1、X2U1 Mass Media1Be A Critical News Reader!Firefighters put out tower block fireFirefighters quickly put out the Henderson Tower fire last night. The fire, which is thoughtto have started from the 8th floor, spread quickly through the tower block on Sunday night,leaving people on the upper floors tra
2、pped. Fears grew that the number of deaths could reach 5,according to figures released by emergency services. Fire engines and ambulances, called at9:30 p.m., reached the scene within 15 minutes. By this time, the fire had extended to the 15thfloor. Firefighters got the situation under control aroun
3、d 11 p.m. There is concern that theconstruction company that built the tower block had not followed fire safety rules.Deadly fire in tower block causes serious damageA terrible fire broke out on Sunday night, leaving the Henderson Tower seriously damaged.Emergency services estimate that the number o
4、f deaths could reach 9. By this morning, 4people have been confirmed dead. The fire has also left dozens of people injured, 5 of whomare in a critical condition. Lisa Mayer, 29, is among the lucky ones who only suffered minorinjuries. She recalled, I was about to have a bath when I heard people scre
5、aming and dogsbarking. I looked outside and the smoke was choking me. It was like an awful dream.Mr Peterson, head of the fire service, confirms that a dropped cigarette end on a carpet ofthe 8th floor started the fire and that the automatic fire alarms did not go off quickly enough toprevent the di
6、saster. A team is currently investigating the accident further.Reading news reports criticallyWe rely on news to learn about what is happening in the world around us. However, weusually find that reports on the same events contain different or even contradictory information.How do these differences
7、come about?X2U1 Mass Media2It is advisable to remember that journalists may have different priorities, which wouldinfluence how they report an event. Lets take the two news reports on the Henderson Towerfire as an example. We can see that the first news report pays more attention to the rescueeffort
8、s, while the second talks more about deaths and injuries. When we read more than onereport, we come to understand an event in a more comprehensive way.Even if news reports are written from basically the same perspective, they may contradicteach other in terms of factual details, as events in the rea
9、l world are usually complicated andconstantly changing. For instance, the numbers of deaths differ in the two news reports on theHenderson Tower fire. When we come across such factual differences, we should not rush tothe conclusion that one of the news reports gives false information. Instead, chec
10、k when thereports were written. News reports written at different stages of an event could contain differentinformation as new facts are brought to light. Another aspect worthy of mention is thatjournalists may approach information they get from research or interviews differently. Supposeemergency s
11、ervices estimates of the number of deaths vary between 5 and 9. Journalists maychoose to present the minimum, the maximum or something in between in their news reports.Therefore, checking different sources enables us to draw a more informed conclusion.To sum up, it is wise to read news reports writt
12、en from various perspectives and at differentstages, which brings us a more accurate understanding of a situation. We also need to becritical about the information we receive and remember not to blindly trust what we have read.Though journalists are committed to presenting the truth, it is better to
13、 use our own judgementthan rely entirely on news reports. With great discrimination, every one of us has the potentialto be a critical news reader.X2U1 Mass Media3英文英文词性词性中文中文criticaladj.批评的，批判性的；关键的；危急的trapv.使落入陷境；卡住，绊住n.陷阱，罗网；圈套；困境，牢笼releasev.发布；释放；松开；发泄n.释放；发行；排放，泄漏ambulancen.救护车extendv.延伸(距离)；扩大
14、；延长；延伸constructionn.建筑，建造；建造物dozenn.许多；(一)打；十来个dozens of很多，许多minoradj.轻微的，次要的bathn.洗澡，洗浴；浴缸，浴盆screamv.尖叫；高声喊；发出大而尖的声音n.尖叫，尖锐刺耳的声音barkvi.(狗)吠叫vt.厉声发令n.(狗)吠声；短促响亮的人声；树皮chokev.(使)窒息；(使)哽咽，(尤指感情激动而)说不出话来cigaretten.香烟carpetn.地毯；覆盖地面的一层厚东西X2U1 Mass Media4automaticadj.自动的；无意识的，不假思索的investigatev.侦查，调查；研究com
15、e about发生journalistn.新闻记者，新闻工作者priorityn.优先事项，首要事情；优先权，重点contradictv.相矛盾，相反；反驳，驳斥factualadj.事实的，真实的instancen.例子，事例for instance例如，比如differv.相异；意见相左conclusionn.结论，推论；结束，结果；签订，达成falseadj.错误的，不真实的；非天生的；假的，伪造的；不真诚的bring sth. to light揭露，披露minimumn.最小值，最少量adj.最低的，最小的maximumn.最大量，最大限度adj.最高的，最多的sum up总结，概括s
16、umn.金额，款项；总和，总数；全部accurateadj.正确无误的；精确的committedadj.尽心尽力的X2U1 Mass Media5be committed to致力于discriminationn.辨别力，识别力；歧视，区别对待curiosityn.好奇心，求知欲；奇物，珍品journalismn.新闻业，新闻工作commitmentn.献身，投入；承诺，许诺；花费citizenn.公民；市民，居民foundv.创建，创办；建立，兴建politicsn.政治，政治事务；(个人的)政治观点，政见accusev.谴责，控诉taxn.税，税款v.对.征税，使纳税mountvi.逐步增
17、加vt.攀登，爬上n.山mount up(尺寸和数量上)增加，上升elevationn.提高；提升；海拔professionn.行业，职业；同行；宣称，声明draman.戏剧；戏剧性事件scholarshipn.奖学金；学术categoryn.类别，种类neverthelessadv.尽管如此X2U1 Mass Media6witnessv.是发生.的时间(或地点)，见证；目击；作证；是.的迹象n.目击者，见证人，证人editionn.版本；一份，一期；版次platformn.计算机平台；站台，月台；讲台，舞台spring up迅速出现，突然兴起interactionn.互动，相互作用memb
18、ershipn.(统称)会员，会员人数；会员资格chartn.图表；海图；(the charts) 排行榜v.记录；制定计划；绘制区域地图broadcastn.广播节目，电视节目v.播送，广播；散布，传播advertisingn.广告活动，广告业persuasionn.说服，劝说；信仰persuadev.说服；使信服advertisementn.广告，启事；广告活动，广告宣传channeln.途径，渠道；电视台；频道；方法；水渠peakadj.高峰时期的，最高度的n.顶峰，高峰；山峰；尖端v.达到高峰，达到最高值advertisev.做广告，登广告；公布，征聘；展现，宣传boostv.使增长，
19、使兴旺X2U1 Mass Media7n.增长，提高；帮助，激励psychologyn.心理，心理特征；心理学purchasev.买，购买n.购买，采购，购买的东西，购买项目memorableadj.难忘的，值得纪念的slogann.标语，口号teapotn.茶壶get across被传达，被理解，把.讲清楚brandn.品牌；类型；烙印ambassadorn.大使，代表placementn.放置；安置ratingn.收视率；等级，级别sponsorv.赞助；主办；为慈善活动捐款；资助n.赞助商；为慈善活动捐款的人absorbv.理解，掌握；吸收；吸引全部注意力discountn.折扣v.打折出售tailorv.专门制作，定做n.裁缝brighten up(使)增添乐趣；使更艳丽housingn.住房，住宅X2U1 Mass Media8estaten.住宅区；(通常指农村的)大片私有土地；个人财产，(尤指)遗产housing estate住宅区，住宅群amusev.(提供)消遣；逗笑
