Exercise 2 Read the article about four people (A-D) who studied journalism at university. Then answer Question 9 (a}-(). Studying journalism A Ines When | was considering what to study at university, my parents encouraged me to choose law. They didn't think journalism was a good idea, but the mix of practical and academic activities attracted me. | admit that early in the course | missed a few classes. Some were first thing in the morning, land some were in the evening, which | found strange because it was very different from school. My attendance improved, however, and | loved being at university in general. During the course, | was able to visit parts of the city near the university to interview residents, take photos and write news stories, and gradually | became an expert on the place ~ those are some of my best memories. ‘Since graduating, I've worked as a radio producer, a communications manager and now a marketing manager for a software company. So, , but the excellent teachers we had helped me develop skills that have been very relevant to what I've done since then B Marta Maybe I didn't work as much as some other students during my journalism degree, but | did what was necessary and | had some great lecturers. We were given projects which involved doing what real reporters do: investigating and writing about crime, sports and business. | remember one evening in the university library watching other students writing long essays; | was writing questions to ask the star player of the biggest football club in the town the following moming. | thought to myself: ‘it almost seems unfair that !™m doing something so exciting while everyone else is having such a tough time.’ One of my early plans was to become a sports reporter, then | thought about doing travel writing. | struggled to make up my mind about what to do, but | eventually became a media officer for a company that makes sports equipment. 'm responsible for dealing with newspapers, magazines, TV and radio ~ and social media of course. It's challenging, but my degree gave me the confidence todoit C Jess Since | graduated from university I've worked as a writer for three different magazines. So although I've moved around, I've essentially been doing the same job. Much of my success is due to the degree ‘course | did, which involved not only writing newspaper articles, but also producing, presenting and editing high-quality film and radio broadcasts. | was lucky enough to study in a department where many of the staff had experience of exactly this type of work, so they really knew what they were talking about. The only thing | didn’t enjoy was media law. In fact, | often avoided going to those classes. Looking back, | now wish | hadn't, because it's something I need to know about as a journalist. But otherwise, I'd say that the course as a whole was really interesting. However, anyone who wants to study the media from an academic point of view - for example, looking at how the ‘media influences the way people think — should choose another subject, probably sociology. D Riko | remember how students taking more traditional degrees looked at me curiously when | said | was studying journalism. ‘| imagine it's not very demanding,’ was a common response. ‘Did you choose it because you wanted to have a good social life?’ others asked. | must admit that | did enjoy my free time at university, and | certainly don’t feel bad about that — I worked just as hard as anyone else. (ur classes started eariy in the morning, and in the evenings we often had to report on events in the town for the student newspaper. Our teachers were good at showing us how to adapt our style of writing for different genres, such as short news reports, longer investigations and opinion articles, ‘That was important in making me the newspaper journalist | am today. But we also did lots of other things, including interviewing, filming and media law, so most people wanting to work in the media would benefit from doing a similar course.5 For each question, write the correct letter A, B, C or D on the line. Which person ... (a) ) (ec) (a) ) 0 (9) (hy i) a regrets not working harder on one part of the course? is glad that they had the opportunity to get to know the local area well? suggests that some people considered journalism to be an easy subject? {feels fortunate that their teachers had previously worked in the media?” says that the course timetable was hard to get used to at first? mentions finding it difficult to decide what career to go into? refers to learning things that have been useful in a variety of professions? suggests that a journalism degree would not be suitable for everyone? suggests that they felt guilty at some point during their course? mentions the value of learning how to write a range of text types? a) {1 a a a a i) io} fa} a (Total: 10]Exercise 2 Read the article about four people (A-D) who won different competitions. Then answer Question 9 (a}-() First prize! A. Pavel Barsok I've always enjoyed creative writing, so when my teacher told me about a short-story competition, | didn't need much persuading to enter. That evening, | looked online for more information about it. | expected entering to be a straightforward procedure. The last time I'd done a similar competition, | just had to give my personal details then upload my finished story. This time it was totaly different — | had to get two people to complete references for me by hand, send them in, then wait for my entry ‘number before downloading and completing a form. The competition was really popular, so | didn't think the likelihood of me winning would be all that high. Nevertheless, | sent in my story then more or less forgot about it.| was away, without access to the internet, when the resulis were published online. So | was amazed when my classmate sent me a text teling me that I'd got fist prize! B Ruth Kapambwe Last year, | took part in a national cookery competition. I'd tried to get a place on it the year before, but had been too late with my application. There were 20 of us to begin with, and what struck me was how confident the other competitors all seemed to be. It made me even more determined to do my best. There were several rounds, and we had to cook something different each time. By the final round, there were five of us left, and we'd got to know each other fairly well. Mostly we tended to keep our ideas to ourselves, but | didn't see anything wrong with making the occasional helpful suggestion when | saw what someone else was doing, In the final round, we had to bake some special bread so | made a loaf which had herbs in it. was inspired by a magazine article I'd read by a cookery writer not long before. The judges obviously liked it because they awarded me first prize! C Anil Patel Last year, | took a course in fashion design and at the end ofit, | entered the Young Fashion Designer of the Year competition. Although that time I didn't get past the first round, it didn't put me of trying again. | felt much better prepared this year, and took the previous year's judges’ comments into account when working on my entry. | was really confident about the designs | sent in, and was selected as one of seven finalists to take part in a show where the winner would be chosen. | had to present my designs to the audience and get three friends to model them for me. | was so nervous = I'm not sure | could have done it if they hadn't been with me. When my name was announced, | was thrilled! | chose a week-long work placement as my prize, which I'm starting next month. | could, have had cash instead, but | thought the experience would be far more valuable. D Alejandra Castilla I'm really into photography and have entered several competitions in the past. When my friend Maria told me about this local wildlife photography competition, | was busy at college, so my initial reaction, was not to bother entering. However, she was keen to take part, and eventually convinced me as. well. We both took various photos and spent some time looking at each other's. Maria had three really good ones, but | couldn't say which | preferred. | was also unsure which of mine to submit Maria said she liked one I'd taken of some birds eating berries in a tree, but in the end | chose one of a fox in my garden instead. And luckily it received first prize! The finalists’ photos were printed in a calendar, which looked great, and | got a place on a one-day photography course. It sounded interesting but in fact was aimed more at beginners, so | didn't actually gain anything from it.9 5 For each question, write the correct letter A, B, C or D on the Which person ... (a) had taken part in the same competition before? (b) heard that they had won from a friend? (c) got their winning idea from another person? (4) lacked confidence in their chance of winning? (e) was unimpressed with the prize they received? (f) needed to make a decision about their prize? (g)_had to be persuaded to enter the competition? (h) was surprised how complicated the application process was? (suggested that they couldn't have won without support from others? () gave some advice to another competitor? O (1) o a (1) a 1) a " Total: 10]