The Course of English for University Students (Step 3). Учебное пособие

MASS MEDIA

find an odd collection of smoking paparazzi and teenage girls with hearts painted on their faces. We spend the next three hours hanging around, the paps gossiping and moaning about the business and the teenage fans discussing the dream meeting with the lead singer, boy band habits and the cost of boy band paraphernalia. Eventually I have to go to the loo and when I return the crowd has gone. I feel a pang of disappointment, but it turns out nothing happened. The singer apparently slipped out via a side entrance, although I later find out he hadn’t actually been there at all but in Singapore!

Miguel tells me there are possibilities over in Tribeca. We hop on our bikes again and the pattern of the day has been set: cycle, stand around, chat, hopes are dashed, move on. The best we get is a minor soap star, who Miguel spots en route eating a hot dog on a street corner. Miguel sends off the photo to his agency but is doubtful he’ll see much money from it.

The demand for photos is rising with the spread of fashion magazines and so-called ‘click bait’Internet stories such as ‘18 stars who have grown old badly’.At the same time, of course, there is also increasing competition from amateur ‘paps’ exploiting opportunities with their smartphones, as well as from other professionals. As a result, apart from the very biggest exclusives, the money to be gained is not great. Still, Miguel sees it as steadier than the photojournalism he used to do.

And despite the slow day, Miguel remains upbeat. ‘Hey, this is how things can go. I sometimes go hunting with my father. You can spend time preparing a hide and sit for hours up a tree waiting for a deer to appear and then,whenitdoes,you screw up the shot andit’sgone.Othertimesyouhit the target. Being a paparazzo is the same – it’s just in the city and nothing gets killed!’ I suggest that while no-one gets killed, people do get hurt. ‘Yeah – and sometimes it’s the paparazzo.’ He knows several who have been punched by bodyguards and ended up in hospital, but he states this matter-of-factly and without complaint. ‘You know, we live by the sword and the celebs do too. It’s just a question of respect. It’s like the hunting – you must respect the animal or it is not honest.’

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There’s a phone call. Apparently, Leo is at Up and Down. I’d rather go to bed, but in for a penny! This might be the one that finally makes the day worthwhile.

Ex. 8. Which statements below do you agree with?

1.The article made me think a bit differently about paparazzi.

2.I found some of the article amusing.

3.I found both the writer and the paparazzo annoying.

4.The analogy between photography and hunting is a good one.

5.The writer isn’t critical enough of the paparazzo.

6.There’s a bit in the article I didn’t get.

Ex. 9. Decide where each extract below should go in the article. There is one extract for each paragraph.

1 – the intrusions, the hassle, the lack of privacy

2 He shows me an almost identical shot from a week before.

3 – the dream shot, rumours of affairs, agencies squeezing prices -

4 He seems happy enough to be recognised (though I didn’t know him!) and poses for us.

5 He also supplements his income teaching at an art college. 6 – you’ve literally blown your chance

7 The chase is on again.

Ex. 10. Discuss the questions.

•What magazines or TV programmes do you know that focus on celebrity news? Do you ever look at them? How popular are they? Why?

•Which celebrities are in the news most at the moment? Why?

•Are there any famous people you would like to know more about? Who? What do you want to know?

•What different ways does the media use to gather celebrity news?

•What are the paparazzi? What image do you have of them?

Ex. 11 Check you understand the words and phrases in bold below. Then discuss to what degree you share each opinion – and why.

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1)I find watching the news incredibly upsetting. It just leaves me feeling helpless.

2)Too much power is concentrated in the hands of too few media barons.

3)I’m quite content to just keep up with bits and pieces of news via social media.

4)I’m not interested in foreign affairs. What happens overseas has nothing to do with me.

5)Real news is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress – all the rest is advertising!

6)I wouldn’t pay for any type of news. As a citizen, it’s my right to know the news.

7)Rolling 24-hour news is incredibly addictive. People just get totally hooked on it.

8)There’s too much speculation on the news and too few hard facts.

Text 3

Read a phone-in programme about the Internet. Take notes on the risks and problems mentioned. M = Michael (presenter), J = Joyce, О = Oliver, N = Nigel

M: Now I’m guessing that many of you – like me – may have raised an eyebrowthisweekwhenyouheardthatkidsasyoungaseightarereceiving treatment for Internet addiction. And this is a problem that’s surely set to get worse, of course, given that it’s just been announced that over 40% of the world’s population – a whopping three billion people – is now online. Three billion! Can you believe it?And that’s why today w e’re turning our attention yet again to the World Wide Web, and asking whether the Internet is becoming more of a curse than a blessing.As ever, if the show’s to work, we need you to call up and tell us what’s on your mind.And I think we have our first caller on line one. It’s Joyce in Crawley. Joyce, hello.

