从三种不同的分类方法看英语新闻的结构特征.doc

从三种不同的分类方法看英语新闻的结构特征Abstract In modern society of information, newspaper is still an important way for people to learn about the outside world and acquire information. In order to read journalistic English article efficiently and to spot useful information in limited time. Three different aspects of the English newss construction features are analyzed in this paper. The thesis can be divided into five parts. Chapter one touches upon the definition of the English news. The following three chapters deal with the process of analyzing construction of English news. First, it mainly explores the structures and features of hard news and soft news. After that, definition and examples of English news construction were given by its style, especially declared editorial and the whole chain of continuous reporting in detail. Then, the following aspects are discusses by it form: headlines grammar, background of the text and so on. Chapter five not only concluded the whole passage, but also expressed the importance of reading news. Besides, it sum up varies reading tactics when accounting different articles.In conclusion, research on features of English news construction not only reveals the stereotype of news writing, but also makes English reading more efficient.Keywords: effective reading; construction; useful information; stereotype of news writing中文摘要在当今信息社会中，报纸仍是人们了解外部世界，获得信息的主要手段。为了高效阅读新闻英语文章，文章将从英语新闻的三种分类方法入手，通过对性质，体裁以及写作风格的分析，帮助读者迅速通过分析文章的结构找出有效信息。文章共分五个部分： 第一部分引言简要介绍了什么是英语新闻。之后的三个部分通过英语新闻的三种结构进行分析。首先着重探讨了硬、软两种新闻的两种新闻典型格局和特点。其次，文章阐述了英语新闻三类体裁的定义并举例，特别是对社论以及消息的整个链条连续报道进行了详细的说明。最后论述了英语新闻的主体结构，其中包括对标题中语法、典故和正文中不可忽视的文章背景以及导语的具体分析和举例。第五部分是全篇的总结，它阐述了提高阅读的重要性，更重要的是系统地归纳了在应对不同体裁、结构时应采取的阅读策略。总而言之，对英语新闻进行的结构特点上的研究不仅剖析了新闻写作的定式，还使得高效英语阅读成为可能。关键词： 高效阅读；结构；有效信息；写作定式iiContentsAbstractiChinese AbstractiiChapter 1 Instruction.1Chapter 2 Classification of English News Construction by its Nature1 2.1 Hard News/Breaking News 12.1.1 The Inverted Pyramid Form22.1.2 Nil-like Structure.32.2 Soft News/Feature News .42.2.1 Pyramid Form 4Chapter 3 Classification of English News Construction by its style53.1 News/Continuous Reporting.53.1.1 Breaking News63.1.2 Rolling Stories.63.1.3 Wrap-up Story.73.1.4 Follow-up Story .73.1.5 News Behind News .73.1.6 Insurrection Reporting.73.2 Features83.3 Opinion Articles/Columns8Chapter 4 Classification of English News Construction by its Forms94.1 The Headline.94.1.1 Meanings Behind Word-play.104.1.2 Colloquial English in Headlines.104.1.3 Special Grammar in Headlines. Omissions Abbreviations. Tense..1 General Present Tense..2 General Future Tense.3 Proceed Tense. Voices.124.2 The Lead.134.2.1 The Direct Lead144.2.2 The Delayed Lead.154.3 The Body.15 4.3.1 Backgrounds That Can Not Be Ignored.16Chapter 5 Conclusion.17Bibliography.18Acknowledgements.19Analyses of the English New Construction Features from Three Different AspectsChapter1 Introduction What is new? The concept generally accepted by Chinese is that news refers to new or fresh information or reports of what has most recently happened. News can covering varies type of subjects. Many scholars have been studying relevant subjects like hard news, unique way of news report and so on. However, people hardly notice that excessive paragraphs in one article would so easily make readers confused that they can not take shape outline of the article and then can not understand it clearly. To solve this problem, it is far more enough to master a certain mount of single words. Since the types and forms of the article are determined by materials correspondents hold and the messages they intend to express, acquiring basic knowledge of news structure can help us better understanding the article. Of course, backgrounds of the reports are something we can never neglect. Under such circumstances, to help reader spot the key words fast and understand what correspondents want to express, I would like to introduce English news construction from following three aspects.Chapter2 Classification of English News Construction by its Nature2.1 Hard News/ Breaking NewsHard news is generally refers to up-to-the-minute news and events. It is a chronicle of current or incidents and is the most common news style on the front page of the typical newspaper. It includes stories of timely natures about events or conflicts that just happened or are about to happen, such as crimes, fires, meeting and so on. Hard news is a relative concept of soft news in the sense that the former emphasizes timeliness and on the spot report while the latter is not time-sensitive. Hard news writing is the straight factual accounting of an event in a clear style.2.1.1 The Inverted Pyramid Format Journalists adopted the inverted pyramid form because it allowed readers to comprehend the news quickly. It summarizes a story in the lead and presents the facts in descending order of importance. Consequently, the storys most important details are placed in the second paragraph so readers can easily find its central contents. Other additional information like names, descriptions, quotations and background is added in decreasing order of importance. If the author wants to delete any unnecessary messages, can deleting the end of the passage. The inverted pyramid structure is described as following:Summary LeadBodyEndingSome of the 5 WsBackground &InterviewsBackground orInterviewLess ImportantLeast Most Newsworthy Information or FactsGenerally speaking, a straight news story, which is timely report on an event