外報外刊閱讀基本知識.doc

Newspaper Reading 1Text OneWhat do we learn from the front page?The first page of any newspaper, called the front page, is the one readers are guaranteed to see. It is only logical then for newspapers to use this page to present the most important news of the day. Even more logical is to use this space to chronicle other information contained in the paper and about the paper itself. 1. The papers banner, or flag. This is the name of the newspaper, usually written in large, ornate, or distinctive lettering. The banner may also contain a trademark picture or symbol. Some papers also print the weather forecast for the day to one side of the banner. The other side may list a brief index to what can be found on the inside pages. When items such as the weather and index are placed at either side of the bannerthe head of the newspaperthey are commonly referred to as “ears.”2. Date of publication tells you the day of the week, the month, and the year that the newspaper was printed.3. Newsstand price. This is the amount you will pay for the newspaper if you are buying it from a machine or at the store counter.4. This is the banner headline, often just called a banner. This should not be confused with the banner that is the name of the newspaper. The banner headline is the top headline, frequently running across the whole page. Its large type size dominates the page.5. A headline for a news story. By choosing the correct type size and style, the editor tries to focus your attention on the story under the headline. Most headlines (usually called heads, for short, in newsrooms) try to give you an idea of what the stories are about. Headlines are nearly always written with the verb in the present tense. The story, on the other hand, is written in the past tense. It sounds as though the two wouldnt mix, but they doand the reason for the difference is logical. Newspapers try to be as up-to-date2 as possible. With the headline in the present tense, the reader is given the sense that the events are happening right now. For the story, however, the past tense is used to make the account more accurate and readable. For example, the headline might read:_ PRESENDENT MEETS WITH NEWARAB CHIEF_And since the newspaper is describing a meeting that has already taken place, the story would be written in the past tense.6. A byline tells who wrote the story. The writer of a story, however, does not always receive a byline, and often a story will appear with no byline. Often, credit will be given to reports from the wire service, such as the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI). Reports prefer, of course, to have bylines appear on their stories because bylines give them individual credit for a particular piece.7. The index tells which sections of the paper contain certain types of news. One type of index simply lists the sections in alphabetical order. Others are more complete, in that they also provide a summary of the news and feature articles for this particular day. Unlike a book, which has the index at the back, a newspaper often prints the index on the front page. The exact location and size vary with every newspaper. Text Two Headlines How a Headline Is Formed in English NewspapersIn reading English newspapers, one of the difficulties the student will face is the headlines. A headline is full of special grammatical structures, technical expressions and abbreviations. The student must keep it in mind that the purpose of and function of the headline is to catch the readers attention at a glance on the one hand and sum up1 the whole news story on the other.For this reason, the structure of English in a headline is somewhat different from that of prose or other writings, at least, from the grammatical point of view.If he knows whats what about the structure of a headline, the student will be in the right direction toward reading any English newspaper at his disposal.The following points are some of the most essential characteristics (structures) of a headline:1. Use simple present tense to indicate the action or event which happened in the past, as in: 200 G. I.s Clash With 50 Koreans (= 200 Government Issues, i.e. American soldiers clashed with 50 Koreans)Mr. Lu Wins Japan Golf Prize in Play-off Cabbie Murderer Gets Death U S OKs Lebanon Offer on P O W s2. Use present progressive to indicate the action or event which is going on at the present moment or in the near future, for instance:Water Supply Running Low in Taipei Area (= Water supply is running low in Taipei area)More examples:Columbia VIPs Visiting HereAmin Missing after Assassination AttemptAndy Young Watching His TongueProtectionism Posing Threat to World Trade3. Use the infinitive to indicate the future event or action, for example:Cuba to Swap Captives with US (= Cuba is to swap captives with US)H K Students to Continue DemonstrationsPanther Leader to Return to USGays Rally Worldwide to Fight for RightsIndia to Elect New Prexy on Aug. 84. Use the past participle tense to indicate the action or event in the passive tense, as in:Taiwan Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Death (= Taiwan drug trafficker was sentenced to death)Two Jail-breakers Charged in 36 Taipei BurglariesPeiping Found Fishing in Troubled ME Waters with Equipment as BaitRussians Said Spying in Canadian Waters5. Verb-to-be is often omitted, unless to avoid ambiguity2, for example:S. Africa Optimistic about Future of Gold (= South Africa is optimistic about the future of gold) Later-Hour Accord to Accept World Courts Jurisdiction Concorde Valuable for Atmosphere StudySecurity Situation in SE Asia Still Crucial, Sensitive 