Unit 9 Text A
What’s new
I, Teaching aims
Get students to master the following words and phrases.
consist, contain, distribute, inform, intend, publish, range, lend, typical, weekly, a number of, as well as, be devoted to, consist of, enter into, keep up with, listen to, supply …with,
Get students to master the v.+adj./n.+to v/that-clause structure
Help students to form a good habit of keeping up with the pace of word by means of all kinds of media.
Ⅱ.Main difficult points
Comprehension of the text
Usage of the words, phases and skills mentioned above
Forming a good habit of being well-informed
Ⅲ.Teaching arrangement
The whole unit will be finished within 8 periods, 4 for text A and 4 for text B respectively. As to text A, 2 periods will be used to cover the words, background information and comprehension of the text, and the other 2 for the language points and the exercises. As to text B, 2 periods will be needed for the text and exercises respectively.
Teaching Procedures
I. Introductory Remarks
1.Introductory Remarks
In the modern world, it is important to get information because success in life depends on it. In order to get the latest information people read newspapers and magazines, listen to the radio and watch television. People who own home computers even receive their news directly from wire services. In this passage the writer tells us something about the sources of information in the United States.
2. Introductory questions
Refer to Exercise 3 in the students’ book.
3.Background Information
Newspaper: A newspaper, in a broad sense, is an unbound publication issued at regular intervals that aims to inform, analyze, influence, and entertain. There are several newspapers in the United States that have huge circulations (such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today with about 2 million each), and there are very small specialized newspapers (for example, country weeklies and college newspapers) with circulations of a few thousand at most. Of the US dailies (with some 60million circulation) in those with the highest visibility and reputations were the serious general dailies, the so-called quality or elite dailies. Exemplifying them are the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, the "big three" of American prestige dailies. They enjoy strong national and global reputations and stress foreign and national news, analysis and interpretation, politics, science, economics, and culture. Readership, however, is probably three times the circulation figure because newspapers are shared, some are posted, and others placed in libraries and other public sites. Worldwide, about 8000of these newspapers are dailies. About a third of all newspapers are published in North America, another third in Europe, and the remaining third in the rest of the world.
Magazine: Magazines and periodicals are bound, paper-covered publications issued regularly usually weekly, monthly, to inform, instruct, or entertain. Although magazines cater to a host of diverse interests, most fall into one of four broad categories: consumer or general, for segments of the general public; trade and technical, with specialized information for readers in business, industry, finance, low-circulation, noncommercial literary journals. Before the recession of 1990-1991more than 11,500magazines and periodicals were published in the United States. Three-quarters of the US adult population buys one or more magazines in the course of a year, and increasingly, readers subscribe, usually for a year's worth of issues, rather than buy single issues as they are published. Advertisers bought an annual billion in magazine advertising in the early 1990s, a sum representing more than s percent of total advertising expenditures. (In contrast, newspapers received over 25 percent.)
The period between the two world wars saw the establishment of the newsweekly Time and the picture weekly Life, the two magazines upon which publishing magnate Henry R. Luce established his empire; and the founding (1922) of Reader's Digest, which reprinted condensed versions of articles from other magazines and became the prototype for the many pocket-style periodicals that followed.
Radio and Television Broadcasting: The A. C. Nielsen Company, which measures audience size, reported in 1982 that 98.2% of US homes contained at least one television and that the average set is turned on for seven hours per day. According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, in 1990 only l % of US homes had no radio, and the average household owned at least five radios.
All three television networks emerged from existing radio networks. The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is part of RCA. The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) was bought by the American executive William S. Paley in 1929, when it was a small, struggling radio network. The youngest of the three networks came into existence when the US Department of Justice forced NBC to sell one of Its two radio networks in . The network was bought by the candy manufacturer Edward J. Noble, who renamed it the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and oversaw its transition to producing television.
In the late 1970s, however, ABC moved to first place in the ratings and remained there for several years. The company grew into a large corporate empire that includes motion picture theaters, a recording company, and publishing companies. In 1986 a merger took place between ABC and Capital Cities Communications, Inc. A fourth US commercial network, the Fox Broadcasting Company, owned by Australian-born publisher Rupert Murdoch, began to capture a significant share of young adult audiences in the late 1980s A fifth network also exists, which, because of its origins in educational broadcasting, is notably different from the other four.
Seeking to provide an alternative to commercial broadcasting, educational stations banded together in 1967 to establish the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Through the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS began to produce its own national programming. What was once strictly educational programming typified by professors at blackboards became public broadcasting with a wide variety of offerings: While CNN (Cable News Network), baaed in Atlanta, Georgia, becomes the first hour television network devoted entirely to news broadcasts. Its sister network, CNN International, can be received in more than 2oo countries,
Ⅱ. Outline
Para 1
People get news by means of different media.
Para 2
Different kinds of newspapers are introduced.
Para 3
News magazines are explained in details.
Para 4
The two important means of media----radio and television are introduced.
Para 5
Students find the news a useful source of language learning.
Ⅲ.Detailed Study of the Text
l. In the modern world, it is important to be well-informed.
well-informed: knowing a lot, usually about many different subjects
e.g. He's, very well-informed, that's why he won the general knowledge competition.
cf. well-bred: well-behaved or polite
well-dressed: dressing well
inform: to give information to
He wants to see Barbara to inform her of his idea.
I informed her that I was unwell.
cf. information: (un)news or knowledge given
We should pay more and more attention to the importance of information.
2. Success in many fields depends on getting the latest information.
Success in many fields relies on/ needs getting the most recent news.
depend on: rely on; be determined by
e.g. Whether we can finish the project on schedule depends on our preparation.
