Do you read newspapers every day? Do you listen to the news bulletins on radio or TV? You may have seen your elders or friends reading news items and discussing them with feeling.

Do you think about the news that you read or hear? If a piece of news makes you happy, you will say it is good news. If it makes you angry or sad, you will say it is bad news.

 You may find some news items interesting and some others uninteresting or even boring. You also have to consider whether a piece of news is reliable or unreliable. Many news items have phrases like ‘according to our sources’, ‘authorities say that’, ‘an eye witness account’, etc. to convince the readers or viewers that the news is reliable. Or the reporter may simply say ‘It is learnt that….’. ‘It has come to light that…..’, etc.

Read the news items given in (a), (b), (c) and (d). You may have heard phrases like ‘breaking news’, ‘shocking news’, etc. In what other ways can we describe a piece of news ? Suggest suitable adjectives. Then form groups of four or five and discuss the questions given with each piece of news.

NEWS ANALYSIS

1. What is the meaning of ‘issued’, ‘candidates’ and ‘invigilators’ ?
2. Who is conducting the test ?
3. Discuss the following in groups of four or five :
   (a) Why is closed footwear (shoes, socks) not allowed in the examination hall ?
   (b) Why has the institute not allowed electronic gadgets in the hall ?
   (c) What other measures can be taken to prevent ‘copy’ ?
4. Why is this news published in newspapers ?

1. Guess the meaning of ‘most highly paid’, ‘revealed’, ‘sign films’.
2. What words are used for the following in the news item :
   (a) Film Industry
   (b) Something on which a lot of money is spent.
3.  Guess why ‘Ant’ is a big- budget movie.
4. Can you think of other reasons for Ritika’s decision ?
5. What will be Ritika’s reaction to this news ?

   1 Guess the meaning of ‘mankind’.
   2 Which words or phrases in the news refer to the earth?
   3 Which of the following problems do you believe is the most serious ?
   (a) climate change
   (b) overpopulation
   (c) epidemic diseases. Discuss this in groups of four or five using your mother tongue and English.

   4 Discuss the following statements with the help of your teacher.
   (a) We have the technology to destroy the planet on which we live.
   (b) We will have built colonies amid the stars.
   (c) Right now, we have only one planet.
   5 Prof. Hawking wrote about the problem in the Guardian. Why is it given as ‘news’ in other papers ?