within 24 hours after the event takes place, follows the inverted pyramid structure. Now lets look at an example of inverted style and see how it is organized:TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-A $295 fee on vehicles registered by newcomers to Florida would be cut in half if legislation endorsed by a House committee Wednesday becomes law.The bill, approved 17-0 by the House Transportation Committee, would also reduce from $100 to $50 the “new-wheels-on-the-road” fee for vehicles registered for the first time.The sponsor, Rep Mario Diaz-Balart, said the legislation is intended to improve compliance with fee schedules that arent bringing in anticipated dollars anyway. The impact fees, passed last year by the legislature, were initially projected to bring in $83 million but may raise only $27 million.The bill would drop the $295 fee to $150. It attempts to improve compliance by requiring proof of auto registration before a newcomer can enroll a child in public school, apply for a homestead exemption or obtain a drive license.The reduction in the new-car fee would be offset by a flat increase of $3 on motor vehicle license taxes and permits.The bill next goes to the House Finance and Taxation Committee. (Vivian 259)Analysis: The lead contains the principal facts of the story. The writer promises to tell the reader about the new legislation. The second paragraph develops the first by providing specific details: the name of the committee, and the vote count. The paragraph also adds a second element. In the writers view, apparently, cutting the $100 fee was of secondary importance. The third paragraph further develops elements of the first paragraph-the “who”-and the new point in the second paragraph. It also explains the “why” of the legislation. The fourth paragraph is the expansion of detail from the first paragraph, and it also provides the “how” of the paragraph immediately proceeding. The fifth paragraph is the further development of the second paragraph. In the last paragraph, a new element is introduced. A succeeding paragraph might quote the bills sponsor or a legislative leader on the chances of its passage.However, this style also has some disadvantages. First of all, the lead summarizes facts that are discussed later in greater detail, so some of the facts may be repeated. Secondly, news stories of this style may seem boring and monotonous, for the readers can immediately catch the main idea, so this style rarely contains any surprise. Third, sometimes it makes the story more complex and different to write.汪莹，2005，论新闻英语及翻译 D， P38-40，哈尔滨工程大学。2.1.2 Nail-like structure Sometimes, two or more than two pieces of important affairs exist in news reports contents, so all of those affairs are equal in this type of report. The lead is the head of the nail, several facts compound to be the body of the nail, all these combined to illustrate the lea. Under such circumstances, correspondents will write a summary lead to tell the main fact and then to describe the detail of the main fact and then to describe the details of what happened. 2.2 Soft News/Feature NewsOpposed to hard news, soft news refers to a “human-interest story” involving “interesting or less important topics” such as prominent persons, food, fashion, films, the arts, sometimes taking an in-depth look at whats going on behind the news grave or significant social issues, although it does not have to be tied up to a current event or a breaking story. Begin with a feature of 2 or 3 paragraphs to set a mood and to excite readers attention, followed by the body containing a lot of important background information and interviews and the ending with a surprising climax. 2.2.1 Pyramid Form Contrary to inverted pyramid form, the massages of pyramid form telling events in time sequence. Generally, features use this structure where reporter begins with background. The lead has lost its original meaning and has been abandoned; we just call it “beginning”. Nowadays, this kind of structure is most suitable for the most narrative and human-interest stories. Author often use this structure to make the story approach a climax. Important InformationBackgroundAnecdote/BackgroundDelayed LeadBlockBodyEndingAppealing Description/Narration Background/Interview/Analysis/CommentaryBackground orInterviewSurprising Climax(most important)DALLAS,NOV,23(UPI) it was a balmy, sunny noon as we motored through downtown Dallas behind President Kennedy. The procession cleared the center of the business district and turned into a handsome highway that wound through what appeared to be a parkI was riding in the so-called White House press “pool” car, a telephone company vehicle equipped with a mobile radio-telephone. I was in the front seat between a driver from the telephone company and Malcolm Kilduff, Acting White House Press Secretary for the President Texas tour. Three other pool reporters were wedged in the back seat.Suddenly we heard three loud, almost painfully loud, cracks. The first sounded as if it might have been a large firecracker. But the second and third were unmistakable, gunfire. Chapter3 Classification of English News Construction by its style News, feature, opinion article, no matter the length or the degree of the importance, are the essence of news without exception. 