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Monday, July 20, 1998

INTRODUCTION

Finishing the story

We have spent much time this term looking mainly at the beginning of news stories. This week we are going to finish the job and look at the news story as a whole.

You will remember that almost all news stories put the main ideas in the headline and the lead - like in the example below:

Japanese links Ital-Thai to hook accident
Says he's lucky to be alive
A Japanese man told yesterday how he narrowly escaped death when the hook of a heavy-duty crane belonging to the builder of the skytrain project hit his car.

This short passage gives us the essentials of the story, but there is clearly a lot more to tell. Think for a moment about what additional information we might want to find out. Here are some of the questions that I had in mind:

Who was the Japanese man?
Where was the accident?
What part of the car did the crane hook hit?
Where was the man sitting?
Was the man injured?
Did anyone help him?
Did he receive any compensation (money, etc.) from Ital-Thai?

Quickly read through the rest of the story below to see if my questions were answered. Also look to see if the story contains any additional information as well.

Ryuzo Hamaguchi said he would have been killed if he had been sitting 3-5cm further back or if he had been travelling a touch slower. He suffered bruises to his face and arms and cuts to his left wrist.

The incident took place on the night of May 27 on Ratchadamri Road, where construction of the skytrain, undertaken by Italian-Thai Development Plc, was under way.

Mr Hamaguchi, who is president of Textra (Thailand) Co, said he had received no apology from Ital-Thai. He has heard nothing from the firm, and is considering going to court.

Italian-Thai Development Plc has been blamed for several accidents in connection with construction of the skytrain project. The worst was in March when a steel beam fell on a taxi, killing its driver and wounding five others on Sukhumvit Road.

Recalling the incident, Mr Hamaguchi said he was driving his car along the right side of Ratchadamri Road, where construction of the skytrain project was being undertaken in the middle of the road.

"I was shocked by the sudden crash of some heavy object on the roof of my car," he said. The roof of the car caved in, crushing his head, neck and shoulder.

He recalled that his head and left wrist were bleeding. "Strong pain was felt on the back of my head and neck to the left shoulder," he said.

Two men came to his rescue. They got him out of the car, and took him to Chulalongkorn Hospital, where he was given first aid.

The next morning he was taken to Bumrungrad Hospital where he was X-rayed and given a CT brain scan. The results showed there was no damage to the brain or collar bone.

Although he was given medicine to heal the inflammation and relieve the pain, Mr Hamaguchi said he still felt pain from the left neck down to the left shoulder and back. His left hand is still numb and eyesight from his left eye is weak.

Mr Hamaguchi yesterday lodged a complaint with Bangkok Governor Bhichit Rattakul.

It turns out that all my questions were answered, plus some additional questions that I hadn't thought of. For example, I didn't ask how the man was feeling now.

If we look closely at the body of the story, we can see that it contains all three of the basic elements found in most news stories:

details the headline and lead give the essentials and the body fills in the details
statements newswriters usually depend on sources for their stories and they often include statements from their sources. They do this in two ways, both of which are found in this story: direct speech ("I was shocked...") and indirect speech (Mr Hamaguchi said he was driving his car...).
background Newswriters often include relevant background to help their readers get a deeper understanding of the story. In this story, for example, the writer tells us that Ital-Thai has been blamed for other accidents as well, including a very bad accident last March. Background is especially common and especially useful in international stories. Writers know that many of their readers will lack essential background for stories that take place in other parts of the world.

This week's stories

This week I have given you two stories to read. One story is about Thailand and the other is about Sweden. In each case, begin by carefully reading the headline and lead. Make a short list of the main facts you find there. Then stop for a moment and consider what additional facts you would expect to find in the body of the story.

OUR STORIES FROM THE BANGKOK POST

STORY 1 Underground lake found in Northeast Reservoir may end low farm yields Uamdao Noikorn Authorities have discovered a huge underground water basin under three of the driest provinces in the drought-stricken Northeast. They hope the below-ground lake will end low farm yields and put water within arm's length of all residents. The underground lake, the first discovery of its kind in Thailand, is roughly 10 kilometres wide, and stretches 100 km under Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram and Surin provinces. It is buried about 60 metres beneath the ground. Scientists estimate it holds about 120 million cubic metres. Tests show the water is good enough to drink and, more importantly, to irrigate crops. "This is probably the greatest news for the residents," said Kasem Chancharoonpong, director of Ground Water Activities Control Division. "All the provinces in the Northeast face chronic drought, but these three face perpetual drought." The basin was first detected 10 years ago by Sunthorn Panjasutaros of the Mineral Resources Department. At the time, officials thought the underground basin was just another shallow groundwater source, and wrote it off from active consideration. The discovery of the underground basin, and the mistake in estimating its potential, came at a time when many government projects were already being developed in a bid to green the region. None of the development projects was remarkably successful. Villagers simply lacked the necessary investment needed for deep-well digging. Drought increased annually, and lack of water stymied every so-called green project in the three-province area. The harsh drought has earned a special title for this area: Plain of Tears, or Tung Kula Ronghai. Life for many northeasterners is a living hell because of the lack of drinking and irrigation water. No matter how bounteous the rains, water quickly disappears into the sandy soil, usually within hours. Another problem, which could be solved by the underground lake: saline soil. During every dry season, salt residue is seen everywhere. Water from the Moon River, a major tributary of the Mekong to the east, is brackish in the rainy season and salty in the dry season. The only dependable fresh water is from the rain, and that only lasts a few months a year at best. In a routine bit of paperwork and bureaucracy recently, officials felt they should take another look at the underground lake. "That was one of the best decisions we've ever made," said Somchai Wongsawas, a water expert with the division. Out of that has come an entire new project, and huge optimism. The department has drawn up details to develop 2.1 million rai of arid plateau, which at the moment is sand and salt. First up will be an 86.6-million-baht pilot plan. Villagers will sink 300 artesian wells, and these will pipe water to 50 villages in Khu Muang district and parts of Satuk district of Buri Ram. Each well will produce two cubic metre per hour, or about 15,000 cubic metres a day, for the 25,000 villagers in the area - more than they can use. He was not sure how long it took the lake to form but estimated it to be hundreds of years old. He said Bangkok groundwater had aged over 10,000 years when discovered. "The source is solely from rain that seeps through layers slowly. That's why it's clean enough to drink." The lake should last virtually forever, said Mr Somchai.

