frbleus1-7, Exercise 1: "The 1998 team was a multicultural miracle that changed France"

Model answer (check the details):

1. Who says it? Politicians, journalists and fans in 1998, and later commentators looking back, often with a political purpose.
2. What exactly is claimed? Three things: that the team was multicultural (a fact about the players' origins), that its success was a "miracle" (an unlikely event), and that it "changed France" (an effect on society). Each needs its own test.
3. What would count as evidence? Squad records for the first; pre-tournament predictions and results for the second; opinion polls, surveys of discrimination, voting patterns and housing and employment data for the third.
4. Compared with what? Other national teams of the time, other French events, and the situation before and after 1998.
5. Which period? Immediately after the win, a year later, and a decade or more later.
6. What would change my mind? Data showing lasting change in attitudes or conditions, or data showing a return to the earlier position.

Verdict: the first part is true, the second is exaggerated because France was one of the better teams and had home advantage, and the third is not supported by the evidence of a lasting change (check). A careful sentence: "The 1998 team reflected the diversity of France and produced a moment of unity, but it did not by itself change social conditions."

Care: do not treat a celebration as a measurement of attitudes.