J: Oh, hello, Michael. Thank you. Yes. Well, I’ve been a university lecturer for some 40 years now and I’m on the verge o f retiring. I’m due to stop work in the summer and I must say I’m awfully glad about it.

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M: Why’s that, then, Joyce?

J: Well, to be frank, I think the Internet has created a generation of idiots and I honestly don’t think things are likely to get any better in the foreseeable future.

M: Well, that’s a fairly bleak appraisal. What is it about the Web that particularly concerns you, Joyce?

J: Well, the main thing is simply the ease of access it provides. I’m obviously not opposed to people being able to access useful information, but most students nowadays have lost the ability to construct their own essays or think their own way through a question. They simply cut and paste and hand things in, which appals me.

M: So, plagiarism, in short?

J: Exactly. But you try telling them that!

M: Well, luckily, I don’t have to, Joyce, and on the plus side, you w on’t have to either for that much longer. Next up, I think it’s Oliver phoning in from Barnstable.Are you there, Oliver?

O: Yes, Michael. Can you hear me?

M: Loud and clear, Oliver. What’s on your mind?

O: Well, what worries me, Michael, is the fact there’s no delete button on the Web.

M: OK. You’re going to have to expand on that a bit, Oliver. I’m not quite sure I know what you mean.

O: Well, look. People like me, what you might call digital natives, right. We’ve grown up with the Internet and sharing online is a normal part of how we live. Most young people don’t think twice about what they share when – and I just think that’s bound to cause problems in the long run.

M: You think there’s some over-sharing going on then, Oliver?

О: I do, yeah, and I think people are pretty naive too.You know, they’ll post up crazy photos from parties and fire off comments in the heat of the moment and just assume that they can delete it all later.

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M:Well, there are firms that can tidy up your online profile these days, aren’t there?

O:Yeah, sure, to a degree ... but you can never really know if someone’s copied what you’ve posted, can you? And things can easily come back to haunt you later on.

M:And you’re saying the chances of people avoiding all this are pretty

slim?

O:To put it mildly, yes. People need to wake up – and wise up, really.

M:Sound advice, I’d say. Next up is Nigel, in Manchester. Hello.

N:Hello there, Michael. Nice to be with you. Long-time listener here. What I wanted to say was, it’s tim e we got tough and cracked down more on the Web.

M:And how do you propose we do that, then?

N:Well, if it were up to me, I’d arrest anyone caught looking at banned websites. I mean, they must know who these people are, mustn’t they, the government?

M:That’s a huge online policing presence you’re suggesting there, Nigel. And in all likelihood, most offenders are actually pretty harmless when it comes down to it.

N:Yeah, OK, but maybe we should make an example out of one or two people, then, you know. Hit them with the toughest sentences we can. Like all the spammers and online fraudsters, and so on. Do that and the odds are you’ll put others off.

M:Or do that and there’s a distinct possibility you’ll end up involved in a legal dispute about appropriate punishments, I would’ve thought, to be honest.

Ex. 12. Work in pairs. Compare your notes and answer the questions.

1.What two recent news stories about the Internet does the presenter mention?

2.How does Joyce claim that access to the Internet hasl affected her students’study skills?

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3.Why does Oliver mention digital natives?

4.What’s his main concern?

5.What’s Nigel’s first suggestion?

6.What flaw with this idea does the presenter point out?

7.What alternative proposal does Nigel put forward?

8.What possible problem with this idea does the presenter see?

Ex. 13. Work in groups. Discuss the questions.

•What do you think is the best treatment for kids who are addicted to the Internet?

•Do you agree that the Internet has had a negative effect on students’ abilities to think? Why? / Why not?

•Do you think plagiarism is a problem in your country? If yes, how do you think it should be tackled?

•Do you agree that people sometimes share too much online? Why? / Why not?

•Do you think making an example of a few spammers or fraudsters would be a sufficient deterrent to others? Why? / Why not?

•Can you think of any other problems with the Interne that were not mentioned? Which do you think is the most serious? Why?

Ex. 14. Think about how you have used the internet in the last 24 hours. Why have you used it? List the reasons. Then work in pairs and compare your lists.

tofindoutinformationontraintimes,tocheckmyemail,togetdirections

Ex. 15. Complete the sentences with these verbs:

connect download log in play search set-up subscribe upload write

1.To ………… a new online account, type in your personal details and click ‘enter’.

