INTRODUCTION
Starting at the back
Welcome back to our fifth year of Post tips. This term we are going to give you a complete overview of the Bangkok Post. You will learn what kind of information it contains and you will get many suggestions on how to read it. You will also learn a great deal of English in the process.
A good place to begin the term is by taking a look at the back page of the main (front) section. This is where many readers begin each day because it gives them an overview of the day’s newspaper.
The back page is produced by Alan Dawson, an experienced journalist, who early in his career was a war correspondent in Vietnam. If you read this page regularly, you will see that Mr Dawson has a good sense of humour. That is one reason why it is so popular with Bangkok Post readers.
Real summaries
Look at the back page, and the first thing you will notice is that it consists largely of summaries of key stories from each section of the Bangkok Post. These are real summaries. Mr Dawson actually reads each story and then writes his own short summary – often adding a bit of humour along the way.
Obviously, a good way to use this section is to read through the summaries for a story that interests you. When you find one, reread the summary so that you are sure you understand the main points. Then read the full story in the Bangkok Post.
Here’s an example. First look at Mr Dawson’s short summary.
KO celebration
Four days after he knocked out heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis with a right hook, Hasim Rahman and his family risked the same fate when they were thrown from an open convertible during a celebration motorcade parade in this home town of Baltimore.
From the summary, you know what happened, but there are many missing details that you would expect the story to answer. For example, how were Mr Rahman and his family thrown from the car? Were they hurt? Did they continue riding in the parade? Read the story and find out.
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From the summary, you know what happened, but there are many missing details that you would expect the story to answer. For example, how were Mr Rahman and his family thrown from the car? Were they hurt? Did they continue riding in the parade? Read the story and find out.
New heavyweight champ thrown from motorcade car
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Sitting with his heavyweight belt on the pavement, Hasim Rahman watches his wife receiving medical attention while holding his son Sharif after they were involved in a car accident following a rally in his honour in Baltimore. — REUTERS |
Baltimore, AP
This was one knockout Hasim Rahman never expected.
Four days after he knocked out Lennox Lewis with a right hook, Rahman and his family were thrown from an open convertible in a motorcade accident after a city-sponsored celebration for the new heavyweight champion.
None of the injuries was serious, a hospital spokesman said.
The boxer, his wife and two of their three children were sitting on the back of a red convertible when it was struck by another car. The convertible then hit a taxi, ejecting the Rahmans.
Rahman received minor cuts on his elbows. His wife, Crystal, was cut and bruised and was fitted for a neck brace before being taken from the scene by ambulance.
The mishap occurred after Rahman, 28, was honoured for winning the IBF and WBC titles Saturday night in South Africa with a surprise fifth-round knockout of Lewis.
Police were escorting Rahman toward the Inner Harbour when an officer in a cruiser tried to stop traffic, police commissioner Edward Norris said. As the officer stepped out of his car, a Volkswagen ran a red light and hit the convertible, causing it to collide with a taxi.
A hospital spokeswoman said Rahman and his family were not seriously injured. Crystal Rahman was being kept overnight for observation.
Rahman, who grew up in the poor eastern section of the city and now lives in a Baltimore suburb, was honoured as a hometown hero by Mayor Martin O’Malley.
Here's another approach
We can also use summaries in the opposite way, by beginning with the story and then trying to summarise it in a single paragraph. Try this with the story below. Read it, then write your own one-paragraph summary. Finally, look at the summary Mr Dawson wrote. Obviously they won’t be the same because there are many different ways to summarise the same story.
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Bush twins in probe
Jenna and Barbara Bush |
Austin, AFP — Police in Texas are investigating whether President George W. Bush's twin daughters illegally tried to buy alcoholic drinks at a popular Austin restaurant with someone else's identification, officials said on Wednesday.
Austin police went to Chuy's Mexican restaurant late on Tuesday after receiving an emergency telephone call to report minors attempting to buy alcohol.
When they arrived, the officers found that Jenna and Barbara Bush, both 19, "were alleged to have been involved in this incident," Austin police said.
The legal drinking age across the United States is 21.
"Our understanding is that Jenna Bush was attempting to purchase alcohol with a valid [identification] that was not hers," Austin police spokeswoman Laura Albrecht said.
The White House declined to comment on the incident involving the Bush twins. "We don’t comment on the private lives of the president’s family," said White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo. The restaurant manager also declined comment.
Because no Austin police officer witnessed any offence, no charges were filed. Austin police and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission are investigating the incident.
The investigation comes one month after Jenna Bush was cited for underage drinking in an Austin bar. The incident occurred just a few hours before her father made his first return trip to Austin, where he served as governor.
Two weeks ago Jenna Bush pleaded no contest to a charge of minor in possession of alcohol and was ordered to undergo alcohol awareness classes and pay court costs of $51.25 (2,320 baht).
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Naughty teens
Austin — Police say 19-year-old twins Jenna and Barbara have tried to buy beer in a restaurant – and one of them apparently had a stolen or fake ID. They are the daughters of President George Bush. It is Jenna’s second alcohol rap in just a few weeks.
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What’s the weather like?
