UNIT

4
Newspapers

1. Wri ng headlines

1. Match the headlines (1-8) to their everyday English equivalents (a-h).

2. Look at the headlines in exercise 2 again. Decide which of the following ques ons can
easily be answered by reading them.
a) What happened? c) Why did it happen? e) Who dit that?

30

ti

ti
 UNIT 4
Newspapers
b) When did it happen? d) Where did it happen?
3. Look at the headlines in exercise 2 again and answer the following ques ons:

4. Look at the following sentences which have been turned into headlines. Make a list of
what changes have been made to turn them into headlines.

5. In pairs, look at the following sentences and turn them into headlines:
a) A very rare breed of bird has returned to the United Kingdom a er more than 400 years.
(Past simple)
a. Rare bird returns to UK a er 400 years (present simple)
b) A drunk driver caused an accident on route 95, which resulted in two people being killed
(past simple)
a. Drunk driver kills 2 people (present simple)

c) The Australian Prime Minister is going to open a new hospital in Melbourne. (Future)
a. Australian Prime Minister to open hospital in Melbourne (in ni ve)

6. Newspapers use several language devices in order to create eye-catching headlines.

Complete the following table using more examples from the headlines in exercise 2. Some
headlines may go in more than one column.

31

ft



fi

ti
ft



ti

 UNIT 4
Newspapers

7. The tabloid press some mes uses words that are not common in everyday English. This is
known as tabloidese. Match each of the underlined tabloidese words in the sentences (1-5)
to their meanings (a-e). 1c

2e

3a

4b

8. In pairs, discuss which language devices have been used in the following headlines and 5d
what each story might be about.

1: play on words (titanic disaster=big disaster)

2: cultural reference (Shakespeare’s line)
3: alliteration
4: emphatic language (carnage=violent killing)
5: tabloides (axe=cut)

32

ti

 UNIT 4
Newspapers

2. Analysing newspaper ar cles

1. In 2005, a shopping centre in Britain decided to ban people from wearing hooded tops
(hoodies). In groups, discuss the following ques ons:

1) What do you think was the reason for banning

hooded tops?

2) How do you think this might have been reported in the press?

2. Read the following two headlines from the Bri sh na onal press. In pairs, decide which of
the following adjec ves best describe the slant each of the ar cles will have:

3. Choice of vocabulary can a ect the slant of a newspaper ar cle. Look at the following
items from the two ar cles. In pairs, decide which words are more emo ve and which are
more neutral.

4. Read the two ar cles below. Match the headlines to the ar cles. Were your predic ons in
exercise 1 correct?

5. Read the rst paragraph of the ar cles again. How do they di er in the way they engage
the reader’s a en on?

33

fi

tt

ti

ti
ti
ti

ti

ff
ti
ti



ti

ti
ti
ti

ff
ti
ti

ti
 UNIT 4
Newspapers

6.- In pairs, look at the following statement and discuss whether you agree with it. Explain
why/why not. “All words have bias. No choice is impar al.”

7.- Look at the ar cles and headlines again. Make a list of the words the journalists use to
refer to (1) young people and (2) crime. In pairs, discuss what e ect this creates.

8.- Read the ar cles again and decide if the following statements are True (T) or False (F).

34

ti
ti

ti

ff

 UNIT 4
Newspapers

9. Match the cohesion techniques (1-4) to the examples from the ar cles (a-d). In pairs, nd
more examples of each technique in the ar cles.

10. Underline the pronouns in the following extract from the second ar cle. Then say what
or who they refer to.
Ex: They record crimes – “they” refers to CCTV cameras.

11. Look at the underlined words in the extracts below and then answer the following
ques ons:

12. In pairs, make a list of other passive structures in the ar cles. Then decide why the
passive is used.

Passive structures

15.- Decide if the headlines are ac ve or passive. If a sentence is passive, add the be verb
where required. Also, please add punctua on and ar cles (a/an/the).

35

ti



ti
ti
ti

ti

ti

ti

ti

fi
 UNIT 4
Newspapers

1) Toronto named ‘most youthful’ city in the world

2) Taylor Swi wins top prize at American Music Awards
3) World’s Biggest Bookstore sold to developer
4) Two baby baboons on display at Brooklyn zoo
5) Sco sh government reveals Independence plan
6) World’s rst electric helicopter takes ight in Germany
7) Obama elected president for second term
8) Mothers asked nearly 300 ques ons a day
9) 2000 workers laid o by Ford motor company last month

4.3 Planning and wri ng a newspaper ar cle

1. Look at the following statements about news wri ng. Number the statements from 1 to 5
and discuss your answers in pairs: 1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree

___ Journalism, in the Anglo-Saxon tradi on, is informal rather than formal.
___The most important things in a good news story are shock, surprise and contrast.
___A good journalist can always write a short story, even if they would prefer to write a longer
version.
___If you can’t get the reader’s a en on in the rst sentence, they won’t bother to read the
rest of the story.
___It’s house style and not good journalism that makes a newspaper successful.

2. In pairs, look at the following de ni on of house style and then make a list of other
possible house style features.

house style (noun)

the preferred style of spelling,
punctua on, etc. used in a
publishing house or by a speci c
publica on
spelling
- punctua on
- …

3. In pairs, look at the following reasons why house style is important. Decide which are true
and explain why.

1. Helps maintain consistency

2. Shows how stylish the newspaper is
3. Creates a brand image

36

tti
ti

fi
ti
ti
ft

ff
ti

fi
ti
tt
fi

fl
ti
ti
ti
ti

fi

ti

 UNIT 4
Newspapers
4. Complete the following table using the correct house style features in Ar cle B (from the
Daily Mail) on page 33.

5. Have you ever wri en a newspaper ar cle? If so, what steps did you follow? Look at the
steps for wri ng a newspaper ar cle below and put them into a logical order.

___Check your ar cle for mistakes

___Plan (organise and paragraph your ideas)
___Brainstorm the topic (write down ideas connected to the ar cle)
___Research the story
___Write the introduc on
___Conclude
___Write the main body of the ar cle

6. Read the following ideas that a journalist brainstormed for an ar cle. Then write a
sentence summarising what you think the newspaper ar cle will be about.

Where? Private kindergarten

in Ipswich, Su olk

When? 11-12 pm?

How? broke wall with tools

Vic ms? a nursery school:

“We were so shocked
we were targeted when we are
just a nursery.”

What taken? a safe

Police: “We are doing all

we can to arrest the thief.”

7. Look at the headline and photo from the ar cle. Do they give you any extra informa on
about the story?

37

ti
ti

ff

ti

tt

ti

ti

ti

ti

ti

ti
ti

ti

ti

ti

 UNIT 4
Newspapers

8. Read the main body of the ar cle that has been wri en based on the notes in Exercise 6. Is
the summary you wrote in Exercise 6 correct?

…
Manager Jacqui Mayes, 27, said: “We were so shocked we were
targeted when we are just a nursery. They caused so much
damage to get in. It seemed premeditated. It looks like they had
the right equipment for the job.”

Ms Mayes said her 20 sta at the kindergarten, which is

a ended by 130 young children, were ba ed by the highly
professional raid. There’s no way anyone could have known how
much money was in there and the safe could not be seen
through the window as the glass is nted.
…

9. In pairs, look at the following possible introduc ons to the ar cle (1-3). Choose the best
one and discuss what is wrong with the others.

10. Now look at the following possible conclusions to the ar cle (1-3). Choose the best one
and discuss what is wrong with the others.

38
tt

ff
ti

ti

ffl

ti
tt
ti
ti

 UNIT 4
Newspapers

39