На чтение: ≈ 15 мин.Level: Upper-Intermediate – Advanced
Topic: Creative Writing; discussion.
Pre-Reading Activities
A. Discussion.
Answer the following questions in small groups, or singly.
1) Today you are going to read a news article. What makes you choose an article you wish to read?
2) Do you pay any attention to the title, or do you scan an article to see if it interests you?
3) If you were a reporter, would you name your article before or after you have written it?
B. Understanding the Headline.
Here is the headline of today▓s article:
Putin Views “Ground Zero” with New York Leaders.
Why do you think the expression “ground zero” is used? Usually it means the point under, above or at which an atomic explosion occurs.
Another expressive word used in similar situations is “epicenter”. Why is it not used here?
C. Vocabulary and Style.
Check that you understand these words from Part 1 of today▓s article:
1. smoldering (participle), smolder (v) burn slowly with little or no flame
2. shocked (participle) caused by a sudden unpleasant or sad event that upsets the feelings and mind
3. upset (participle) very sad
4. supportive (adj) giving or expressing encouragement, help; supporter (n)
5. entomb (v), fml bury, put in a large tomb
6. potent (adj) fml having great power, very effective
7. staunch (adj) loyal, steadfast
8. enduring (participle) remaining alive, especially in spite of difficulties
9. magnitude (n) fml greatness of size or importance
Are they simple everyday words you would use in your speech?
Reading Activities. Part 1.
Read Part 1 of today▓s article and answer the following questions:
1) Can you find synonyms for the words in bold?
2) Does the meaning of a sentence or paragraph change if you use synonyms instead of the words in bold?
3) Why are there no expressive words in the following sentence from Part 1:
Putin visited the site with a large entourage and security detail with a number of Russian security officials handling automatic rifles in plain sight.
4) What was the author▓s aim in using the words in bold?
Part 1.
Putin Views “Ground Zero” with New York Leaders
By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin walked with his wife Lyudmila amid the rubble of the still smoldering World Trade Center complex on Thursday, having just finished a three-day meeting with President Bush at his Crawford, Texas, ranch.
While Putin did not speak directly with reporters, he allowed New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to relay what he told him during the 13-minute tour.
“He was like so many others shocked at the extent of the devastation, very upset about it and supportive of the United States and what we need to do to defend ourselves against terrorism,” Giuliani said.
Putin visited the site with a large entourage and security detail with a number of Russian security officials handling automatic rifles in plain sight.
Giuliani led Putin up to a platform where he pointed out various areas of the World Trade Center complex that still smolders more than two months after two hijacked airliners crashed into the twin 110-story towers.
The destruction in lower Manhattan that entombed thousands has served as a potent reminder for visiting heads of state why they joined the U.S.-led coalition to fight global terrorism.
In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Putin has brought Russia forward as a staunch supporter of the international coalition, drawing praise from world leaders.
“He said this was a real opportunity for the people of Russia and the people of the United States to cement a very enduring friendship,” Giuliani said.
“He said that on a smaller scale the people of Russia have had to deal with terrorism for some time now, but they have never had to deal with anything of this magnitude and that the people of Russia have not become used to it but have learned to factor terrorism into their daily lives and this is something we are all going to have to do.”
(Continued…)
Article (c) Reuters, November 2001.
Reading Activities. Part 2.
A. Text Organization.
The beginnings of five sentences have been removed from Part 2 of today▓s article. They are listed here. Read Part 2 and try to put each sentence beginning in the correct place.
1) Putin agreed….
2) Putin was due….
3) On the platform…
4) Bush calls…
5) Earlier…
Part 2 (continued).
(1)____________Putin shook hands with three members of the New York City Fire Department. Like a number of other world leaders who have visited the site, Putin signed a wall attached to the platform to leave a mark of solidarity.
(2)___________ Bush said he and Putin had failed during their three days of discussions in Washington and Crawford to resolve differences over the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.
(3)_______________ the treaty a Cold War relic blocking missile defenses but Putin says it is essential to strategic security.
(4)_________________ to reduce the U.S. nuclear arsenal from about 7,000 warheads to a range between 1,700 to 2,250 while Putin agreed to go down from 6,000 warheads to about 1,500.
(5)__________________ to leave for Moscow on Thursday evening, but not before a scheduled visit to a Russian Orthodox Church in Manhattan followed by a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his last stop in America.
Article (c) Reuters, November 2001.
B. Answer the following question:
Is the style of part 2 in any way different from that of Part 1?