Another regular feature of the back page is the daily weather report. This is something you can learn to read and understand in a hurry. In fact, you can do so today. Below is most of the weather-related vocabulary you are likely to see in Bangkok Post weather reports. You might want to copy it and print it out for future reference.
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WEATHER VOCABULARY |
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ADJECTIVES
widespread
covering a large area
isolated
far away from any others
scattered
far apart; widely and irregularly separated
slight
small; light
moderate neither large nor small; towards the middle in degree
rough
not smooth; stormy
dense
very thick or heavy
TEMPERATURE-RELATED
chilly
rather cold
frigid very cold
blustery cold and windy
mild
not very cold
scorching; blistering; sizzling
extremely hot
PRECIPITATION-RELATED
mist
having very small drops of rain in the air
drizzle
very light rain
showers
moderate rain
thundershowers
rain accompanied by thunder (loud noise) and lightning (electrical discharge from the sky)
deluge, torrential rain
extremely heavy rain
flurries
very light snow
sleet
wet, partly melted falling snow
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blizzard
a very heavy snow storm
frost
thin, white, powdery layer of ice which forms when the temperature drops below freezing, esp. at night
wind chill
a measure which considers wind as well as temperature in determining how cold it actually is
WIND
breeze
light, pleasant wind
gust
a short, sudden strong wind
gale
very heavy wind
typhoon, hurricane, cyclone, tornado
storms with heavy, damaging winds
CLOUD COVER
overcast
complete (usu. dark) cloud cover with rain a good possibility
cloudy
heavy cloud cover, but with rain unlikely
partly cloudy
clouds not covering the full sky, allowing the sun to shine periodically
OTHER USEFUL WORDS
fog
a thick mist, similar to a cloud that has touched the ground
flash floods
very sudden floods which often occur with little warning
humidity
the amount of water vapour in the air
humid
having a lot of water vapour in the air
muggy very hot and humid
monsoon
a seasonal wind
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ACTIVITY
Here is a fictional weather diagram for Thailand. Decide which part of the country is experiencing the weather described below. Indicate each area on the map.
- cloudy
- party cloudy
- scattered showers
- widespread heavy rain
- clear
- isolated thundershowers
- overcast
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Fun with photos
Certainly, the most striking item on the back page is the daily photo. It is always interesting to look at and if you read the captions, you can learn some English too.
Here are three examples to get you started.
JUST TOUCHING BASE
A tornado forms just off the main interstate highway 80 near Oxford, Iowa. The twister quickly touched down and destroyed a barn. Southern Iowa was struck by severe storms and a series of tornadoes. They killed one person and injured three others. — AP
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What is a tornado? What other word can be used for tornado?
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SEEN THE SAW?
Visitors to the Big Sight international exhibition centre in Tokyo are dwarfed by a modern art object titled, "Saw, Sawing". The sculpture is 15.5m tall, and has a plastic handle with steel teeth. — AP |
What do you think the verb "dwarfed" means above? Guess the meaning and then check a dictionary for a definition. Will the photo help you remember the meaning in the future?
BAD HAIR DAY |
A resident of Omaha, Nebraska tries to control her hair while looking at the leaning steeple of the Westside Church. Steeple and hair both gave in to winds of 112 kph (70 mph). The wind damaged homes and knocked out electricity as well. — AP
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What is a "steeple"?
TEACHER'S NOTE
Following this introductory lesson, there will be an eight-week series of lessons designed to provide your students with a complete overview of the newspaper. These are lessons that can be applied to any newspaper at any time. Here's what will be covered.
Week 1: Welcome to the information age!
The secret of success in the information age is knowing how to find information and to find it fast. Starting with the Bangkok Post, we look at the variety of content and style found there and how it is organised.
Week 2: Story telling in the Bangkok Post
There are several story-telling styles in the newspaper. Find out what they are and where they are found? Find out what is the best way to read them.
Week 3: Words, words, words
The newspaper is just about the best source in the whole world for improving your vocabulary. Find out how you can learn new vocabulary with and without your dictionary.
Week 4: Making things easy
Use common sense. Both the Thai and the English-language media report many of the same stories. Use your background from the Thai media to help you read and understand the Bangkok Post. Also, stories don't begin and finish in one day. Learn how following stories over several days is a fast and helpful way to improve your English.
Week 5: What is news?
Everyday, hundreds of potentially newsworthy events occur in Thailand? How does the Bangkok Post choose which ones to cover. In addition, the Bangkok Post receives hundreds of news stories from abroad, far more than we can use. Find out how our editors choose which ones to include?
Week 6: It's a matter of culture
This is our "cultural awareness" week. The Bangkok Post is full of stories involving culture, both local and foreign. Find out how focusing on cultural issues can lead to some exciting and rewarding English lessons.
Week 7: What are people thinking about?
A good place to answer this question is by taking a regular look at Postbag, the Bangkok Post's popular letters to the editor column. You and your students might be surprised at some of the opinions raised in this column. You may even want to respond.
Week 8: Earning your first million baht
The series ends with our version of the millionaire game. Find out why the newspaper is one of the best sources of general information you can find anywhere.
Go back to the top
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Winner
of PANPA Award for Excellence
