Questions for revision 1. What are the grammatical features of headlines? 2. Do you know the types of headlines? What are they?

The Lexical Characteristics of News Language Lecture 3 The Lexical Characteristics of News Language

What pose an obstacle in understanding news story? Background knowledge; News words; Sentence patterns

The Lexical Characteristics A. Midget words; abbreviated and shortened words are often used. B. Coinage of words by way of hyphen or affixes. C. Frequently used patterns or rhetorical devices D. Ways of Revealing the source of news.

The Syntactical Characteristics A. Participles used at the end of a sentence telling the result or used in the middle of a sentence as parenthesis providing background or manner. B. Apposition frequently used to introduce the status of a person, location and business of an organization, etc.

Midget words; abbreviated and shortened words 1. Hall, a 6-ft. 6-in. 185 lb. 21-year-old swimmer, is one of the U.S.’s best hopes for Atlanta gold in swimming. (From Time) 豪尔，一名21岁的游泳运动员，身高6英尺6英寸，体重185磅，是美国最有希望成为亚特兰大游泳金牌的得主之一。

Midget words; abbreviated and shortened words 2. EBay Buys Payment Service From VeriSign By GREG SANDOVAL The Associated Press Monday, October 10, 2005; 6:53 PM SAN FRANCISCO -- EBay Inc. said Monday it has agreed to buy an online-payment business from Internet services company VeriSign Inc. for $370 million in a deal that could bring new security measures for eBay users.

3. This trend has given rise to an older pool of graduate students: Today, more than half are over age 30, and nearly one quarter are over 40. Distance education often is a great fit for these working adults, many of whom find it difficult to skip a child’s ballet lesson or fight rush-hour traffic to get to a university campus for class. (From U.S. News & World Report, April 10, 2000)

4. By almost every education gauge, young Asian Americans are soaring 4. By almost every education gauge, young Asian Americans are soaring. They are finishing way above the mean on the math section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and according to one comprehensive study of San Diego area students, outscoring their peers of other races in high school grade-point averages. 无论以什么教育标准来测量，年轻的亚裔学生几乎都遥遥领先。根据对圣地亚哥地区学生的综合调查，亚裔学生在大学入学考试中数学成绩远高于平均分，而且他们在高中的平均成绩积点分也高于其他种族的同龄学生。

5. Gov’t website THOUSANDS visited the Chinese central government website www.gov.cn, which opened on a trial basis last Saturday. The website includes the latest government news, policies and content of press conferences. It also enables people to apply for approvals, lodge complaints and sign petitions online. In a survey on the website, 40 per cent of respondents chose “online interaction” as their primary concern about government websites. ( KEY WORDS in 21ST CENTURY October 5, 2005)

B. Coinage by hyphen or affixes. 1. He described G. O. P. campaign strategy as “big-lie technique.” 他把共和党的竞选战略称之为“撒弥天大谎的技巧”。 Grand Old Party (Republican)美国共和党的别称

B. Coinage by hyphen or affixes. 2. Dan Cusick, 37, of San Francisco learned last July that an AIDS-related illness was eating away at his brain and would probably kill him by October. In a last-ditch effort to save his life, his doctors gave him three anti-HIV drugs all at once. last-ditch - 作最后努力（或尝试）的；孤注一掷的

B. Coinage by hyphen or affixes. 3. Even the B-1 bomber, a cold war relic that had never seen combat despite its $280 million-per-plane price tag, got in on the action. (From Time) 甚至B-1轰炸机，这个标价2亿8千万美金从未参加战斗的冷战产物，也参加了这次行动。

B. Coinage by hyphen or affixes. 4. China plans an October blast-off for Shenzhou VI Chinese people have a cause to cheer next month with the likely launch of the nation’s second manned space mission. Media reports on Monday said that the five-day space trip will happen sometime in mid-October. （21st Century, Oct.5, 2005)

B. Coinage by hyphen or affixes. 5. In the meantime, many netizens started to look for the patient in the real world. (21st Century, Sep.7, 2005) 6. In 1992, EuroDisney opened in what was a sugar-beet field east of Paris. But at first it wasn’t seen very sweetly by the French. (21st Century, Sep.7, 2005) （sugar-beet：糖用甜菜） 7. Grass-roots outcry against the nationwide restriction on compact cars reached a peak this week. (21st Century, Sep.14, 2005)