Post-Reading Activities.
A. Writing.
Rewrite the story from one of the following points of view:
a) a firefighter;
b) an official visiting the disaster area;
c) a survivor.
B. Writing an Essay in English:
If English is not your first language, you may wish to review some grammar topics before you write. Check and see if all the following recommendations are applicable in your case.
1. DO NOT write it first in your own language, than in English. There is a risk of losing the articles, link verbs, sequence of tenses.
2. DO write in English, keep a dictionary to hand if needed.
3. Formulate your TOPIC first.
4. It is useful to have a PLAN, to decide which points are the most important.
5. Every item of your plan should have the MAIN IDEA of a paragraph.
6. The INTRODUCTION should not be too long. There should be the main thesis, and that▓s about it. For example, “Happiness is when people understand you. I agree/disagree, because…”
Happiness is when people understand you. I agree/disagree with this statement.
7. The main part of your essay should show the DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR TOPIC, you may include quotations into it, divide it into logical parts.
8. CONCLUSION. A conclusion is a paraphrased introduction. You have told us about your topic in the beginning. Did you manage to develop it? What▓s your resume? If it is difficult for you to finish writing, use this prompt: “One can continue writing about this forever”.
9.It is good to have your composition CHECKED before you submit it. Here are some useful hints:
a) in every English sentence one may usually find a VERB;
b) nouns in the singular usually are preceded by an ARTICLE. If you can put the word “one” in front of a noun in your mind, then you should insert “a/an”, e.g. I see a man (one man), but Man is a sapient animal;
c) use Spell check or a dictionary;
d) NARRATIVE TENSES: if you start telling a story in one tense, you may wish to continue telling it in the same tense, or tenses. For example, if you say, “Then I ran. I see the sea”, it doesn▓t sound as good as, “Then I ran and saw the sea”.
10.DO NOT BE AFRAID. Everybody is a beginner at some time or another.
C. Extension.
Finding a Human Interest Story, and/or Writing a Human Interest Story.
A human interest story can be about anything that may touch the human heart and soul. Check the news on the Web, choose any story that interests you, and write your own version of the event.
Which words and expressions would you use, if you wrote a report about the same events?
Teacher▓s notes And answer key
Pre-Reading Activities.
A. Discussion.
1) Any answers should be accepted. If you think your students might have difficulties in answering this question, be ready to offer some additional material, e.g. newspapers and magazines.
2) Let every student or group of students express their views.
3) You can return to this question later after your students do the Writing exercise.
B. Understanding the Headline.
The difference is that the word “epicenter” is usually used to mean the point at which an earthquake occurs.
The difference in meanings is that “ground zero” is created by man, whereas “epicenter” is created by nature.
C. Vocabulary and Style.
After you have ascertained that your students understand all the words in this exercise, let them talk about vocabulary and style. They should realize that normal everyday speech is different from expressive writing. To create an unusual effect, a writer may use some words and expressions which may be marked as formal, expressive, literary or even old-fashioned in a dictionary.
Reading Activities. Part 1.
1) Remind the students that they can use the Vocabulary section from pre-reading activities.
2) Let them air their views on the subject of style and language.
3) This sentence is a plain statement of fact.
4) To create an unusual effect, to impress the readers and to evoke their sympathy.
Reading Activities. Part 2.
1) On the platform…
2) Earlier…
3) Bush calls…
4) Putin agreed…
5) Putin was due…
B. Suggested Answer:
Part 1 is devoted to Putin▓s visit to the site of a tragedy, so the reporter uses many expressive words.
Part 2 is a report on some other activities, which were quite usual for such a visit, so the language is different, more everyday and down-to-earth.
Post-Reading Activities.
A. Writing.
Let your students choose the point of view they wish to represent. We are not suggesting that they write from the point of view of a victim▓s relative because that might prove too emotional.
B. If you are teaching English as second or foreign language, you may wish to work through the list of recommendations first, to see which of the common difficulties mentioned may prove to be the stumbling blocks for your students. For example, they may be quite confident with the narrative tenses, but they may drop the articles or the linking verbs. You can do some revision exercises with them before they embark on writing an essay or a report.
C. Extension.
This is a good exercise if you have Web access. Suggest some well-known sites, like www.yahoo.com, or let them look for some famous publications like www.nytimes.com or www.people.com.
It is easier to use Yahoo or Netscape, because one can go directly to a news report; one has to subscribe to a newspaper or magazine on the Web before the materials can be opened.
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