1.NewspaperEnglish

　　“Learningalanguageisnotmerelyanacademicexercise.StudentsofEnglishwanttobeabletousethelanguagetheyhaveacquiredinthesamewayasEnglishpeopleuseit.TheynotonlywanttounderstandspokenEnglishandtomakethemselvesunderstand;theyalsowanttobeabletoappreciateEnglishtelevisionandradioprogrammers,tolaughatEnglishjokes,tosingEnglishsongsandtoreadEnglishnewspapers.Thislastwishoftengivesrisetosomedisappointment,whenforexample,thestudentwhohaspassedhisexamswithtopmarksandhasearnedthecommendationofhisteacherfindsthatheisquiteunabletounderstandthenewspaperswhichheknowsEnglishpeoplereadeveryday.Herealizesthathelackssomething.

　　“Thedeficiencyisnotentirelyhisfault.ThedifficultiesinthefactthatBritishnewspapershaveastylealloftheirown;or-rather-eachpaperhasitsownindividualstyleformingpartofageneraljournalisticpatternwhichwemaylooselyclassifyas‘NewspaperEnglish’.Themorepopulardailiesuseachatty,slangy,up-to-themomentwayofwriting,which,asoftenasnot,leavestheforeignreaderverybewildered,ifnotunderatotallyfalseimpression.Hereisatypicalpieceofsuchreporting:

　　CurvaceousPatriciaPotts,thegirlwiththesmashingsilhouettewhowasScunthorpe’sDishoftheMonthinOctober-thedishiestdishinthearea-wasdishedupwithadishoftroubleonherwayhomefrombingolastnight.Twowould-bemuggerstrieditoninDarkstreetnearherhome,butshesentthempackingwithhandbaga-whirling,nailsa-scratchingandplatformclogsa-kicking.

　　“Eventhemostconscientiousstudentmightbeforgivenforgivingupatthispoint.Andyetitmustberealizedthatthisstylecarriesnoproblemsforthemillionsthatreadeveryday.

　　“Headlinesareanotherproblem.TheEnglishreaderscanstheheadlinestofindoutwhatthenewsstoriesareabout;theforeignstudenthastoreadthestoriestofindoutwhattheheadlinesmean.

　　“Thepopularpress,inordertoprintasmuchinformationinassmallaspaceaspossible,haddevelopedacontent-packedsentence,veryoftencrammedwithcompoundwordsofahighlycomplicatednature,thatneedstobetreatedwarilyatfirst.Forexample:

　　WarwickshirepoliceannouncedlatelastnightthatArthurPrentice,a35-year-oldlorrydriverofBabblesthorpe,Cambridgeshire,wantedinconnectionwiththedisappearanceof17-year-oldGlenysDennisfromherhomeinCambridgelastMarch,hadbeenarrestedintheSolihullareaofBirminghamandwashelpingpolicewiththeirenquiries.

　　Thereareatleast15factsinthisonesentence.Suchhastobedigestedslowly.IfthestudentofEnglishattemptstoabsorbalotofthissortofthingatspeed,hewillunderstandverylittleofwhathehasread...”

　　fromWhat'sInTheNews?byGeoffreyLand

　　Notes:

　　1.asoftenasnot:quitefrequently

　　2.curvaceous:havingmanycurves,ofshapelyfemalefigure

　　3.Scunthorpe’sDishoftheMonthinOctober-thedishiestdishinthearea-wasdishedupwithadishoftrouble...

　　DishoftheMonth:theattractivegirlofthecurrentmonth

　　thedishiestdish:themostattractivegirl

　　wasdishedupwithadishoftrouble:wasgivenakindoftroublethatsomepeoplehadpreparedforher.

　　4.shesentthempacking:shesentthetwowould-bemuggersrunningaway.