9.3 Newspaper Stories
9.3.1 When you read a newspaper you never want to read all the articles and
stories. Usually you check the headlines and just choose to read those articles
which look interesting. Look at these three newspaper headlines:
SARS Measures At Customs
Customs Bust Smuggling Soviet Coins and Medals
Customs Foils Smuggling of 80,000 Cigarettes Packs
Which headlines do you think will have stories of interest to you?
9.3.2 Look at the following list of words. They all come from the stories that
go with the headlines. Which words do you think go with which headline? Why?
cultural value passenger (n) arrival (n) require(v) detain(v)
inscription (n) confiscate (v) brand (n) order(n) seize (v)
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom)
9.3.3 Choose one headline only and read the story for the headline you’ve
chosen:
Text 1
Primorye customs officers detained a Chinese man on Tuesday who tried to
smuggle out Soviet coins and medals with cultural value, the customs authorities
said. The 24-year-old Yan Khan Si, returning from a business trip, carried three
medals with the inscription "Veteran of Labor," one dedicated to the 70th
anniversary of the Armed Forces of the USSR, a World War Two order and nine
Soviet coins dating back to 1922 and 1957. He said that he intended them for his
collection in his Harbin homers.
Text 2
The Federal Government is planning to introduce new customs measures for
all passengers entering Australia to help identify people who may have been
exposed to the SARS virus. As part of the immigration process, plane or sea
arrivals already fill out an incoming passenger card (IPC), which requires personal
information and details on food, plant or animal matter being brought into
Australia. The Government now intends to introduce an additional card, which will
contain questions to determine the extent to which a person may have been
exposed to SARS, the deadly pneumonia which has already killed more than 500
people worldwide.
Text 3
AMMAN — The Customs Department seized an estimated 80,000 packs of
cigarettes at dawn Sunday and foiled an attempt to smuggle 40 kilogrammes of
silver into the country two days ago, a senior department official said on Sunday.
“The cigarettes, which included both US Marlboro and French Gauloises brands,
were confiscated in Karamah near the eastern border with Iraq,” Department
Director General Mahmoud Qteishat said. Even though Marlboro and Gauloises
are being locally manufactured, attempts to smuggle the brands into the country are
on the increase.
9.3.4 Say whether the following statements are true or false:
1) The Customs agency is planning to introduce new measures only for female
passengers entering Australia.
2) The Customs Department in Amman seized 40 kilos of silver.
3) Smuggler of Soviet orders told he had intended them for his relatives.
4) Marlboro and Gauloises are not manufactured in Amman.
5) The smuggler from Harbin tried to smuggle out nine coins three orders and
two medals from Russia.
6) Attempts to smuggle cigarettes into Amman are decreasing.
9.3.5 Match a line in A with a line in B (one item has been done for you):
a. if you seize something, you usually 1 marking a surface with something
written ( esp. some name)
b. an order is
c. to smuggle
d. inscription means
e. pneumonia
f. to expose to
g. measure
2 take hold of eagerly and forcefully.
3 to take goods from one country to
another illegally
4 a serious desease of the lungs with
inflammation and difficulty
in breathing
5 a system for calculating amount
size, weight, etc.
6 to uncover, to leave unprotected
7 a special honor award given for
service, bravery, etc.