Unit 3

With the development of science and technology, there are so many media to get news from. Can you give some examples?

Skills building 1 When we search information especially some facts, the most common way that facts are presented is in the form of charts. Can you say some of the most popular types of charts?

There are many different types of charts that use bars, lines, or circles to show information. Some of the most popular types of charts are as follows.

bar chart --- used to show how something changes over time or to compare different things.

flow chart --- used to show a process

pie chart --- used to show percentage

Listen to the speech and take notes. News Suitable sources Reasons Sports results (1) ________, newspaper Fans don’t need to see pictures. They want to know (2) _______. radio scores

They are often (5) _______. Weather radio, (3) __________ Weather (4) _______ all the time. They are often (5) _______. Recent events (6)________ Want to know the top or most (7) ________ stories. newspaper, the Internet Prefer a (8) ______ range of views. changes the Internet updated TV important wider 英语学习辅导报 出品

Recent events radio People who (9) _______ or travel long distances to work don’t have much time to (10) ________ or read newspapers. drive watch TV

Listen and use the information to complete notes. The number of people getting news from the Internet is still (1) _______ compared with radio or TV. The Internet is still not easily (2)_________. People do not always (3) _________ the news on the Internet. small accessible trust

Look at the charts carefully in the textbook in part C and then answer these questions. Where do most people first look for weather forecasts? 2. What source do the least number of people first turn to for sports results? 3. What percentage of people turn to the Internet first for the latest news? Local TV. The Internet. 4%.

4. What type of news do the least number of people turn to the Internet for? 5. What are the 3 types of news that 5% of people turn to the Internet for? Emergency. Opinions, weather and sports results.

6. What news source do people trust the most? 7. What news source do people trust the least? National TV. The Internet.

Skills building 2 When you learn a little bit about a new topic, you often find yourself wanting to know more. Asking questions is a good way to help you get more information.

Start with information that you know and build on it. If you know or have just learnt that 60% of people prefer football to table tennis, you can then ask:

Does a person’s age affect his or her answer? Do men and women answer in the same way? Is football becoming more popular, or is table tennis becoming less popular?

2. Do not just ask about what people like or prefer 2.Do not just ask about what people like or prefer. Also ask what they do not like or do not prefer, e.g., What sport do people like the least? What sport do people prefer table tennis to?

3.Find out why. Once you have the facts, you can try to find out why they are true. This kind of information will be helpful if you need to support or explain the fact you have learnt, e.g., Why is football more popular?

Question What shall we pay attention to when we write a report? For example, when you are asked to write a report on how the students in your class they should spend their time, what should you include?

Skills building 3 What are facts and opinions?

Fact is something that is true and opinion is only a belief. Fact is supported by evidence and opinion has no backing of any evidence. While Facts are true statements, opinions are not. Opinion is only a subjective statement and fact is objective reality.

Try to tell which of the following are facts and which are opinions. ⑴ Computers are still too expensive for many people. ⑵ I think reading newspapers is the easiest way to get news. ⑶ You can not only see ‘real’ images on TV but also hear them talk. ⑷ News on the Internet is updated every hour. ⑸ Some people consider Internet news to be unbelievable. fact opinion fact fact opinion

Practise Write an e-mail to tell your partner what you have learnt about getting news from the Internet.