Ex 49 Read the text, and do the assignments coming after it.

Many people begin their day by reading the paper. In this way they learn what is going on in the world. Sometimes, however, they don't have the time to read the news carefully and must be satisfied with a quick look at the front page; at other times they may be in such a hurry that they have time only to look through the headlines.

Most newspapers have several sections. There are, in addition to the front page with the most important news, the sports section, book reviews, special articles on topics of interest at the moment, the amusement section, a business page, and the editorials.

The first function of newspapers is to give the news. It is very important to know the difference betweenfact andopinion and to compare the space various newspapers give to the same news items. Some will give several columns to a murder case and a few lines to a really important event.

The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph are Britain's "quality" newspapers. They tell a lot about what is going on in the world. These papers are strongly right-wing in their opinions. The readers of these papers are usually people who work in the City, and professional politicians.

The Daily Mirror, the Daily express and The Daily Mail are the "mass-circulation", "popular" papers. They are right-wing in their opinions, too. Though all the "popular" papers give the main news of the day, there is very little background information. In fact, a lot of the pages are full of pictures and gossip, not news. All "popular" newspapers are easy to read.

Morning Star is Britain's only working-class paper. It is the organ of the British Communist Party. Morning Star is the only paper that gives a true picture of the current situation in the country and in the world, and consistently fights for the rights of the British working people.

Almost all of Britain's national newspapers are published in Fleet Street. This street has been the home of the British press for over 300 years.

Assignments

(a) Quickly look through the list and mark the lettered phrase nearest in meaning to the word or phrase tested.

1. Opinion: (i) a belief not based on facts; (ii) the advice of an expert; (iii) that which a person thinks about something.

2. Editorial: (i) an article on current events; (ii) an article expressing the opinions of the paper's editor or publisher; (iii) a sort of crossword puzzle.

3. Background information: (i) information about the reporter; (ii) facts about a problem or event; (iii) information needed to understand a problem or event.

4. Gossip: (i) a friendly talk; (ii) informal writing in magazines and newspapers about the lives of well-known persons and different social happenings (amusements, parties, receptions, etc); (iii) frivolous talk about other people's business, especially of a personal or sensational character.

(b) Say why the words 'quality', 'mass-circulation', and 'popular' are in inverted commas. .

(c) Explain the difference between: (i) news and gossip; (ii) fact and opinion.

(d) State briefly the main function of a newspaper.

(e) Describe a newspaper, the types of material that go to make up each of its sections. State the purpose of the editorial.

(f) Explain how a 'quality' newspaper differs from a 'mass-curculation' newspaper.

(g) Explain why it is important for a newspaper reader to know the difference between FACT and OPINION.

(h) Explain in what ways the "Morning Star" differs from both the 'quality' and 'popular' newspapers.

(i) Mention two reasons why people read newspapers.

(j) Explain the literal and figurative meanings of 'Fleet Street',

(k) Make up questions covering the contents of the text.

(l) Give a brief talk on the newspaper you read, explaining why you prefer it to other papers.

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 1181