新编大学基础英语综合教程4教案unit 5

Lesson 1 Hitting the Headlines

Learning Objectives:

1. Discussing newspaper headlines and matching to photos.

2. Matching stories to headlines.

3. Reading news stories for detail.

4. Listening to news reports for detail.

5. Revising & practising passive constructions.

6. Writing and presenting a news report..

Speaking

1. Work in pairs. Look at the sentences (1–5) and discuss these questions.

1) Where do you think they come from?

2) What do you notice about the language used?

(1) Where do you think they come from?

They are all headlines from newspaper stories.

2)What do you notice about the language used?

They use simplified language, e.g. Omitting articles and simplifying tenses. They also use assonance (avalanche agony) and alliteration (Seb the Sailor). Neat, catchy and established phrases (happy ending, perfect alibi) are used to attract the reader.

2. Match the sentences (1–5) to the pictures (a–e).

Reading: Lexical preparation

(1) accuse: v. (accuse sb. of sth.) : to say that sb. has done sth. wrong or is guilty of sth.

e.g. The government was accused of incompetence.

2) charge: v. (charge sb. with sth./ with doing sth.): to accuse sb formally of a crime so that there can be a trial in a court of law

e.g. He was charged with murder.

3) convict: v. [often passive] (convict sb. of sth.): to decide and state officially in a court of law that sb. is guilty of a crime

e.g. He was convicted of fraud.

4) allege: v. [often passive] (formal) to state sth. as a fact but without giving proof (It is alleged that…)

e.g. —It is alleged that he mistreated the prisoners.

—He is alleged to have mistreated the prisoners.

5) chance: [U] the way that some things happen without any cause that you can see or understand (by chance)

e.g. I met her by chance (=without planning to) at the airport.

6) impress: v. (formal) to have a great effect on sth., esp. sb’s mind, imagination, etc. (impress sth. / itself on sth.)

7) catch up with sb. :

①if the police or authorities catch up with sb., they find and punish them after some time

e.g. The law caught up with him years later when he had moved to Spain.

②to reach sb. who is ahead by going faster or reach the same level or standard as sb. who was better or more advanced

e.g. He had to work hard to catch up with the others after missing a term through illness.

8) be / get caught up in sth. : to become involved in sth., especially when you do not want to be

e.g. Innocent passers-by got caught up in the riot.

9) attempt: n. an act of trying to do sth., especially sth. difficult, often with no success

(in an attempt to do)

(make an attempt to do)

Reading

1. Match the first lines of each news story below (a–e) to the full stories (i–v). What do all the first lines have in common?

a) A Mafia hitman who was believed to have been responsible for ...

b) A British climber made an extraordinary journey ...

c) A Japanese man drove his car through a train station ...

d) A man has been jailed for three years ...

e) A 15-year-old boy from Cowes has become the youngest person ...