3.1 NewsUsually, news is one of the most extensive and the most in common using report forms. News is essentially a “something happened” story. There are the immediate news reports of “breakingnews”, up-to-the-minute news and events. News story is often shorter than features and have little analysis. The difference between feature and news is that news are intend to be objective reports of what happened, while feature go deeper into the topic and give more background information or cover related issues of public interest.Theoretically, once correspondent starts to report an affair or a person to public, he would stick to the new information of the story until all the people interesting completely vanished. Thus, all the information come into a news chain according to the process of reportingcontinuous reporting.黎信，2009， A Practical Guide for International News Report in English M。 P189-204 北京：外文出版社， There are following six steps: Breaking News, Rolling Stories, Wrap Up, Follow-up Stories, News behind News, Insurrection Reporting.3.1.1 Breaking News(即时新闻)Breaking news is the beginning of a new story. It is usually a brief sentence even not to strict to the accuracy of the grammar and the completion of the sentence. For example, the first news sent out to all over the world when President Kennedy was assassinated in the year 1936.Gunshot heard from president motorcade！It not a complete sentence which omit Verb-was and the Article-the before “president motorcade”. There is another example:Explosions Heard near Iranian ParliamentTEHRAN, Iran(AP)Several small explosions were heard Saturday at an intersection near the Iranian parliament, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.It described the explosions as a “terrorist attack,” but did not provide any details about the nature of the blasts.“Authorities do not believe there is any material damage or casualties from these explorations,” the agencys Persian-language service said.No further details were available.2000-02-06 01:32:133.1.2 Rolling Stories(滚动报道)Once a important event happened, the radio and television station broadcast urgent(急电）, then, more added（短讯）, wrap up（综述）continuous to broadcast, all the course has formed rolling stories (滚动报道). Every message is the complement and more specific than the former one. During that period, tidbits（新闻花絮）and background articles（新闻背景专稿）can be used to meet readers needs.3.1.3 Wrap-up(新闻综述)Unlike rolling stories tends to report from the beginning to the end of the event. Wrap-up is more likely a reporting wrap up all the events during a certain period of time. All the relative facts are collected to express the same theme so readers can see the process of one thing from varies prospects. As the length of an article are usually too long, when we reading such kind of articles, we should find the key words, that is to say, to find the words act as the leading role in one or several paragraphs. From the following article we can easily find out that the author illustrate the same theme from different geography conceptions.FINAL PREPARATION FOR Y2KNew Zealand braced to become the first industrialized nation to enter the New York, one hour after Tongaand the first to be exposed to potential Y2K computer bug problems.For millions of office workers around the world, New Year Eve will be spent glued to office computer screens, fingers crossed that preparations for the Y2K bug have been adequate.In Britain3.1.4 Follow-up Story (后续报道) Follow-up story is a kind of consecutive report to the recent continues affairs or any persons records in a certain period. So in order to attract the readers attention, commonly the reporter should report the whole affairs from a new angle.3.1.5 News Behind News(新闻背后的新闻)Once new clues appear in the period of follow-up stories report, correspondents should follow the report to dig news behind the news.3.1.6 Insurrection Reporting(复活报道)Insurrection reporting is not simply reiterating past messages but review past under a new perspective to enlighten readers. 3.2 FeaturesFeature main contents are entertainment, information and education. Feature belongs to soft news without time-bounded which often broadcasted coordinate with hard news. Because of features special characters, the reports often need a very well-patient and prosperous energy to scoop out the human interest details, making the news vivid and readability. So we can say features can reflect one side of western social philosophy, that is, take prominence to “individual” to reveal social development trends. In the following part, a study of features of soft news would be carried out at three levels: social features, cultural features and linguistic features.孔君，2003，论英语新闻文体与汉译 D，P22-23，中国海洋大学。3.3 Opinion articles/ ColumnsAlthough, there are a few columns in quantity in a newspaper, it has an independent views and fixed format. Columns has very wide of involvement, including political commentary, social intercourse and consult. Opinion articles are mainly including articles issued by individual person or editorial(社论) in the mane of editorial department. Editorial stand for editorial department to express ones opinion, comment on current important affairs and problems of a period time. By judging events in effectual terms, the speaker/writer can help invite their audience to share that emotional response so Judgment evaluation resources are applied to criticize, praise, condemn or applaud the behavior of human individuals and groups. Social sanction and social esteem can be grouped under this category. Since social sanction of judgment involves assessment systems of legality/illegality, morality/immorality or politeness/impoliteness, there are abundant judgment