talking about news, present perfect,...

TALKING ABOUT NEWS, PRESENT PERFECT, OPINIONS

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The Death of News?

1. What news company went bankrupt?_____________________________________________

2. Why are newspapers in financial difficulty? _____________________________________________

3. What do the numbers refer to:

300! ! ! ______________20% ! ! ! ______________ two-thirds! ! ______________ 19% ! ! ! ______________37% ! ! ! ______________44% ! ! ! ______________!

5. Use words from the article to complete the following sentences

• I like to read ______________ on the web.• I write for a newspaper. I’m a _____________.• This newspaper is____________ to the left.• ______________ newspapers have too much

sport and gossip. • ______________ newspapers contain more

serious news analysis.

6. What is your favorite way to get the news?________________________________________________________________________________

Preparatory Reading

The End of the Newspaper is Nigh!

The first ever titled newspaper, Corante, was published in London in the year 1621. In fact, the printed newspaper has been a successful business model for over 300 years. However, now with Internet news sites and blogs, the traditional print newspaper is under threat.

In December 2008, Tribune Company, owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun and other dailies, went bankrupt. It is one of many broadsheet and tabloid newspapers that have recently experienced financial difficulties. In the U.S. it is estimated that 20% of newspaper journalist jobs have been lost since 2001.

According to experts, about two-thirds of local newspapers in Britain will have disappeared by 2013. Another recent survey suggests just 19% of 18-to-34-year-olds read a newspaper every day. In contrast, 37% watch local TV news and 44% visit Internet news sites daily.

Although people buy less newspapers, online news and blogs, are increasingly popular. There are many sites online to get your news. But are these new alternative news sources trustworthy? Only real news companies can afford to hire real journalists to do real journalism. Other news sources simply report the news that the big papers investigate. Equally, blogs are always personal comment on the news, so are always biased.

So, ultimately, yes, traditional newspapers are in trouble. But is it the death of news? The short answer is ‘no’. Nevertheless, newspapers do need to use new technology creatively and find new ways to make money in order to survive.



1. Are you interested in ‘the news’?2. Did you read the news headlines today? What were they?3. How do you usually find out the news?

A - Discussion Questions: Talk with your partner

B - Mingling Activity: Stand up and ask questions of your classmates

C - Vocabulary: Match the words to their meaning

1. (n) tabloid! ! ! a. a more expensive large serious newspaper2. (n) articles! ! ! b. the title of a newspaper story3. (n) headlines! ! ! c. a person who writes for a newspaper4. (n) broadsheet! ! ! d. a person who takes photos of celebrities5. (n) journalists! ! ! e. talking about other people6. (n) paparazzi! ! ! f. one-sided, unbalanced7. (n) gossip! ! ! g. stories written for newspapers or magazines8. (n) biased! ! ! h. a cheap small newspaper with a lot of sports and gossip

Ask questions to your classmates. If your classmate answers ‘Yes’ write his or her name and

ask some more questions.

Name Find someone who... Details

often reads a newspaper

gets the news online

trusts the news media

enjoys watching TV news

has a favorite news source

would like to be a journalist

likes to read celebrity news

reads the news in English



Ask your partner these questions. Don’t forget to ask follow up questions to make your conversation interesting.

C - Conversation: Use the words to fill the gaps

tabloid articles headlines broadsheetjournalists paparazzi gossip biased

DAVID: Why do you read that rubbish?

IZUMI: What? It’s just a newspaper.

DAVID: Yeah, but it’s a _____________ rag. It’s full of trash about TV celebrities and sports. In my opinion, there’s no real news in it. And it’s so ____________ too. They only ever tell one side of the story. Why don’t you read a quality ______________?

IZUMI: I like it. Personally, I think the broadsheets are so dull. This is fun. It’s just a laugh, isn’t it? I like all the __________ columns and the _______________ pictures. I don’t take it too seriously.

DAVID: But the news should be serious! If you ask me, newspapers should be full of real news written by real _____________. All the ____________ are so badly written. And all the ____________ are so stupid! Look at this one: ALIENS ATE MY HAMSTER. What nonsense!

IZUMI: OK. Where do you get your news, then?

DAVID: I watch the BBC news on TV and I check the news online every morning. There are some great online newspapers nowadays. And of course they’re free. You should check them out.

IZUMI: No, thanks. A newspaper is still cheaper than the Internet. And I can read the paper while I eat my cereal.