6. Use short phrase for effective purpose, for example:Sanatorium for NeedyButterfly Park in SouthLocal News in BriefTaiwan Rice for Manlia7. The articles (a, an and the) are usually omitted in a headline, for example:Car Rams into Clinic (= A car rammed into a clinic)New Crackdown on Auto PollutionSanatorium for Needy (= A sanatorium is for the needy)8. Use comma ( , ) for the omission3 of and, as in the following:Severe Quake Hits Chile, Argentina (= Severe quake hits Chile and Argentina)Bus Collision Kills Two, Injuries 40U.S., USSR to Enlarge N-Test Ban Talk Chris Evert, Russ Gal Enter Wimby Finals9. Use semi-colon ( ; ) to separate two independent clauses with two different events, as in:India Goes Nuclear; U. S. ConcernedHua Fires Dissidents; Tengs Return LikelyAmin to Sever Ties with U. K., Switch Embrace France; Confirms Pilot10. Use colon ( : ) to indicate the sources of the news, as in:Shen: ROC to Overcome Any Difficulty Carter: SALT Talk Not to Link With Human Rights Concept Many Scholars to Return from U.S.: Dr. Chien Secret Diplomacy Unavoidable: Dr. KOPEC Agrees to Freeze Oil Price: Yamani11. Use question mark ( ? ) to indicate the event or the news which is highly doubtful, for example: Mao In Critical Condition?U Thant Open to draft?NATO for Far East? Many different styles or patterns of headlines are widely used on the pages of school and daily newspapers.1) Flush Left Headlines These are basic headlines for streamlined newspapers. Caps5 and lower case are used to make them easy to read. For good appearance, each line should fill at least three-quarters of its column; It may extend all the way across the column if described.Flush left headlines may be written in various sizes to suit each storys importance.Reshuffle Reduces Frances Cabinet2) Streamer or Banner HeadlinesAn important story may rate a streamer headline across the top of the front page or the sports page. This headline, in large type, extends completely across all columns. It must therefore be written to an exact unit count. For example: 12th Party Congress Opens3) Other Styles or Patterns of Headlinesa. Drop Form ( 階梯下墜形)Many New York Clubs And Office BuildingsViolate the Fire Law b. Inverted Pyramid Form (倒金字塔形)Heavy Losses Are Reported in Fighting in South Lebanonand along the Coastc. Jump Head （轉(zhuǎn)頁標(biāo)題）Pentagon Plans U.S. Plans WeaponSystem to Fight Against SatellitesSoviet Satellites ( 原標(biāo)題) ( 轉(zhuǎn)頁標(biāo)題)Many New York Clubs Power bills And Office Buildings sparkText Tree The Compositions of a Newspaper StoryEach news story must answer the questions which are called a reporters “five (really six) faithful servants”who? What? When? Where? How or Why? In writing a news story, a reporter will try to answer each of these questions in the first two paragraphs. These paragraphs are called the lead (pronounced leed). The lead is the most important facts. In the body of the story, the reporter must document or support these facts. As a result, the structure of a news story resembles an upside-down triangle, and stories written in this manner are said to follow the “inverted pyramid” style3. The lead summarize the main facts, and each succeeding paragraph fleshes out the story by adding other facts in descending order of importance4. The diagram below illustrates a typical story structure. WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE LEAD PARAGRAPHS HOW OR WHY NEXT MOST IMPORTANT SUPPORTING FACTS LESS IMPORTANT SUPPORTING FACTS LEAST IMPORTANT FACTSCan you find the five Ws in the lead in the following news story? Use these questions to help you: What happened? When did it happen? How did it happen? Who was involved? Where did it happen?Three convicts from the city jail who escaped yesterday by hiding in a laundry truck may still be in the area, the sheriffs Office announced today. You do not have to read further in this story unless you want to know more details. The lead satisfied all the questions you would generally want to know about a news event.Most news stories begin with the “who?” or “what?” although the “why?” or “how?” can be nearly as important as lead beginnings. Below are examples of each type of lead.The “Who?” Lead: Betty Ann Smith announced yesterday that she has dropped out of the race for district mayo5r, but will seek to retain her seat on the City Council. The “What?” Lead: Two of Marylands prisons are packed to nearby twice their planned capacities as inmates6 continue to be sent to the institutions at a record rate, according to correction officials. The “How?” Lead: Emergency mouth-to-mouth resuscitation7 by a local firefighter prevented the death of Amy Cole, 3, when she was rescued from her burning home at 8315 Lavery St., College City. The “When?” Lead: Not until Monday will low-income persons be permitted to obtain the federal governments free 5 pounds of cheese per individual, city officials announced today. There are two main reasons why news stories are written the way they are. First, people want to learn the main facts quickly, and to take in the supporting facts, if at all, at a more leisurely pace. Second, newspapers have limited space. If an editor has to cut down on the space allotted to8 a particular story, the least important details are the first to go. Editors can easily cut stories from the bottom up when the invented pyramid style is used. Since time is always important in newspaper work, it makes sense to be able to cut a story down rather than rewrite the whole piece. Text FourThe EditorialMost newspapers in a community cover the same newsworthy events. And since there are only so many ways the same sets of facts can