Since we have grown up, we should not depend on our parents any longer.
latest: most recently
e.g. Have you heard the latest news?
3. To keep up with what is happening in the world…
…to learn/ be aware of what is happening in the world
keep up with: to learn about or be aware of (the news, current events, etc.); move or progress at the same rate as someone or something
e.g. I can’t keep up with all the changes in information technology.
It is advised that young people should form a habit of life leaning to keep up with the development of the society.
Pay attention to the difference of the three phrases ended in “up with”------keep up with, catch up with and put up with..
catch up with: come up to somebody who is going in the same direction; overtake
e.g. If I had worn the proper shoes, I would have caught up with you.
put up with: bear; stand
We have to move to the country, for we could not put up with the noise from the factories.
4. supply someone with something / supply something to someone : to give someone something that is needed or useful; provide someone with something
e.g. This farm supplies people with milk and vegetables,.
Computers supply people with considerable knowledge, therefore we will make good use of them.
5. The Typical daily contains… as well as sports news, weather reports, editorials, and other features.
contain: have or hold within itself
e.g. Whisky contains a large percentage of alcohol.
as well as: and... as well; in addition to
e.g. The Sunday papers, on the other hand, are intended to entertain as well as inform.
Mr. Brown, as well as their children, is greatly interested in Chinese history and culture.
6.… an enlarged Sunday edition, … plus a number of entertainment and advertisement supplements.
a Sunday edition that has more pages than editions published on other days
enlarge: to become bigger or make something larger
en-: (pref.) to cause to be
e.g. able enable courage encourage danger endanger force enforce joy enjoy rich enrich
a number of : several
e.g. There are a number of reasons why this happened.
the number of : the quality or amount of something
The number of books missing from the library is large.
entertainment and advertising supplements: separated parts of the newspapers that are added to them and are devoted to entertainment and advertising.
7.... are intended to entertain as well as inform, and they tend to be read leisurely by all members of the family.
The purpose of the Sunday papers is not only to provide information but also to give people entertainment and these papers are likely to be read by all members of the family in a leisurely way.
be intended to do: to be designed to do
e.g. These exercises are intended to enlarge the students' vocabulary.
This sweet wine is intended to be drunk after a meal.
cf. be intended for: to be planned or made for a particular person or purpose
e.g. The beer was intended for me but the man had drunk it. intend to do something : to have decided or planned to do something
e.g. This is my job and I intend to do it.
She intends to go shopping this afternoon.
tend to: If something tends to happen, it happens usually or often.
e.g. I tend to wake up early in the morning.
Women tend to live longer than men.
8. They contain articles about the important national and international news of the week, and special sections are devoted to news about such areas as business, science, education, and arts.
They have articles about what is happening at home and abroad in the week, and special sections are given to carry news about such areas as business, science, education, and arts.
devote... to: to spend time, money, or energy, etc. on something
e.g. The newspaper devotes two pages to comics.
Three whole pages of today’s paper are devoted to reporting yesterday’s bomb explosion.
Mary devoted her life to caring the sick.
cf. devotion : the noun form of devote
the devotion for: the strong, deep love for
e.g. The teacher’s devotion to the course of education makes him an excellent teacher.
9. News magazines are a popular source of general information on a wide range of recent events.
range: the maximum area of something or a number of different things of the same general kind
A range of things is number of different things of the same general kind.
e.g. The two men discussed a range of issues.
The shop keeps a wide range of goods.
cf. range from…to… : be between… and…
The tips range from 10 percent to 15 percent for service in some western countries.
10. They also feature longer articles dealing with the influence of current events on modern life.
News magazines also include/ contain as a special item longer articles which are concerned with the influence of the events happening now on the modern life.
current events: current affairs, events that are happening now.
deal with: If a book , speech ,or film, etc. deals with a particular subject, it is concerned with it or it is about it.
e.g. The film deals with the War.
When you deal with a situation or problem, you do what is necessary to achieve the result you want.
e.g. They learned to deal with any sort of emergency.
Such a man / a problem is difficult to deal with.
11. all- news stations: radio stations that only broadcast news.
all – news: consisting only of news.
all- (comb. form) consisting or made only of; of/for the whole
e.g. all- England, all-day, all- night, all-purpose, all-time
12.The evening news generally consists of a national network news program and a local news program, while at night it is usually a local program.
The evening news generally is formed from national network news program and a local news program, but at night it is usually a local program “while” is used in the sense of “but”.
e.g. I spend two hours getting ready to go out while Rose is ready in then minutes!
consist of: to be made up of ,be composed of
e.g. The island of Great Britain consists of England, Scotland, and Wales.
The committee consists of scientists and engineers.
13. in addition(to): also, and ,besides
e.g. In addition, I have to attend a meeting.
In addition to apples, I have also bought some oranges.
14. … students find it easier to enter into conversation about the news.
enter into: to start doing sth. or start being involved in sth.
e.g. enter into an important agreement / enter into a contact with a firm
He entered into business after graduation.
The two organizations entered into debates.
15 . it easier to enter into conversation about the news : the structure of v. + it + ad}. I n. + to V / that clause
e.g. They all considered it impossible to get everything ready in time.
We all thought it a pity that you didn't come.
We found it difficult to deal with such a man.
IV. Summary of the Text
It is important to keep up with what is happening in the modem world because success in many fields depends on it. One source of information is the newspaper, of which there are two kinds: daily newspapers for informing busy people and Sunday papers for entertaining as well as informing. Another source of information is the news magazine, which mainly contains weekly news, news about special fields, and longer news articles. In addition, radio and TV provide another important source, containing hourly news and news commentaries and even foreign language news, a useful form of language practice.
Ⅴ. Exercises
Finish off the exercises for this part.