2008年ESL之娱乐 06 Watching the TV News

 

 

06 Watching the TV News

GLOSSARY

anchor – person who announces the news on television; person who sits behinda desk and reads the news to the viewers

* Angela works as an anchor on Channel 7.  Because so many people watch thenews on that channel, people recognize her everywhere she goes in the city.  

special report – in TV or radio news, a detailed explanation of some situation orevent that may not be covered by other reporters

* Tune in tonight at 10:00 for a special report on teenage drinking – only onChannel 5. 

field reporter – person who travels to different locations to prepare news stories;a person who gives a news report outside of the news studio or office

* A field reporter must have a good car in order to go to all the places wherenews is happening.  

latest developments – the most recent information about a news story; thenewest information or events

* Every two hours, Pedro was responsible for updating the website with the latestdevelopments on the coming storm. 

feature segment – a story that looks closely at one person, group, or issue, andis often not the latest news events

* Each month, the magazine printed a feature segment on a popular singer.  

to interview – to ask questions of a person or group to get information and/or forthe audience to get to know the people being interviewed better

* The reporter interviewed a scientist to learn more about the causes ofearthquakes. 

top story – the first and most important story in a news program

* This evening’s top story will be the election results.  Everyone is eager to hearwho will be the new president.   

to murder – to plan and to kill someone; to end another person’s life 

* Ms. Lee was murdered last year, and her family believes that the person whocommitted the terrible killing deserves life in prison.  

high-speed chase – when police must drive quickly to catch a person they wantto question or arrest; when one car or vehicle drives very fast to try and catchanother car or vehicle that wants to get away

* The officer got a flat tire on his car during the high-speed chase, and the robberescaped. 

to report live – to give the latest information during a TV or radio broadcast fromthe location of a news event while the show is being seen by viewers 

* Alice still gets a little nervous when reporting live, but she knows that it is thebest way to give viewers the most recent news.      

to cordon off – to prevent people from entering a specific area by enclosing itwith rope or something similar  

* The security officers cordoned off the airport terminal when they received aphone call telling them that was a bomb in the building. 

suspect – a person who may have committed a crime

* Police have no suspects for the theft at this time.  They have been unable tofind enough clues to determine who could be responsible. 

hostage – a person held by another until specific demands are met; a personkept as a prisoner by another until what that person asks for is provided 

* The government leaders took several foreign workers as hostages, saying they would not release them until all foreign troops have left the country. 

standoff – occurs when both sides are not willing to compromise or to admitdefeat; a point during a negotiation when neither side is willing to change theirmind and no progress can be made.

* The governor and the legislature were in a standoff over the budget.  When nobudget bill was passed, the state government shut down for nearly a week.  

surrender – to give power or control to another; to give up

* There was peace again in the city after the rebels finally decided to surrender. 

custody – when an officer keeps a person in a place for safety; when the policetakes a person to the police station and keeps him or her there

* The runaway child was taken into custody until the parents could be located. 

studio – a room or building with the equipment for making television or radioprograms; a room or building from which radio and TV programs are produced

* Technicians edit and prepare the film for broadcast at the studio.   

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.  What does a field reporter usually do? 

a)  Read the news in the studio.

b)  Travel to the places where news is happening. 

c)  Describe the weather expected next week.

2.  Which part of a news program might be prepared several days before theprogram and shown on a day when there is extra time? 

a)  A top story

b)  The latest developments

c)  A feature segment

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

anchor

The word “anchor,” in this podcast, means a person who reads the news ontelevision: “Peter is an anchor for the morning news.  For 10 years now, he has been providing people with the latest information from around the world as they start their day.”  An anchor is also a device used to keep a boat or ship frommoving.  This anchor is usually a heavy piece of metal attached to a cable (astrong rope) and thrown into the water: “The sailor lowered the anchor when they got near to land.”  Another meaning for anchor is a person who is unchangingand gives support when needed: “Dad is the anchor in our family.  He always remains strong and confident even in difficult situations.”   

studio

The word “studio,” in this podcast, means a building where television or radioprograms are recorded: “Our studio is 20 years old and is in need of newrecording equipment.”  Another meaning for studio is a room where an artist orphotographer works: “Elena keeps all of her art supplies in her studio, where shespends several hours each day painting.”  We also sometimes call a smallapartment a studio.  A studio apartment is big enough for only one or two peopleand usually has one large room for sleeping and living in, a bathroom andsometimes a separate kitchen: “When Jen was in college, she decided to rent astudio.  She did not need a large space because she would be away at work orschool most of the time.”

CULTURE NOTE

In the United States, anchors for the major TV networks are treated like“celebrities” (famous people, usually in entertainment) and may receive a veryhigh salary.  For many anchors, especially female anchors, “appearance” (how aperson looks) is very important and part of how they are judged by viewers.

