Reading and understanding newspapers. Пыж А.М. - 17 стр.

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PART 2. READING NEWSPAPERS

I. News Stories: Something Happened

One reason news stories are easier to understand than most other kinds of

reading material (features, editorials, opinions, etc.) is that they almost always

tell basically the same story. News stories are essentially “something

happened” stories. There are a few variations, of course, but not that many.

This list covers most of them:

• Something happened.

• Something is happening.

• Something is going to/is expected to/might happen.

• Someone said something happened.

• Someone said something is happening.

• Someone said something is going to happen,

. etc

• Someone said something should happen.

• Someone said something should not have happened.

Look at some news stories in any English newspaper and try this idea out.

You can usually tell what kind of a story it is just by reading the headline and

the

lead (first one or two paragraphs).

Not in chronological order: conclusion first, details later

News stories seldom describe events in the order in which they happened

(

chronological order). News writers know their readers have limited time and

they want the latest or most significant developments (the news) first, so

newspaper stories are usually written in an inverted-pyramid style. This

means that the basic facts, the conclusion, the lead, etc., come first. As you

move through the story, more and more details and background is provided.

Thus, news stories are the direct opposite of fairy tales. Compare, for

example, the opening of a typical children's story with the same story might

be told in a newspaper.