UNIT1ThemassmediaBeacriticalnewsreader！adj.

批評的，批判性的Mostofuslearnaboutnewsthroughthemassmedia,butcanwejustbelievenewsasitispresented?Thetwonewsreportsandthearticlebelowencourageyoutobeacriticalnewsreader.Beforeyoureadthenewsreportsandthearticle,thinkaboutthefollowingquestions:Doyoubelieveeverythingyoureadinanewsreport?Whyorwhynot?SometimesIdo,butitdepends.IfthenewsisreportedbyanewsagencythatIknowistrustworthy,thenIwillusuallybelievethereport.However,ifthenewsisfromasourcethatIamnotfamiliarwith,Iwilloftencheckothersourcestocomparetheinformationinthereports.Moreover,ifaheadlineseemstobetooexaggeratedtobetrue,thenIwillalsocheckothernewsreportstoconfirmwhetheritisatruestory.Whatdoyouthinkmakesacriticalnewsreader?Ithinkacriticalnewsreaderwouldalwaysbearinmindthatanewsreportcanbegenuineorfake.Takingnoteofwhichnewsagencypublishedthenewsreportwouldhelpanewsreaderdecidewhetheritcontainsreliableinformation.Acriticalnewsreaderisalsoawarethatdifferentnewsreportsmayhavedifferentfocuses,soheorshewouldsearchforvariousreportsonthesameeventtoformacompletepictureofwhathappened.Moreimportantly,acriticalreaderwouldnotbeeasilyinfluencedbywhatisreportedinthenews;instead,heorshewouldformhisorherownjudgement.Readthetwonewsreportsandthearticle,andanswerthequestions.Newsreport1Newsreport2FirefightersputouttowerblockfireDeadlyfireintowerblockcausesseriousdamage1.Whatdoyouthinkthenewsreportareaboutaccordingtotheheadlineandthepictureofeachnewsreport?Fromtheheadlines,wecanseethatthefirstnewsreportfocusesonhowfirefightersputoutthefire,whilethesecondonemeanstotellushowseriousthefirewas.

Thepictureineachreportisaclose-upshotthatdrawsattentiontothefocusofeachnewsstory.

2.Whatisthepurposeofthearticleafterthenewsreports?Thepurposeofthearticleistoremindustoreadnewscriticallybyanalysingthedifferencesofthenewsreportsonthesameeventandgivingthereasonsforthosedifferences.Readthetwonewsreportsandcompletethetables.A1Newreport1Newsreport2HeadlineFirefightersputouttowerblockfireDeadlyfireintowerblockcausesseriousdamageTheleadSentence:________Sentence:_________DetailedinformationabouttheeventSentences:________Sentences:_________BackgroundorsupportinginformationSentence:________Sentences:__________12-6712-67-8TimePlaceDeathsandinjuriesRescueeffortsCauseNewsreport1SundaynightHendersonTower(1)____________________(2)__________________________________________________________________________________________________Newsreport24confirmeddeadanddozensofpeopleinjured(3)_____________________________________probablyFireenginesandAdroppedcigaretteendonacarpetofthe8thfloor5deadwithin15minutesafterambulancesarrivedbeingcalled;firefighterscontrolaround11p.m.gotthesituationunderReadthearticleandsummarizethemainideaofeachparagraph.

Newsreportsusuallycomewithdifferences.Differencesbetweennewsreportsmaydependonhowandwhenthenewsreportsarewritten.Wecanbecomecriticalnewsreadersinmanyways.Part1:Para.___Part2:Paras.___Part3:Para.___Readingnewsreportscritically12–34ReadingnewsreportscriticallyWhydonewsreportsdifferfromorevencontradicteachother?(4)_____________________________________.Newsreportsmaybewrittenatdifferentstagesofanevent.(5)_______________________________________________________________________________.Howcanwebecriticalnewsreaders?Readdifferentnewsreportsonthesameeventwrittenfromvariousperspectivesandatdifferentstages.(6)_______________________________________________________________________________.JournalistsmayhavedifferentprioritiesJournalistsmayapproachinformationtheygetfromresearchorinterviewsdifferently

BecriticalabouttheinformationwereceiveandremembernottoblindlytrustwhatwehavereadReadthearticleandcompletethetable.Readthetwonewsreportsandthearticleagaincarefullyandanswerthefollowingquestions.A21Howlongdidittakethefirefighterstogetthesituationundercontrolaccordingtothefirstnewsreport?Aboutanhourandfifteenminutes.2HowdidLisafeelaboutthefireaccordingtothesecondnewsreport?Shefeltitwaslikeanawfuldream.3Whatshouldwenotdowhenwecomeacrossfactualdifferencesindifferentnewsreports?Weshouldnotrushtotheconclusionthatoneofthenewsreportsgivesfalseinformation.4Whatmaydifferentjournalistsdowhenanestimateofanumberisgiven?Theymaychoosetopresenttheminimum,themaximumorsomethinginbetweenintheirnewsreports.Readthetwonewsreportsandthearticleagainandanswerthefollowingquestions.Fromthefirstsentenceandthedateofthefirstnewsreport,wecanseethatitwaswrittenthedayafterthefire.Atthestageoftheevent,informationsuchasthecauseofthefireandnumberofdeathsandinjurieshadnotyetbeeninvestigatedorconfirmed.Thesecondreportwaswrittentwodaysaftertheevent.Bythentheinvestigationintotheeventhaddevelopedfurther,providingthejournalistwithmoredetailedinformationsuchasthenumberofdeathsandinjuries.1.Fromthedateofeachnewsreport,canyouseewhythenewsreportscontaindifferentinformation?2.WhatisthefunctionofthequotationfromLisaMayerinthesecondreport?ThequotationfromLisaMayerismeanttoprovideapersonalaccountofhowseriousthefirewas,aswellastoaddtotheauthenticityofthenewsreport.3.Whatdoes“discrimination”inthelastsentenceofthearticlemean?Whyisitimportantforacriticalnewsreader?Discriminationmeanstheabilitytojudgewhatistrue.It’sveryimportantforacriticalnewsreader,becauseitenableshimorhertousehisorherjudgementinsteadofrelyingentirelyonnewsreports.Inpairs,discussthefollowingquestions.A31Threetextsarepresentedtoencouragethereadertoreadnewscritically.Whyistheinformationorganizedthisway?Ifyouweretowriteonthesametopic,whatinformationwouldyouchoosetopresentandhowwouldyouorganizetheinformation?Theinformationisorganizedinalogicalwaysothatreadersunderstandtheauthor’sintentioneasily.First,readersarepresentedwiththetwonewsreports,sotheycancomparethedifferencesbetweenthetwoperspectives.Thenthethirdtextprovidesinformationandexplanationsregardingthesedifferences,sothatreadershaveaclearideawhytheyshouldbecriticalwhenreadingnewsreportsandhowtobecriticalnewsreaders.IfIweretowriteanarticleonthetopicofreadingnewsreportscritically,Iwouldfirstwriteashortpassageaboutwhyitisimportanttoreadnewscriticallyandthenaskstudentstoreadtwodifferentnewsreportsaboutthesamestory.Afterthenewsreports,Iwouldpresentanothershortpassageonhowtobecomeacriticalnewsreader.Organizingtheinformationinthiswaywillgetstudentstothinkaboutthe“why”astheyarereadingthenewsreports.Thenafterreadingthe“how”passage,theycanreflectonwhethertheirreadingofthearticleswascriticalornot.Studentscanthenre-readthearticlestoapplyboththe“why”andthe“how”knowledgetheynowhaveinordertopractisereadingc