be written, the only place where readers can find broad differences among competing papers is in the editorial section. This part of the paper is different from the news pages in a very important way. In news stories you get the facts. In editorials you get the newspapers, and its readers opinions about facts in these news stories, although not every news story will be the subject for an editorial.An article on the editorial page may be written by a member of the newspapers staff or a well-known columnist, or may be a letter from one of the newspapers readers. Whatever its form, an article is an editorial if it expresses an opinion about an event in the news.Lead stories from national news sources are often the subject of editorials in nearly every newspaper in the nation. One such event was the jurys verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity in the trial of John Hinckley, Jr., the man who attempted to assassinate President Reagan.If you read this headline on the front page of your newspaper Hinkley Innocent; Legally Insane, Says Jury you could turn to the editorial page within the newspaper that same day and find out how your newspaper interpreted the meaning of the jurys verdict. In an editorial, however, you would get more than just the facts about the jurys decision. You would also get: more background information on the event. For example, the editorial may relate the Hinckley verdict to those reached at the trials of other would-be assassins. an analysis of the facts that contributed to the jurys verdict. the newspapers opinion of the verdict and perhaps of the insanity plea2 itself.Editorials are helpful because they do for readers what so few have a chance to do for themselves research the background of news events (such as the Hinkley verdict), bringText FiveEditorial PageThe editorial page is usually found at the end of the first section of the newspaper. Most editorial pages have these five components:1. the papers own editorials;2. articles by syndicated3 columnists ( writers who regularly sell articles to a large number of papers for publication at the same time);3. letters from readers;4. editorial cartoons, drawn by either the papers own artist or a syndicated cartoonist;5. articles by local opinion writers and columnists, and articles reprinted from other newspaper sources. A well-known local judge, for example, may write an article that helps interpret the jurys verdict in the Hinckley trial.The following editorial deals with what one newspaper thinks about a new state program to combat drunk driving which was reported by the paper in a front page news story.The posts opinion Citizen PatrolThis weeks edition of The Prince Georges Post carries an article on a new program being launched by state and local authorities to combat drunk driving by encouraging citizen identification of the villainous culprits.What has been pegged an innovative, new program is really nothing more than encouraging what should already be happening. All of us have been touched in some way by the senseless killing and destruction inflicted each year by people who do not have the sense to turn over their keys when they have had too much to drink. Rather than shaking our heads, clucking our tongues, or worse, laughing at the drunken driver weaving all over the road it is the responsibility of other motorists to get him off the road. As a result of the recent focus on the tragedy drunk driving can inflict, public awareness of the problem has increased noticeably. People seem to be drinking less at parties when they are driving, and are receptive to blockades to catch the intoxicated offenders7. Increased emphasis on the fact that citizens can assist in the apprehension of drunk drivers cannot but help the situation even more. There is need for caution when untrained citizens begin enforcing the law and careful attention should be paid to the dos and donts on helping police remove drunk drivers from the roads, which appear on page 8 of this edition. However, with discretion on the part of the sober driver, the program should be very successful. The fourth of July holiday is rapidly approaching. Remember that if you are driving, dont drink, and watch out for the other gut on the road because he might not have shown the same restraint. For him, the answer is a police squad car before he does any harm.As with enforcing any type of law, the police cannot stop drunk drives alone. Have a safe and happy holiday.People who read this editorial may get arguments to support their own thinking about drunk drivers. Or it may help them form their own opinions about the subject if they havent given it much thought before.Editorials are not expected to do your thinking for you, but to assist you in thinking things through for yourself. The drunk driving editorial may cause readers to stop and think why this program might be a good idea, or may give them something to think about that never occurred to them before.You might also read other peoples opinions on the editorial page. Many newspapers employ special writers who comment on the leading news story of the day. These special writers are called columnists. People find their comments interesting because the style of writing is clever and even entertaining. They also read some columns regularly because they dont agree with the columnist on most occasions. They find a good sparring partner9 in the columnist, someone to match wits with. A columnist may be the newspapers own or nationally syndicated (with columns appearing in large numbers of newspapers throughout the nation). By printing columnists views, as well as their own, newspaper