Some people complain that anchors today may lack “hard news” backgroundbecause they started their career doing “lifestyle stories” (stories about topics likegardening, fashion, or home decorating), reporting sports, or interviewingcelebrities about their latest book or movie.  “In contrast” (very differently), they say, anchors from 30 or 50 years ago “paid their dues” (worked hard to provethemselves worthy) by reporting on difficult stories, such as from “war zones”

(locations where wars are being fought) or from sites of major disasters.

Some people complain that TV news has become entertainment rather than asource of information.  The major goal of the TV networks is to attract as many viewers as possible, in order to make as much money as possible fromadvertisers.  “Critics” (people who point out the problems) of this present “trend”

(change or development) say that television news has become “shallow” (lackingreal information) and “sensational” (intended to excite or shock).  Movies likeBroadcast News (1987) and Network (1976) explore this topic of real news versus entertainment. 

The 2004 movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy shows a “stereotype”

(commonly held view that may be wrong) of the TV news anchor in the UnitedStates.  The main character, played by Will Ferrell, is not very intelligent, but is quite “vain” (interested in his own appearance).  Anchorman makes fun ofmodern news programs that create “hype” (interest created by advertising anddiscussing something frequently) about what is not very important.  For example,in the movie there is a story on the news called "Panda Watch: Day 46” thatcontains no real information about pandas.

_____________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers:  1 – b; 2 – c

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 381: Watching theTV News.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 381.  I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com.  You can go there to download a Learning Guide forthis episode to help you improve your English even faster.  The Learning Guidehas all of the vocabulary, definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions,comprehension checks, culture notes, and a complete transcript of everything wesay on this episode.

This episode is called “Watching the TV News.”  We’re going to listen to twopeople on the television giving us the news.  It will give us a chance to talk aboutsome of the special vocabulary you may hear when listening or watching thenews.  Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Anchor:  Good evening.  I’m Gary Singh and this is the evening news.  Tonight,we’ll have a special report from our field reporter, Monique Sanders, on the latestdevelopments in the Eddie Litton court case.  And in our feature segment, we’llgo to Arizona to interview the world’s fattest dog, weighing 210 pounds!  We’llalso have this week’s weather and the latest on sports.

But first, our top story: A man suspected of murdering his business partner ledthe police on a high-speed chase through downtown this afternoon.  Reportinglive from downtown Los Angeles is Tanisha Gray.  Tanisha?

Tanisha:  Thanks, Gary.  About three hours ago, the police cordoned off a halfmile area around City Hall after the suspect ran into one of the City Hall offices 

and took two women as hostages.  After a nearly two-hour standoff, the suspectsurrendered.  Neither of the two women was hurt and the suspect is now inpolice custody.  Back to you, Gary, in the studio. Anchor:  Thanks for that report, Tanisha.  We’ll have more for you as this storydevelops. 

[end of dialogue] 

The first person who speaks is the anchor of the television news show.  An“anchor” is a person who gives the news on television, the person who usually issitting behind a desk and reads the news to the people watching.  We call that a“news anchor.”  “Anchor” has a couple of different meanings in English; to findout more, take a look at our Learning Guide for today’s episode.

The anchor begins by saying, “Good evening.  I’m Gary Singh and this is theevening news.”  I’ve always wanted to be a news anchor myself!  The anchorsays, “Tonight, we’ll have a special report from our field reporter.”  A “specialreport” is a term you often hear on TV news or radio news; it usually means adetailed or more detailed explanation of some situation.  This is going to be aspecial report from the field reporter, Monique Sanders, on the latestdevelopments in the Eddie Litton court case.  A “field reporter” is a person – atelevision reporter, who travels to different locations to prepare news stories.  Sowhen you watch the news, you’ll see, for example, a reporter standing outside ofa government building.  That’s a field reporter.  They’re not back at the televisionstudio, where the anchor is; they’re out, we would say, “in the field,” in differentlocations in the city.  The field reporter is going to report on the “latestdevelopments.”  Again, this is a common expression in the news; it means themost recent information about a news story – the newest information. 

This is going to be a special report about the Eddie Litton court case – were notsure what that is!  “And in our feature segment,” The anchor continues, “we’ll goto Arizona to interview the world’s fattest dog, weighing 210 pounds!”  A “featuresegment” is a news story usually that looks at one person, one group, or oneissue.  It’s not necessarily the most current or recent news; it’s about somethingor someone that is very interesting that people would be interested in.  Thefeature segment, here, is about the world fattest dog.  It’s very common in localTV newscasts, for example news shows just for Los Angeles or just for NewYork, to have at the end of their show, which is usually a half hour long in theevenings, some sort of feature segments – some sort of less serious story – andcertainly the world’s fattest dog is not a very serious story.  Notice that the anchorsays they’re going to interview the dog, which, of course, would be a littleunusual!  He also says, “We’ll also have this week’s weather and the latest onsports” – the latest information.

