Answer
Exercise 1:
- Nam’s niece
- One year old
- Silk purse
- Long life
- Twelve (types)
- Candle or chocolates
- Money
- Box of tea
Exercise 2:
- Town Square
- Steak au poivre
- French
- Weekends
- Smith Street
- Lobster
- Fish (dishes)
- Market Street
- (a) pizza
Exercise 3:
- (A) first-class degree.
- (A) Postgraduate Certificate in Education.
- One year.
- (A) Master of Science degree.
- At least three years.
- (A) graduate fair.
- By sending an email.
Exercise 4:
- Freelance news reporter
- To interest them
- Choose another channel
- Complaints
- Simple
- Outline (the) story
- Affected person
- Relevant location
- Avoid bias
Exercise 5:
- Two parts
- Story selection/ (the) decision-making process
- Newspaper production
- Anything new
- Too vague
- Time limits/time restrictions
- Personal relevance
- Competition
- News gathering
- Facts
- Layout (design)
- 12 hours
Transcript
Exercise 1:
Mark: Hi there, Nam! You aren’t still working on your history assignment, are you?
Nam: Hi, Victor! No, I’m taking a break. I’m looking at some photos, actually- a family celebration. Do you want to see them?
Mark: So, who’s the cute baby in this picture here?
Nam: She’s my niece- my brother’s daughter. Her name’s Tae-Hee. She’s one year old in this picture. It’s a very important birthday in Korea- we call it ‘Doi’ or Doljanchi. It’s a very special celebration – in fact, I think it’s probably more important than a wedding or a graduation! And we invite all our family and friends and sometimes our neighbours. Here’s a picture of the restaurant where we celebrated Tae-Hee’s big day.
Mark: What a lovely place – and a beautiful garden, too.
Nam: Yes, it’s a perfect location for taking photographs. Can you see me just there next to the trees?
Mark: Ah yes, I like your hat! And I like the red and silver hat Tae-Hee’s wearing too. It’s really pretty.
Nam: Yes, it’s a traditional hat for a girl. Baby boys wear a different one- all black. It looks very serious!
Mark: That’s a bit boring. Black and silver would be more interesting. What’s Tae-Hee wearing round her skirt?
Nam: That’s a little purse. Boy babies wear this too. It’s made of silk and it means good luck in our culture. And she’s wearing a belt too. Look – do you see? The belt means she will have a long life!
Mark: And what’s this on the table there? It’s very colourful.
Nam: It’s rice cakes.
Mark: I’ve never seen anything like that before. It looks like a rainbow!
Nam: We always eat rice cakes at a baby’s party. There are usually 12 different types of them on the table. Look – this rice cake is completely orange in colour and this one here is bright green!
Mark: It looks like a vegetable!
Nam: Now, look – this is me with my brother’s wife, Mi-Cha. We get on really well together.
Mark: What are you holding?
Nam: Oh, it’s a little bag. All the guests get a gift bag at the end of the party. And inside there’s a present from the baby’s parents. It’s really fun to open it because you don’t know what you’ll get. So it could be a candle, or some chocolates. Guess what I got? You can see it in this next photo.
Mark: It looks like a box of tea. But shouldn’t it be the other way round – the baby gets the presents?
Nam: Well, the baby receives money from the guests, so in a way you’re right! And actually, I’ve got my present right here. So, why don’t we open the box right now and have a cup of tea? Then we can try to finish our assignments.
Mark: Sounds good to me!
Exercise 2:
A: In this new series of ‘Talk of the Town’ we’ll be looking at the different restaurants in and around Ogdenville and getting some tips and recommendations from our resident food critic, Chris Griffin. So Chris, where have you been this week?
B: Well, one restaurant that I really enjoyed is Adam’s. It’s on the Town Square. I ordered a steak au poivre and it was perfect.
A: What’s that?
B: It’s a steak in peppercorns – it’s quite a typical French dish.
A: So, is it a French restaurant or a steakhouse?
B: Well, the chef is French, but it serves food from all over the world. It has a wide variety of dishes. One word of warning though, it gets really busy at weekends, so you should check they have places before you go.
A: Have you got any other recommendations for us this week, Chris?
B: Oh, yes. I can really recommend the Duke on Smith Street. I had lobster and it was really tasty. It also has a few vegetarian dishes, but it’s the fish dishes that make it famous in the town. The food isn’t that low-cost though, so you might want to save going here for a special treat.
A: What about people who are on a budget? Have you got any suggestions for them?
