1、Unit 1 The mass media Reading (II)By the end of this section, you will be able to:1. identify the key information in the two news reports and the differences between them;2. understand the reasons for the differences between news reports and the ways to be a critical news reader;3. grasp the languag
2、e features and writing techniques of a news report;4. know about how to become a good journalist.Learning objectivesReviewSummarize the main idea of each paragraph by filling in the following chart.Reading newsreports criticallyPart 1:Para._Part 2:Para._Part 3:Para._12-34News reports usually come wi
3、th differences.Differences between news reports may depend on how and when the news reports are written.We can become critical news readers in many ways.ReviewBe a critical news reader!two new reportsfrom the perspective of rescue effortsfrom the perspective of deaths and injuriesreached the scene w
4、ithin 15 minutesgot the situation under controlthe estimated number of death: 94 confirmed deaddozens of people injured5 in a critical conditionRetell the text based on the outline.Why are there different news reports on the same event?priority on rescue effortspriority on deaths and injuriescomplic
5、ated eventsthe way journalistsapproach informationthe number of deathsBe a critical news reader!a question arisesdifferent priorities of journaliststhe reasons forcontradictory factual details how to be a critical news reader constantly changing eventsat different stages the reports were writtenthe
6、minimumthe maximumsomething in betweenread news reports written from various perspectivesread news reports written at different stagesbe critical about the information we receivenot to blindly trust what we have readuse our own judgementnot rely entirely on news reportsto possess great discriminatio
7、nReviewRetell the text based on the outline.Building vocabulary1. Fears grew that the number of deaths could reach 5, according to figures released by emergency services. Here the verb “release” means “to make something available to the public”.e.g. The news of their marriage wasnt released until 3
8、weeks later.他们结婚的消息是三个星期后才公布的。Building vocabulary2. The fire has also left dozens of people injured, 5 of whom are in a critical condition.Here the phrase “dozens of” means “a lot of people or things”. We can use the phrase“in dozens” to express the same meaning.e.g. dozens of birds很多只鸟They arrived
9、in dozens.他们来了很多人。Building vocabulary3. How do these differences come about? Here the phrase “come about” means “to happen”.e.g. Dont you want to tell me how the accident came about?你难道不想告诉我这起事故是怎么发生的吗？Building vocabulary3. How do these differences come about? In informal situations, we often use th
10、e phrase “how come (.)?” to show that we do not know how something can happen and would like an explanation.e.g. “I think she hates you.”“How come? Ive always been nice to her.”“ 我觉得她讨厌你。”“ 怎么会呢？我一直都对她很好。”Building vocabulary4. For instance, the numbers of deaths differ in the two news reports on the
11、 Henderson Tower fire. Here the verb “differ” means “to be different from sb./sth.”. We often use the phrases “A differs from B”, “A and B differ (from each other)” and “differ between A and B” to express the meaning that A and B are different from each other.Building vocabularye.g. The two friends
12、differ from each other greatly in their interests.这朋友俩彼此的兴趣爱好差异很大。The personalities may differ between twins.双胞胎的性格可能也不尽相同。We also use the phrase “differ with sb. (about/on/over sth.)” to mean that we disagree with somebody.e.g. Jack differs with his wife on the colour of the furniture.杰克和他的夫人对家具的颜色
13、持有不同意见。Building vocabulary5. When we come across such factual differences, we should not rush to the conclusion that one of the news reports gives false information. Here the phrase “come across” means “to meet or find sb./sth. by chance”. It cannot be used in the passive voice.e.g. She came across
14、some old toys in her old suitcase.她在她的旧箱子里偶然发现了一些旧玩具。Building vocabularyThe phrase also means “to be understood” or “to make a particular impression”. We can also use “come over” to express the same meaning.e.g. The lecturers words didnt come across to the students.学生们没听明白讲师的话。Lisa came over as a lo
15、vely young lady to her homestay family.莉萨的寄宿家庭认为她是一位年轻可爱的姑娘。Building vocabularyThe phrase can be used with the preposition “with”, meaning “to provide or supplysomething when you need it”. It cannot be used in the passive voice either.So, you are interested in becoming a good journalist but dont kno
16、w where to start?Well, there are a couple of things you should put on your list of (1) _. Firstly, you need to be skilled at writing. The information involved in a complex story may come from (2) _ sources. Good journalists need to organize all this information clearly to give a(n) (3) _ account of