2.I don’t buy CDs anymore. It’s much easier to …………music.

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MASS MEDIA

3.I ………a weekly blog with all my family’s news.

4.A lot of my friends …………… online games, but I find them a bit boring.

5.When I need to find information, I …………. the internet.

6.I …….to a daily podcast which gives me all the latest news.

8.I use online banking because it’s so easy You just ……… with a password and your account details.

9.There’s no wifi here, so I can’t ……….. to the internet.

Ex. 16. Comment on the quotes:

1.We live in an age of rapid mass media, television, Internet. They determine our tempo, not books. (Don DeLillo)

2.Media literacy is not just important, it’s absolutely critical. It’s going to make the difference between whether kids are a tool of the mass media or whether the mass media is a tool for kids to use. ( Linda Ellerbee)

3.The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses. (Malcolm X)

4.Cinema is mass media, it is both overtly gross and exciting. It is our great mirror of society. (Nicolas Winding Refn)

5.Allowing for exceptions, there is still one basic difference between the traditional arts and the mass-media arts: in the traditional arts, the artist grows; in a mass medium, the artist decays profitably. (Pauline Kael)

Ex. 17. Project work: in small groups think of as many possible topics for a documentary as you can. It could be a radio programme or a video. The following tips may help you:

•What is the strong point of the topic you are considering?

•Has it got narrative or descriptive possibilities?

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•If you are going to present conflicting views, can you think of sufficiently varied sequences?

•You might think of something of local interest, such as reactions to a local tourist sight or museum, a local industry ot craft or a local artist.

Creative Task

Write an essay:

1.Mass Media

2.The Role of Mass Media in the Society.

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MODULE 4

CRIME

Police station

police force [pəˈliːs fɔːs] – полиция, органы полиции police service – полицейская служба

police station – полицейский участок police officer – полицейский

traffic warden – инспектор дорожного движения police patrol – полицейский патруль

mounted patrol – конный патруль

hedges of policemen – полицейское оцепление patrol dog – сторожевая собака

police whistle – полицейский свисток squad [skwɒd] – отряд, группа, команда

a drugs squad – группа полицейских по борьбе с наркоманией

(a division of a police force investigating crimes involving illegal drugs) an antiriot squad – отряды по борьбе с беспорядками

cop [kɔp] – (разг. от copper) коп, фараон (полицейский)

good cop, bad cop – хороший полицейский – плохой полицейский; злой следователь и добрый следователь, кнут и пряник (тактика полицейских при допросе, когда «плохого», жёсткого полицейского или следователя сменяет «добрый»; первый запугивает, второй делает вид, что проявляет понимание)

detective [dɪ’tektɪv] – следователь, детектив; сотрудник сыскной полиции, сыщик

police constable [‘kʌn(t)stəbl] – 1) констебль (низший полицейский чин в Великобритании и США) 2) полицейский; полисмен

police-sergeant [pə’liːs,sɑːdʒənt] – сержант полиции (полицейский чин, следующий после констебля)

police-inspector[pə,liːsɪn’spektə]–инспекторполиции(полицейский чин, следующий после сержанта полиции)

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coroner [‘kɔrənə] – коронер, следователь по убийствам coroner’s inquest – дознание по делу насильственной смерти inquest [‘ɪŋkwest] – следствие, дознание

to conduct / hold an inquest – вести следствие formal inquest – официальное следствие inquiry [ɪn’kwaɪərɪ] – расследование, следствие interrogation / examination / questioning – допрос cross-examination – перекрёстный допрос

Interview / interrogation room – комната для допроса to arrest – арестовать

detention [dɪ’ten(t)ʃ(ə)n] – задержание, арест; содержание под арестом

detention centre – изолятор временного содержания pre-trial prison – следственный изолятор

remand prison – тюрьма предварительного заключения

to keep on remand – держать в предварительном заключении remandhome/centre[rɪ’mɑːnd]–домпредварительногозаключения

для малолетних правонарушителей prison / jail – тюрьма

suspect – подозреваемый handcuffs [‘hændkʌfs] – наручники

to put handcuffs on – надевать наручники на кого-л. badge [bæʤ] – значок, жетон

gun – пистолет holster – кобура

nightstick [‘naɪtstɪk] – дубинка полицейского (a police officer’s club or billy)

riot gas [‘raɪət] / tear-gas [tɪə] – слезоточивый газ (использующийся для подавления мятежей, восстаний)

Court

court – суд

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