B: Yes, I have. The Tower in Market Street is a fashionable restaurant where people can get a good meal at a reasonable price. I had a pizza, but it isn’t a fast-food restaurant, it specialises in all different types of food from Italy. I’ve heard that the lasagne is especially good.
A: Thanks, Chris. You certainly have given us all food for thought.
Exercise 3:
Dr Ross: So, Jessica, congratulations! You got a first-class degree. I always knew you could manage it. What are your plans now?
Jessica: Thank you! I couldn’t have done it without all your help. Well, I’m not sure. I’m still thinking about the possibilities. I’m not sure if I want to teach or go into research, or even find a position in a company, perhaps.
Dr Ross: Well, anyone with a degree in Chemistry will always be in high demand. Have you thought about teaching?
Jessica: Yes, but don’t you need a degree in education to do that?
Dr Ross: Well, many teachers do that, but, of course, you have to be sure that you want to teach before starting your degree course. In your case though, your main route into teaching would be to do a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. That’s another year of study, and you’ll learn everything you need to know about teaching, while also getting teaching practice in your subject at local schools. You could study that here if you want.
Jessica: That sounds like a good idea. I’ll think about it, but I feel I have more studying to do in chemistry before I think about teaching it.
Dr Ross: Then you could always take a Master of Science degree. That will allow you to specialise in a particular area of chemistry, but if you want to teach in secondary schools, you won’t need to have such a specialisation. It’s up to you.
Jessica: Yes, I see. Actually, I’ve often thought of doing a research degree.
Dr Ross: That would be a very good idea, but remember that it will take you at least three years to complete that. It would probably be better to do a Master’s degree first and then transfer onto a PhD course. It also costs a lot, and you may need to fund yourself while you’re studying. Have you thought of going straight into work?
Jessica: Yes, I have, but I’m not sure if that’s the best choice for me.
Dr Ross: Well, you could try doing a company internship for a few months. A company internship is a chance to work in a company without actually being an employee, but possibly with some pay. It’ll give you a chance to develop your career and also learn more about
your subject specialisation in a commercial environment. After that, you may well get a good position in the company. We have some good commercial contacts for internship here.
Jessica: That might be the best option, but I wouldn’t earn much to begin with, would I?
Dr Ross: No, you wouldn’t. You could try getting a permanent job now if you want. There’s a graduate fair here in the city every year, as well as in other cities around the country. You’ll have the chance to meet all the leading companies in the sector and discuss opportunities with them.
Jessica: It’s worth considering. Well, I have a lot to think about. Can I meet you again next week?
Dr Ross: Of course. Just send me an email and let me know when would be a good time.
Exercise 4:
OK, everyone, I’d like to start by introducing myself. My name is Warren Short and I’m a freelance news reporter. So, what that means is that news agencies hire me to go to different parts of the world and report on on-going stories as they develop. The reason I’ve been asked to speak to you is to give you some tips on making your own news reports, which I know is something you have to do for your media course. Let’s begin our talk with a few general points. The first one is know your audience. By that I mean, are they older or younger viewers, where are they from, what are their values, ideas or beliefs, what level of education do they have? The reason we try to find out as much as possible about the audience is that we want to interest them. If they can’t engage with or relate to the stories we choose or how we present them, they’ll choose another news channel. The same story can be presented in different ways for different audiences. So, for example, if there’s an oil spill into the sea, will our audience be more concerned about the environmental or the economic consequences?
The next general point I want to make is that pictures are as important as words. You need to choose very carefully what you’re going to show, in what order and for how long. The first and last shots the audience sees are the ones that make the most impact. The last of my general points is that you must be fair and balanced. The reputation of the TV station is at stake here, so it is crucial to give the impression that the station is trying to push its own agenda. If you interview someone from one side of a debate, you should then interview someone from the other side. Without this balance, you will definitely get complaints from viewers. Right, so I’ll just repeat those general points for you before we move on. Get to know your audience, choose your pictures wisely and avoid bias.