17、what is happening.The blog post below is about how to be a good journalist. Complete the blog post with the correct forms of the words and phrases in the box below.prioritiesdozens ofaccurateConsolidationaccurate investigate be committed to sum upminor priority dozens of come aboutB1Secondly, you mu
18、st have a natural curiosity about things that are happening, even though they may appear to be (4) _ matters. When something newsworthy (5) _, it may escape the attention of ordinary people; however, good journalists are sensitive enough to notice the event and draw public attention to it.Finally, g
19、ood journalists (6) _ revealing the truth. According to Noam Chomsky, “The duty of journalists is to tell the truth. Journalism means you go back to the actual facts, you look at the documents, you discover what the record is, and you report it that way.” To do this, journalists need to (7) _ an eve
20、nt thoroughly.To (8) _, being a good journalist requires writing skills, curiosity and commitment to finding the truth. Good luck!minorcomes aboutare committed to investigatesum upConsolidationaccurate investigate be committed to sum upminor priority dozens of come aboutFill in the following mind ma
21、p according to the information in B1.Good writing skillsBecoming a good journalist A natural curiosityCommitment to finding the truthThe news reports and the article use the same words as different parts of speech. Find more words used this way in the news reports and the article, and make sentences
22、 using each of them.Emergency services estimate that the number of deaths could reach 9.Suppose emergency services estimates of the number of deaths vary between 5 and 9.ConsolidationB2ConsolidationWords used as different parts of speech:Deadly fire in tower block causes serious damageA terrible fir
23、e broke out on Sunday night, leaving the Henderson Tower seriously damaged.（1）damage The storm didnt do much damage. 暴风雨并未造成严重损失。（n. 破坏，损失） Several vehicles were damaged in the crash. 好几辆汽车在撞车事故中损坏了。（v. 破坏，毁坏）ConsolidationWords used as different parts of speech:Reading news reports criticallyIt is a
24、dvisable to remember that journalists may have different priorities, which would influence how they report an event.（2）report Are these newspaper reports true? 报纸上这些报道属实吗？（n. 报道） It was reported that several people had been arrested. 据报道已有数人被捕。（v. 报道，公布）The two news reports present information in a
25、factual and formal way. Find the expressions in the two news reports that help present information this way and revise the short paragraph below in a similar way. B3ConsolidationTo present information in a factual and formal way，you can use the following expressions：according to，be thought to do/hav
26、e done，there is concern that，be confirmed，be reported to do/have done，etc.Learn thisB3ConsolidationExpressions presenting information in a factual and formal way:The fire, which is thought to have started from the 8th floor, .Fears grew that the number of deaths could reach 5, according to figures r
27、eleased by emergency services.There is concern that the construction company that built the tower block had not followed fire safety rules.Emergency services estimate that the number of deaths could reach 9. By this morning, 4 people have been confirmed dead.Mr Peterson, head of the fire service, co
28、nfirms that a dropped cigarette end on a carpet of the 8th floor started the fire .B3A total of five people have been confirmed dead in the traffic accident on Sunday morning, which was thought to have been caused by a car driver speaking on his mobile phone. There is growing concern that speaking o
29、n the mobile phone when driving has been a big killer in recent years.The traffic accident on Sunday morning killed five people. It wasprobably caused by a car driver speaking on his mobile phone. More and more people worry that speaking on the mobile phone when driving has been a big killer in rece
30、nt years.Mini writingIt is reported that a fire broke out in the Henderson Tower during the night of 9 July. Firefighters arrived within 15 minutes after being called and brought the fire under control within an hour and 15 minutes. By 11 July, 4 deaths have been confirmed, as well as dozens of inju
31、ries, including 5 in a critical condition.Despite concerns that the construction company did not follow fire safety rules, thefire service confirmed that a dropped cigarette end on a carpet of the 8th floor hadstarted the fire and the automatic fire alarms had failed to go off quickly enough.Further
32、 investigation into the event is currently ongoing.Write a short paragraph about the Henderson Tower fire with the help of the knowledge in B2 and B3.Work in pairsDiscuss the following questions.(1) Why should we read news reports critically?(2) What else could lead to the differences of news reports?Thanks