He then says, “But first, our top story.”  Your “top story” is the first story of thenews program; it’s the most important story.  “Our top story (tonight): A mansuspected of murdering his business partner led the police on a high-speedchase through downtown this afternoon.”  So, there is a man who the policebelieve “murdered,” or killed, his “business associate,” the person he works with.  

This person led the police on a high-speed chase.  When we say he “led thepolice,” we mean the police were following him – the police were chasing him. He was trying to “escape,” to get away from the police, so he got in a car andstarted driving very fast.  A “chase” is when one person or one animal tries tocatch another one who is trying to run away.  So, the police are on a chase; it’s a“high-speed” chase because the person they are chasing is going very fast intheir car. 

Many times, the news media will have their own helicopters and they will followthese high-speed chases, and they will be on the news.  This is very common inLos Angeles, probably because we have a lot of freeways here.  You see highspeed chases all the time, at least once a month on the news.  The police always catch the person, or almost always catch the person, because there arehelicopters and many different police officers that are trying to catch them.  So,this is something that we’re used to, in Los Angeles, seeing on our local news. It’s not that common in other parts of the country.

The anchor then says, “Reporting live from downtown Los Angeles is TanishaGray.”  “Reporting live” means the reporter is going to give the news at the sametime as we are watching her or him.  It’s not a “taped” segment, it’s notsomething they recorded two hours ago and now are going to show you; it’s something that’s happening right now.  That’s what we mean on television whenwe say it’s “live,” it’s something that you can see going on right now.

Tanisha says, “Thanks, Gary.  About three hours ago, the police cordoned off a half-mile area around City Hall.”  “To cordon (cordon) off” something is a twoword verb meaning to prevent people from entering a specific area.  Usually this is something the police do if there has been a crime; they don’t want anyonegoing near where the crime took place, what we would call the “crime scene.” This is a area the police have cordoned off because the “suspect,” the personthey think committed a crime, ran into one of the City Hall offices and took twowomen as hostages.  “City Hall” is the name we give for the governmentbuildings for the city – the main government buildings.  City Hall here in LosAngeles is very famous because it has appeared on many different televisionshows, especially police shows.

“The suspect ran into one of the City Hall offices and took two women as hostages.”  A “hostage” is a person who is held by someone else against theirwill.  Usually the person is asking for something; you take a hostage and you askfor money, for example.  Or perhaps there’s some political purpose for you takinga hostage.  You may also hear the expression “to hold someone hostage,” it’s thesame idea. 

Tanisha says, “After a nearly two-hour standoff, the suspect surrendered.”  A“standoff” occurs when two sides are unwilling to change – unwilling tocompromise.  A standoff is when you have some negotiation, but neither sidewants to change their position.  That’s what happened for two hours, and finally the suspect “surrendered,” meaning he gave up – he said, “Okay, you can arrestme.”  Tanisha says that neither of the two women was hurt and the suspect is now in police custody.  “To be in someone’s custody” (custody) means that youare being kept or held by that person.  In this case, the suspect is being held by the police.  They take the person and they bring them to a police station, andthey keep them there in a what we would call “cell.”  A “cell” is what you find in aprison that keeps the prisoners inside a little room.  That room is usually called a“cell” (cell).

Then Tanisha ends her report by saying, “Back to you, Gary, in the studio.”  This is a common way for news reporters – field reporters – to give the broadcastback to the anchor: “Back to you.”  Gary is in the studio, which is the room orbuilding where the anchors sits; it’s usually at the headquarters of the televisionor radio station.  It’s where the program is filmed or recorded.

Now let’s listen to the newscast again at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Anchor:  Good evening.  I’m Gary Singh and this is the evening news.  Tonight,we’ll have a special report from our field reporter, Monique Sanders, on the latestdevelopments in the Eddie Litton court case.  And in our feature segment, we’llgo to Arizona to interview the world’s fattest dog, weighing 210 pounds!  We’llalso have this week’s weather and the latest on sports.

But first, our top story: A man suspected of murdering his business partner ledthe police on a high-speed chase through downtown this afternoon.  Reportinglive from downtown Los Angeles is Tanisha Gray.  Tanisha?

Tanisha:  Thanks, Gary.  About three hours ago, the police cordoned off a halfmile area around City Hall after the suspect ran into one of the City Hall offices and took two women as hostages.  After a nearly two-hour standoff, the suspectsurrendered.  Neither of the two women was hurt and the suspect is now inpolice custody.  Back to you, Gary, in the studio. Anchor:  Thanks for that report, Tanisha.  We’ll have more for you as this storydevelops.  

[end of dialogue]

The script for this episode was written by someone not in the studio, for ESLPodcast, Dr. Lucy Tse. 

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan.  Thank you for listening.  Comeback and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan.  This podcast is copyright 2008.