Comprehension Questions

1. What kind of newspaper is Izumi reading?____________________________________2. What does David think of it?____________________________________3. Why does Izumi read it?____________________________________4. Where does David get the news?____________________________________

Personalization Questions

1. Where do you get your news?____________________________________2. What do you think of tabloids?____________________________________3. What news sources do you think are biased?____________________________________4. What do you check ‘online’??____________________________________

Change the brief conversations into reported speech.

1. “Do you enjoy being a student?” “Yes, I do”He asked me ________________________________________. I told him that ________________________________________.

2. “Is your apartment very big?” “No, it isn’t”He asked me ________________________________________.I told him that ________________________________________.

3. “Did you go on vacation this year?” “Yes, I did.”He asked me ________________________________________. I replied that _________________________________________.

4. “Where do you live now?” “I live in London.”He asked me ________________________________________.I replied that _________________________________________.

5. “What did you do last night?” “I watched TV.”He asked me ________________________________________.I replied that _________________________________________.

Now ask these questions to your partner. Make a note of your partner’s answers. Then report the questions and answers to a new partner.

Eg. I asked him if his apartment was very big. He told me that his apartment was not big.



D - Language Focus: - Direct / Reported Speech

Direct Speech Reported Speech“Is the war over?” asked the reporter. The reporter asked if the war was over.“The war is finally over,” said the president. The president said (that) the war was finally over.

“When did you hear the news?” he asked. He asked her when she had heard the news.“I heard it last night,” she told him. She told him (that) she had heard it last night.

Note: In reported speech you should change the tense of the verb into past tense. Eg. Present tense becomes past tense. Past simple or present perfect become past perfect tense.

1

2

The Internet is a better news source You should watch the news or read a than newspapers. newspaper every day.1. ______________________________. 1. ________________________________.2. ______________________________. 2. ________________________________.3. ______________________________. 3. ________________________________.

Write whether you agree or disagree with each comment. Then discuss in your group:

1. TV news is often biased. 2. The news is so depressing.__________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________

3. The news never shows the truth. 4. I don’t like to watch the news.__________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________



E - Express Yourself

Asking for Opinions ! ! ! Expressing OpinionsWhat do you think, Kento? ! ! Personally, I think...Do you have an opinion on this? ! ! In my opinion...Do you have anything to add, Rajiv? ! If you ask me...! ! ! ! ! ! It seems to me that...

Yesterday I read an article in The Japan Times about student tuition fees. According to the article students will get help from the government to pay their fees. In my opinion students should pay for their own education. Personally, I think if they can’t pay then their parents should save some money to pay. Or students should get a job and save some money before going to college if you ask me. It seems to me that students will appreciate their education more if they pay for it themselves.

Note: When you give an opinion, you should always try to give some support to make your opinion stronger. Be clear and direct.

Yes I agree. In my opinion... No, I disagree. Personally, I think...Yes. Absolutely! I think... No. I don’t see it that way. In my opinion...Exactly! If you ask me... No way. That’s not true. It seems to me...

Underline the phrases for giving opinions in this extract.1

3

2 Write some support sentences for these opinions. Then explain your opinion to your partner.



1. What did you think of the topics in this unit?2. What new words have you learned?3. What would you like to study further?

Final Discussion

Project Work

Review

Prepare a presentation on this topic: A News Story. Go to http://college-englishmag.com to print the presentation preparation worksheet.

News Crossword

Read the clues to solve the puzzle.1 2

3 4

5 6 7 8 9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16 17

Across

1. Takes pictures of celebrities.3. Can be trusted.9. An online journal or weblog.10. _______, I think newspapers are the best place to get the news.13. I like to get my news ________ on my favorite websites.15. A word for newspapers, magazines, TV, movies etc.16. Some stories in newspapers are so silly - they're just _______.17. Celebrity news.

Down

2. Newspaper or magazine story.4. Trash.5. In my ________, the news is often not to be trusted.6. A more serious 'quality' newspaper.7. Someone who writes for a newspaper.8. A small, cheap newspaper with a lot of sports and gossip.11. The title of a newspaper story.12. One-sided, unfair or unbalanced.14. Slang term for a poor quality newspaper.

! IN THIS UNIT YOU:1. talked about news2. reviewed present perfect tense3. practiced expressing opinions

At http://www.college-englishmag.com you can find plenty more exercises and activities to practice this English.

talking about news, present perfect,...

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