drought-stricken	suffering from a lack of water
perpetual	continual; never-ending
stymied	prevented progress
bounteous	plentiful
brackish	slightly salty
arid plateau	a dry and high, flat area

STORY 2 Monarch's silver jubilee marked 'People's king' lauded for quiet successes Stockholm, Reuters Sweden's popular king Carl XVI Gustaf marked 25 years on the throne yesterday with public celebrations and media praise. Sweden's royal family is more popular than ever, unscathed by the kind of scandals that have dogged Britain's royals. A recent survey found 93 percent of Swedes thought their royals did a good job. Crowds of well-wishers turned up for the start of the celebrations as Sweden's blue and yellow flag was raised along a bridge leading to the Royal Palace while an army band played. The king, 52, a reserved, bespectacled man, has grown in the nation's eyes since he came to the throne in 1973, partly due to his hugely popular wife, Queen Silvia, and eldest daughter, Crown Princess Victoria. "I think he is a fine PR man for Sweden. All the royals are important as representatives for the country," said onlooker Ingrid Fredriksson from Skane in southern Sweden, who travelled to Stockholm to join the celebrations. Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet described King Carl Gustaf as "the people's king. A smiling king after 25 years on the throne. Congratulations." The day's celebrations centred on the royal palace which was open to the public and the venue for various concerts and parades. The king was to address the nation in a traditional National Day celebration in the open-air museum of Skansen in the early evening before hosting a buffet for 2,000 people from all over Sweden at the palace. King Carl Gustaf was crowned on September 15, 1973, but the 25-year celebration was brought forward to coincide with Sweden's National day as the king did not want the jubilee to interfere with campaigning for general elections on September 20. King Carl Gustaf has made 45 state visits overseas and hosted 35 heads of state visits to Sweden. Sweden's Export Council said the king made a valuable contribution as a representative for Swedish business. "The king works like a door opener. The important thing is that he attends seminars, meetings and dinners to add splendour at these occasions," spokesman Hans Gronwall told daily business newspaper Dagens Industri. At age 27, King Carl Gustaf became the youngest of the Bernadotte monarchs, whose reign over Sweden dates back to 1810 when French marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was asked to become king following Sweden's military defeat by Russia.

unscathed	unharmed; not troubled
dogged	caused problems, esp. for a long time
reserved	quiet; not showing your feelings
bespectacled	wearing glasses
venue	the place where a public event or meeting happens
splendour	great beauty or fineness

FOLLOW-UP

Open your issue of the Bangkok Post and quickly look through the news pages for stories that you think might be interesting to read. Remember that reading the headline and lead (plus looking at any pictures, of course) should be enough. When you do find such a story, think for a moment about what additional information you would like to find out. Then read to see if the story contains this information. And what other information did you find out as well? Teacher’s Note

This week I am introducing one of the most basic and most useful techniques for teaching news stories. It follows logically from all the work we have done in the past few weeks in helping students understand the beginning of a news story - the headline and the lead.

As we have seen, the headline and lead tell the story in a very abbreviated form, leaving the details for the body of the story. The body generally contains three types of information: basic details, statements from people involved in the story, and background to help readers delve more deeply into the story.

An excellent technique for familiarising your students with the body of the news story is have them stop after the headline and the lead and make a brief list of what they have learned. Then have them try to anticipate what information they can expect to find in the rest of the story. The easiest way to do this is simply to have them ask questions based on the headline and lead. (Some of these questions could be on unfamiliar vocabulary.) They then look through the story to see if their questions were answered. I have given them an example in my introduction and I suggest you go over it with them thoroughly. This type of an activity helps the students read with a purpose, a practice with can dramatically increase their comprehension - and their interest.

News stories will generally contain additional information as well and it will fall into the three categories I outlined above. Have your students find examples in the introductory story as well as the two stories they read for the main activity.

I suggest you divide your students into small groups for the main activity. If time is limited, you might want half of the groups to work on the first story and half of the groups to focus on the second story. Make sure they spend time developing questions before they read the rest of their assigned story.

Incidentally, you can take advantage of the material typically found in the body of newspaper stories to design additional lessons. For example, if you are teaching direct and indirect speech, you can find hundreds of examples in almost any issue of the Bangkok Post.

And you can also design some interesting lessons just by focusing on the background information. For example, in a lesson on an election in some faraway country, you can skip the details on the election and look for interesting information on that country instead.

NEXT WEEK: Understanding vocabulary from context. Don't miss it!

Chula wins!

Chulalongkorn Univeristy won the first Bangkok Post Newspaper Challenge at the Dusit Thani Hotel last Thursday, outdistancing teams from Kasetsart, Thammasat and Mahidol universities. On their way to victory, the four-member team correctly answered a wide variety of English-language questions ranging from an explanation of the Y2K problem to the correct English pronunciation of Viagra.

The contest was part of a ceremony honouring the students and sponsors of the "Future Leaders for the Twenty-first Century" programme in which 1,500 university students have received free one-year subscriptions to the Bangkok Post.

•This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager of the Educational Services Department at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme.

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