HANDOUT

WHATS IN THE PAPERS?

I. Reading : Skim the newspaper articles (A C) and answer the questions. 1. Which headlines a. are in informal language? b. are a full sentence? c. play with words? 2. Which article is a. about celebrities? b. of local interest? c. of general interest? 3. Which newspapers a. use formal punctuation? b. use capital letters for emphasis? c. have short paragraphs? 4. Which type of newspaper are the articles from? a. Local b. Popular c. Quality

A
CADBURY FACES MOBILE MENACE By Andrew Clark Britains teenagers are rejecting sweets in favour of mobile phone top-up cards, according to the multinational sweets company, Cadbury Schweppes, which has suffered a second consecutive year of flat UK sales. The company, which makes Dairy Milk chocolate and Crme Eggs, said the slowdown was unusual in a market that has traditionally had modest but steady growth. It has been made worse by the closure of many smaller newsagents and corner shops. Chief executive, John Sunderland said: Five years ago, I didnt imagine that today wed be competing with mobile phone cards for teenagers pocket money. He was speaking as Cadbury announced annual pre-tax profits of 886m. Europewide sales rose 6% to 212m. Despite the disappointing performance in Britain, Cadbury hopes to improve sales through new sales channels; it is introducing sweets machines in pubs and clubs and is advertising its snacks in mobile phone text messages. The company admitted it also needed new thinking to put the sparkle back into its fizzy drinks operation in America, where Cadburys 7 Up and Doctor Pepper are not doing well.

B
BRAD AND JEN PARTY TOGETHER Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have thrown a huge party for her birthday fuelling rumours they may get back together. They spent TWO DAYS preparing the birthday bash at their Beverly Hulls mansion on Saturday night, a day after Friends star Jennifer turned 36. The couple, who separated after a four-year marriage, welcomed FIFTY guests. They included Morgan Freeman, Mel Gibson, Cindy Crawford and Arnold Schwarzeneger. TWO LORRIES delivered ice to the house for the party for the bottles of Krystal champagne. One guest hinted Pitt made a special effort for the party. He told a friend as he was leaving: Brad looked absolutely amazing.

C
COOL IDEA FOR TOWN CENTRE ICE RINK Cllr Ian Smart Harford people will soon be able to enjoy skating on a synthetic ice rink in the town centre. The 100square-metre rink will be in Peel Square. A council spokesman said: !It will be an all-weather ice rink skaters will be able to use it in any weather. And trained monitors will be there to offer useful skating tips. Skating will be free and the local council will provide skates. But the idea has been criticized by opposition councilors. Cllr Ian Smart said; Its OK having a skating rink but my concern Is they dont seem to be spending money on the serious issues, like housing. Another councillor opposed to the idea said: If they have money to spend, then they should spend it on other things like the Civic Theatre. Its barmy that we can afford to do this but we cant clean one of our oldest buildings. I cant believe it. We dont need an ice rink. Winters in Hartford are always icy and old people have been skating all over the streets for weeks!

READING STRATEGIES: DEALING WITH CULTURAL REFERENCES Look out for names and expressions related to British or American culture, and for slang or colloquial words and expressions. Use the context to guess what the names represent or what the words and expressions mean. If you cannot guess, get informed.

II.

Read the newspaper stories again. Use the strategies to find examples of these things. An area of a city A company Sweets or chocolate The title of a TV Programme A building A famous person A drink A town or city

III.

Use the strategies to answer these questions. 1. What are corner shops? (Text A) a. Large shops b. Local shops

c. newsagents

2. What does fuelling rumours mean? (Text B) a. Making rumours weaker b. Making rumours stronger c. Ending rumours 3. What does bash mean? (text B) a. Party b. Separation 4. What does barmy mean? (text C) a. Boring b. Crazy IV.

c. Wedding

c. Great

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Vocabulary: Compound Adjectives Sometimes you can join words with a hyphen to make adjectives. Find phrases with compound adjectives in the texts, which mean: Cards that put money in your mobile phone account. (A) A companys profits before tax have been paid. (A) Sales of a product throughout Europe (A) A marriage that lasts four years (B) An ice rink with an area of 100 square metres (C) An ice rink you can use in all kinds of weather (C)

V.

Rewrite these sentences using compound adjectives. Example: We went on a two-week holiday. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. We went on a holiday for two weeks. He broke the record for the 10.000 metres race. She went for a walk early in the morning. I saw a documentary about a man who is 120 years old. He went on a journey of 3.000 miles. She bought a house for a million pounds.

VI.

Match the definitions to the compound adjectives. There are more words than needed. strong-minded well-behaved warm-hearted big-headed open-minded two-faced level-headed narrow-minded short- tempered

badly-behaved thick-skinned cold-hearted

1. Anna always gets what she wants. She is______________________ 2. You shouldnt trust him. He is ______________________. He smiles at your face but he keeps talking behind you. 3. The characters in that film were horrible. They were ______________________ 4. My dad gets angry very easily. He is ______________________ 5. Laura does a lot of work for charity (helping others). She is ______________________ 6. Henry is very calm. He can overcome most difficulties easily. He

is ______________________ 7. The new manager never accepts other peoples ideas. He is ______________________