Vocabulary Exercises

Ex. 1. Translate the word combinations in bold type into Russian.

1. After waiting weeks for a day when it would get maximum media exposure, the Labour Party launched its new policies for industry on February 25 just as the Gulf War got going.

2. The trial of Bruno Hauptmann for the 1932 kidnapping of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby attracted media attention unlike anything before.

3. The government has been particularly annoyed at the involvement of the French state in what they are calling a hostile media campaign.

4. Black had set his heart on the “News”, which he saw as a key part of his plan to build a worldwide media empire.

5. The thought of a quiet ceremony and a small dinner party to follow is becoming more attractive to stars as they watch publicised marriages like Elizabeth Taylor’s being transformed into a media circus.

6. The director of the campaign for the homeless said yesterday’s government announcement is no substitute for a proper national housing policy. “We were quite upset about the amount of attention this announcement was given, and the amount of media hype that went on around it. Actually there was no new money and it was a new initiative.”

7. Those people ought to be our priority. I don’t think they would be best pleased to hear this domestic squabble about the leadership of the Conservative Party being hyped up by the media at this sort of time.

8. Reporters were kept away from the group when they arrived from Nairobi amid fears that any media coverage of the event might compromise their safety.

Complete the task by combining the word media with the other words in the box below.

coverage exposure campaign hype

media

circus empire attention

1. Find three expressions referring to what the media give or show if they talk about something.

2. Find one expression for a very big media organization, perhaps one containing newspapers and TV stations.

3. Find one expression meaning excitement generated by the media not justified by reality.

4. Find one expression meaning a period of coverage in different media organised to change people’s opinions about something or someone.

5. Find one expression showing disapproval describing an event dominated by the presence of the media.

Ex. 2. Study the following abbreviations. Translate the names of the companies into Russian.

ABC – American Broadcasting Corporation

ABS – American Broadcasting System

BBC – British Broadcasting Company

CBS – Columbia Broadcasting System

CNN – Cable News Network

GMTV – Greenwich Meantime TeleVision

ITN – Independent Television News

MTV – Music TeleVision

NBC – National Broadcasting Company

Ex. 3. Match the parts in a) to j) with the wholes in 1) to 10).

a) keyboard 1) serial

b) spine 2) library

c) episode 3) set

d) entry 4) book

e) editorial 5) notepad

f) character 6) newspaper

g) reference book 7) novel

h) sheet 8) word-processor

i) semi-colon 9) punctuation

j) screen 10) index

Ex. 4. Look at the extracts and match the types of programmes to their definitions.

• His fiction was derived from “Dallas” and other glossy soap operas which are consumed abroad.

• By combining the phone-in with the talk-show, he was able to convey his reaction to the “concerns of the average American” more immediately than any other form.

• Being a good game-show host means getting to know your contestants.

• On my first appearance, interviewing a priest in the God slot, I tripped headlong over some wires and the programme was live.

• The whole point of quiz shows is that, sitting at home you can shout the answers.

• Good sitcom comes out of painful situations, and there doesn’t have to be a happy ending every time.

1) chat-show or a) contest of skill, intelligence or knowledge. The term includes talk-show quiz shows;

2) game show b) series about the lives of a group of people;

3) God slot c) short for situation comedy. Comedy series based around a character or group of characters, often an ‘ordinary’ family;

4) phone-in d) a well-known host invites quests to talk, often about something they are trying to sell or promote, like their latest book;

5) quiz show e) religious programme;

6) sitcom f) a host invites people to phone in and put questions to a studio guest, or just give their opinions about something;

7 soap opera or g) contest involving answering question.

soap

Ex. 5. Choose the most suitable word or phrase.

1. The journalist refused to disclose his … to the judge.

A information B source C sponsor D article

2. If you can’t pick up the BBC in the summer, try a different … .

A wavelength B broadcast C transmission D satellite

3. Some people feel that television should give less … to sport.

A programmes B coverage C concern D involvement

4. This article will be continued in our next … .

A publication B page C issue D serial

5. Here is a report from our political … .

A journalist B editorial C correspondent D bulletin

Ex. 6.

A. Put each of the following words or phrases in its correct place in the passage below.

viewers subjective mass media mass media quiz shows

indoctrinate channels objective soap operas commercials switch

(1) … is a phrase often used to describe ways of giving information and entertainment to very large numbers of people. It includes newspapers, advertising and radio and, of course, television. In most countries people can (2) … to any of three of four different (3) … . Do television programmes influence our minds? Do they (4) … us? Is the news completely (5) … (neutral) or is it (6) … (considered from one particular point of view)? Don’t the (7) … for alcohol, food and other goods condition our minds? Even the (8) … going on week after week telling the story of one family or group of people sometimes make us want to copy the life style we see on the screen. Also (9) … which give people big prizes for answering simple questions can make us greedy. Some programmes are watched by tens of millions of (10) … .

B. Complete the sentences by using the correct forms of the key words.

audience tune in network prime-time peak-time

slot broadcast ratings war spot ratings battle

1. Mr Akiyama’s space mission was paid for by the Tokyo Broadcasting System at a cost of more than $12 million in an effort to gain … from rival … .

2. Another problem is sleeping habits. The Germans eat dinner and go to bed earlier, so the French are starting on their first aperitif when the Arte channel is into … .

3. The BBC intends to … more programmes in Russian soon.

4. At present adverts run for two and a half minutes in the centre breaks, with a maximum of seven and a half minutes in … between 6 pm and 11 pm.

5. John Suchet has spent three years hosting ITN’s lunchtime … and is very popular with viewers.

6. Don’t forget to … at this time next week for part two of the programme.

7. Last week, the Army released the second of two national television … , an effort to ensure that its battle for American hearts and minds would translate into improved recruitment figures.

