words from above.

In 1995, McArthur Wheeler ________ two banks in Pittsburgh, USA, without wearing a mask. He believed lemon juice would make his face ________ to security cameras because it is used as invisible ink.

Before the robberies, he reportedly tested his idea by putting lemon juice on his face and taking a photograph with a Polaroid camera. The story says the test went wrong, but Wheeler believed it had worked.

When police ________ him, he was shocked to discover that the cameras had recorded his face clearly. His strange mistake later became famous and helped ________ research into why people sometimes ________ their own knowledge and ________.

In 1995, McArthur Wheeler robbed two banks in Pittsburgh, USA, without wearing a mask. He believed lemon juice would make his face invisible to security cameras because it is used as invisible ink.

Before the robberies, he reportedly tested his idea by putting lemon juice on his face and taking a photograph with a Polaroid camera. The story says the test went wrong, but Wheeler believed it had worked.

When police arrested him, he was shocked to discover that the cameras had recorded his face clearly. His strange mistake later became famous and helped inspire research into why people sometimes overestimate their own knowledge and abilities.

Quiz

  1. What did McArthur Wheeler rob?
  2. What did he use on his face?
  3. What type of camera did he use to test his idea?
  4. How did he feel when he was arrested?

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. Two banks in Pittsburgh
  2. Lemon juice
  3. Polaroid camera
  4. Shocked

True or False

  1. McArthur Wheeler wore a mask during the robberies. T F
  2. He thought lemon juice made him invisible. T F
  3. Wheeler's mistake inspired research into overconfidence. T F

True or False Answers

  1. False
  2. True
  3. True

Conversation

A:Did you hear about the man who used lemon juice to hide from security cameras?
B:What? How was that supposed to work?
A:He thought it would make him invisible!
B:Seriously? Didn't he test it first?
A:He did, but he thought it had worked!
B:Oh, no! I bet he felt pretty stupid!

Discussion

  1. What do you think of this story?
  2. What are you really good at?
  3. Can you think of a celebrity who seems very confident?
  4. How can you become more confident in speaking English?

Further Reading

https://www.abc.net.au/science/archive/articles/2013/05/29/3769781.htm?site=science%2Fgreatmomentsinscience&topic=health

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