[pause]
OK, so let’s take a simplified look at the process of making a news report. As with any project, the first stage is planning. What you have to remember is the five Ws: Who, What, When, Where and Why. These are the five questions you need to have answers to. Once you’ve gathered the information about the story, you need to put together a script. The key advice here is – keep it simple or you may lose your audience. As part of writing the initial script, try to visualise the report in your mind. Make sure you’re clear on who you’re going to interview, where this interview will take place, the questions you want to ask, and what shots you’re going to include. After that it’s time to get the camera rolling. A news report begins with the reporter talking to the camera and giving a brief introduction to the story. Keep it snappy. Don’t go into unnecessary detail or say things that will be covered by the interviewees. Just outline the story that your report will tell in a straightforward and appealing way. The next stage of the report is the interview or interviews. Choose someone directly affected by the story who can put their ideas across in a clear and concise way. This could be, say, a witness who observed the events of the story directly. The ideal place to interview them is somewhere that reveals something about the person or the events of the story. For example, if he or she works in a factory affected by the story, interview him or her inside the factory with machinery and workers in the background. On the other hand, there shouldn’t be too much going on in the background as that would detract from the story.
OK, moving on to the second interview. This person’s views should contrast with those of the first speaker. I’ve already mentioned the need to avoid being accused of bias, and that’s why his or her position on the story must be different. So, if the first person was a worker in the factory explaining why jobs must be saved, the second interviewee could be one of the factory managers giving their perspective on why job cuts are necessary. Now, depending on the length of your report, you might or might not have time for other views and shots. But the piece should finish with the reporter on camera again, rounding up the story, and if possible saying something about the possible next steps in this story. For example, if the story is about a court case, when the verdict is expected. So that’s about it. To sum up, be fair, be balanced and be interesting. Now, are there any questions?
Exercise 5:
Good afternoon, everyone. So today’s talk is divided into two parts. In the first part I’m going to try the decision-making process behind choosing what stories to publish in a newspaper. Later, in the second part of my talk, I will explain the process of producing a print newspaper. So, first of all, I’d like to consider the question ‘What is news?’ It’s a question I get asked all the time. Well, to put it in very simple terms, it is ‘anything new’. However, that definition is extremely vague and open to interpretation. In other words, it doesn’t really help a newspaper editor decide what stories to include. So a better question would be ‘What factors help newspaper editors decide which stories make it into their newspaper?’ Well, of course, it’s a slightly different process for TV news programmes because TV editors have to be more selective about what to include. TV news shows are restricted by length and can be as short as five minutes. Newspapers don’t have these restrictions but even with print or online newspapers, there are many more stories vying for attention than those that actually appear in the final edition. Returning to the question then, what makes a news story newsworthy?
What is it that grabs the attention and makes you want to interact with the story? Basically, it is anything with personal relevance for the reader. This presents us with two more questions: How do we as newspaper editors decide what is relevant and what is not? And what is it that makes a story personal? The answer is that it very much depends on your audience.., and a good newspaper editor chooses stories based on their relevance and personal interest to their
audience. He or she needs to know what sells their newspaper because at the end of the day, if our newspapers don’t sell, we don’t have a job. A successful editor doesn’t just think about their audience, they also need to keep an eye on the competition, and this is the final factor I want to address in this part of my talk. To clarify, the competition is other newspapers or news channels. If a story is getting a lot of attention and coverage elsewhere, then, as an editor, you need to find a way to include it in your newspaper.
[short pause]
So, now to move on to the second part of my talk, which is the process of putting together an edition of a printed newspaper. The first stage is a continuous process in which journalists are collecting and writing up stories and the marketing people are positioning the advertisements, and this is known as the news gathering stage. As soon as an article is finished, it’s passed on to the second stage of the process – editing. Both content and language have to be edited. Facts may need to be checked and changes made to the language to ensure the tone of the piece fits the style of the newspaper and the message the editor wants to convey. There may be a number of different editors, depending on the size of the newspaper, and each editor needs to use a contrasting colour to edit so that it’s easy to see who has made the changes. For example, sub-editors use red, the chief sub-editor uses blue and the editor uses green. Once all the editing is finished, we move on to the next stage, which is called pre-press. This stage is concerned with layout. Each page of the newspaper is laid out and designed with stories, pictures and adverts. A prototype, or first version of each page is made. Nowadays, these are then transformed into digital form by graphic designers. The pre-press stage is followed by the press or lithographic stage. Traditionally, and in places where digital printing isn’t used, the stories and adverts are registered on a plate – an iron sheet in the size and shape of the newspaper. Next comes the impression stage. The plates are hung on the printing press and the final copies are printed out. For some of the national newspapers this can run to thousands of copies that need to be collected and put in order before the final stage – circulation, when the newspapers are sent out to be distributed across the country. Although digital technology now plays a part in this whole process, it’s actually remarkably similar to the way it has always been done. The process from beginning to end typically takes about 12 hours as it’s a very fast-moving business.