8. Television’s top soaps are battling it out in the vital Christmas … .

9. Marcus Plantin has landed the job of leading ITV’s £500 million … with the BBC.

Ex. 7. Complete the sentences with a suitable word or phrase.

1. CBD’s b… again showed huge improvement over the previous year.

2. P… on radio and television may be referred to formally as b… , and they may be referred to informally as s… , especially in American English.

3. Programmes or shows on radio and television are often presented or h … by a h… .

4. Popular music programmes are presented by d… or DJs.

5. Reporters and correspondents, or TV journalists, and the camera operators who go with them are n… . Together they form a TV c… .

6. Programmes and reports are transmitted or b… in a l… , with events seen or heard as they happen, or recorded for broadcast later.

7. The idea that people plan their radio listening is nonsense: most t… in impulsively.

8. Soap operas that c… for viewer’s interests head the “ratings” lists.

9. There were fierce attacks on the BBC for alleged political b… .

10. She h… a live radio programme.

Ex. 8. Give definitions explaining what job each of these people involved in the media do.

1) a foreign correspondent; 4) an anchor;

2) a camera operator ; 5) a news gatherer;

3) a critic; 6) a news reader.

Ex. 9. Read the passage below and translate the sentences following it into Russian.

People sometimes say that today’s news programmes are infotainment, a mixture of information, and entertainment, something that people watch or listen to for pleasure. Another example of infotainment is docudrama where real events are dramatised and re-enacted by actors. This is a combination of documentary and drama: a documentary is a serious factual radio or TV programme.

1. What we need is entertainment, variety shows with comedians, singers, pianists, jugglers and acrobats.

2. We have a documentary on the social issues, like the housing and the public policies on education, health and the social policies of the government.

3. An interview with Ron Brown, the Democratic party chairman, was edited to 40 seconds and transformed with Sonic Youth soundtrack and zappy special video-effect. Slotted between the visual gymnastics of Madonna and McHammer videos, Tabitha Soren is part of an “infotainment” revolution in which the Republicans have sought no part.

4. That thin line between fact and fantasy has never looked thinner than in this ABC docudrama movie, provisionally titled “Charles and Diana”.

Ex. 10. Translate into Russian.

1. The BBC has produced two hard-hitting videos in a bid to cut down the growing number of news gatherers killed or injured while on duty.

2. Groucho flourished in situations with no script at all. One enormous success was his hosting of a show called “You Bet your Life” which began in 1947 and ran for 4 years on radio and 2 on TV.

3. Top DJs have taken over much of the ground that pop stars used to occupy.

4. Sissons, solid performer, would make an excellent “Newsnight” anchorman. Though he has fronted live television studio for Channel 4 in the past, he seems lost at the BBC.

5. We showed the Channel 4 bosses this four-minute clip of me interviewing Nelson Mandela and they really liked it, you know, particularly the fact that we were doing it all live.

6. The programme will feature dramatic footage of the Chernobyl disaster, some not released before, as well as live performances by international artists.

7. Even worse, I discovered the New Year awards show was pre-recorded, so it was probably just a bit of old Big Ben footage filmed one summer’s evening to set the scene.

8. Our eastern European correspondent, Diana Goodman in Prague, has recorded vox pops with Czech voters who say they are supporting Civic Forum.

9. In determining the choice of candidates, was it a case of the more telegenic they were, the more chance they had of success?

10. To hope that pictures like these would not appear is like trying to put a cap on an active volcano. The behaviour of the royal family is not just a matter of intense public curiosity, not in itself a justification for a breach of privacy, but is also of some public importance and concern.

11. It is bad enough to spy on her during a private early morning swim, but then to criticise her choice of swimwear for the occasion is the worst invasion of privacy imaginable.

12. They call on the government to consider the introduction of a privacy law to protect people from unjustly intrusive newspaper reporting.

13. Reporters and photographers crowded every exit from the Mirror building to cross-question Maxwell as he left. “We are doorstepping our own chairman,” said a newsroom executive. “Can you believe this?”

14. She was so frightened that she had her private rooms searched in case they were bugged.

Ex. 11. Give the English equivalents of the following words and phrases.

Телевизионное вещание; финансироваться за счет рекламы; финансирование за счет обязательных ежегодных платежей зрителей; иметь государственную субсидию; удовлетворять чьи-либо интересы; представлять новости умело, интересно и объективно; быть необъективным; сделать центром внимания; занимать лидирующее положение в рейтингах; выступать по телевидению; быть в эфире; прямой эфир; прямой репортаж; интервью в прямом эфире; на­строиться на волну; выпуск теленовостей; вести телевизионную программу; политическая передача; образовательная программа; эстрадное представле­ние; утренний выпуск последних известий.

Ex. 12. Translate into English.

1. Когда будет следующий выпуск теленовостей? 2. Мне не нравится, как ос­вещаются спортивные события на этом канале. 3. Телевидение в Великобри­тании не получает государственных субсидий и не контролируется государ­ством. 4. Этот канал заслужил хорошую репутацию благодаря объективному освещению событий. 5. Этот проект финансируется за счет рекламы. 6. В на­стоящее время “мыльные оперы” и другие сериалы занимают ведущее положе­ние в рейтингах. Новости и спортивные события – на втором месте. 7. Он был одним из самых лучших ведущих этого ток-шоу в прямом эфире, поскольку ему всегда удавалось развить любую обсуждаемую тему. 8. Эта передача транслируется в записи по всей стране. 9. Каждая из передач этого цикла будет посвящена (сделает центром внимания) ключевым истори­ческим событиям в жизни нашей страны.