How Strangers Built an Encyclopedia

Nivel B2 · Intermedio altoTecnología2 minLectura en inglés

Lee el texto en inglés, parte por parte, y responde cada pregunta. Toca una palabra con línea punteada para ver su traducción. Abajo está el vocabulario completo en español.

In 2001, a new website made an unusual offer: anyone could write or change its articles, with no need to be an expert or even to sign up. Many people expected the result to be a mess. Instead, Wikipedia grew into one of the most visited websites in the world, available in hundreds of languages.

1. What was unusual about Wikipedia?

  1. AOnly experts could write for it
  2. BAnyone could write or change it
  3. CIt was only in English
Ver la respuesta

B. Anyone could write or change it

Anyone could write or change its articles, even without signing up.

La prueba en el texto: anyone could write or change its articles

The people who write it are volunteers, and they are not paid for their work. Some fix a single comma; others spend years on one topic, like birds or old trains. The site is run by a nonprofit foundation and paid for mostly by small donations, so it shows no advertisements.

2. What does "volunteers" mean here?

  1. APeople who work without pay
  2. BPeople who own the website
  3. CPeople who sell advertisements
Ver la respuesta

A. People who work without pay

The volunteers are not paid for their work.

La prueba en el texto: they are not paid for their work

If anyone can edit, what stops people from writing nonsense? Mostly, other people. Thousands of volunteers watch the list of recent changes, and bad edits are often undone within minutes. Rules help too: facts should come from reliable published sources, listed as citations, and a sentence without one may be marked 'citation needed'.

3. True or false? A bad edit usually stays on the site for months.

  1. ATrue (Verdadero)
  2. BFalse (Falso)
Ver la respuesta

B. False (Falso)

Volunteers watch recent changes, and bad edits are often undone within minutes.

La prueba en el texto: bad edits are often undone within minutes

Wikipedia is not perfect, and mistakes do slip through. Many teachers say it works best as a starting point: a quick summary, plus a list of sources you can check for yourself. In that sense, the citations at the bottom of a page may be the most useful part of it.

4. What is the writer's view of Wikipedia?

  1. AIt should never be used
  2. BIt is always correct
  3. CIt is a good place to start, not to finish
Ver la respuesta

C. It is a good place to start, not to finish

It works best as a starting point, with sources you can check yourself.

La prueba en el texto: it works best as a starting point

Vocabulario en español

InglésEspañolSignificado en inglés
volunteersvoluntariospeople who do work without being paid
nonprofitsin fines de lucroa group that does not try to make money for owners
donationsdonativosmoney people give freely to help
reliableconfiablethat you can trust
citationscitasnotes that show where a fact comes from

Ahora escribe tú

Escribe una frase en inglés: In one sentence: how does Wikipedia stay mostly accurate if anyone can edit it?

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