B. Coinage by hyphen or affixes. 8. In Shanghai, automobiles with engines smaller than 1.2 litres are forbidden to use overpasses. In fact, compact cars have long been praised as both economical and fuel-efficient. This has become a crucial trait with the rise of gas prices. (21st Century, Sep.14, 2005)

B. Coinage by hyphen or affixes. 9. Certainly many neurotic boomer parents － and their stressed-out, resume-building teenagers － assume that it is always better to choose Harvard over Big-State U. because of Harvard’s presumably superior educational environment, better alumni connections, and more lucrative on-campus recruiting opportunities. (From Fortune, May 1,2000)

当然很多出生期高峰的父母----和他们过度紧张，忙着准备简历的青少年孩子们----想当然的认为， 最好还是选择哈佛，而不选州立大学。就是因为哈佛的看似优良的教育环境，更佳的校友联谊网和更有利的在大学校园招募机会。

C. Frequently used patterns or rhetorical devices World Leaders Line up for White House Attention 各国领导人竟相争取白宫的重视 Talks on Africa at No.10 (The Times) 在（唐宁街）10号举行非洲（问题）谈判 How Whitehall Managed the News (Washington Post) 白厅如何控制新闻

C. Personification of Place and Building Pentagon Plans System to Fight Soviet Satellites 五角大楼设计武器系统对付苏联卫星 Hanoi Trades Aid With Accord (South China Morning Post) 河内（越南）以协议换取援助 Talks With Moscow Urged (Christian Science Monitor) 敦促同莫斯科会谈

C. Personification of Place and Building 1. The Kremlin declined comment as Norway was expelling eight Russian diplomats for activities incompatible with their status—the usual term for spying. 当挪威驱逐八名俄罗斯外交官，由于他们从事了与其身份不符的活动（这是指从事间谍活动的常用措词），克里姆林宫拒绝进行评论。

C. Personification of Place and Building 2. King told journalists that Seoul would even support Washington if it “reduced or lifts its sanctions” against Pyongyang. 金告诉记者，如果华盛顿“减少或解除对平壤的制裁”，汉城甚至会支持华盛顿。 3. $227 Billion Tax on Crude Oil is Cleared by Hill. 原油征税2270亿美元已获国会通过。

C. Personification of Place and Building 4. The Key to the Pentagon’s new approach will be a sharply reduced American “forward deployment” in Europe and the Pacific, backed by a strong, mobile capability stationed in the U.S. 五角大楼的新方案的关键部分将是大大减少美国在欧洲和太平洋前沿部署的军事力量，而是在美国本土拥有一支强大的机动力量做支持。

5. Six-party talk The fourth round of the Six-Party Talks aimed at ending the nuclear standoff (僵持) on the Korean Peninsula resumed Tuesday in Beijing. The prospects of the talks remain unclear, as Pyongyang and Washington still disagree about the scope of denuclearization. However, negotiators have promised to make joint efforts for the adoption of a common document. The six parties involved are China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the US, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan. (21st Century, Sep.7, 2005)

C. Personification of Place and Building White House 白宫（美国政府） Capitol Hill 美国国会大厦 Buckingham 白金汉宫（英国皇室）

C. Personification of Place and Building Downing Street 唐宁街（英国政府） Fleet Street 舰队街（英国新闻界） Motor City 汽车城（底特律 Detroit）

C. Personification of Place and Building Dice City 赌城（拉斯维加斯 Las Vegas ） Scotland Yard 苏格兰场（英国警方） White Hall 白厅（英国政府）

C. Personification of Place and Building Foggy Bottom 雾谷（美国国务院） Pentagon 五角大楼（美国国防部） Wall Street 华尔街（美国金融界）

C. Personification of Place and Building Broadway 百老汇大街（指美国或纽约的戏剧） Elysee 爱丽舍宫（法国政府） Quai d’Orsay 法国外交部 Quai d'Orsay [.kedɔr 'se] [.keɪdɔː 'seɪ] 1. 名词 凯多塞（巴黎塞纳河边法国外交部大楼临街的街名） 2. 名词 法国外交部的别称 3. 名词 法国外交政策

C. Personification of Place and Building Kremlin 克里姆林宫（俄罗斯政府、前苏联政府） Hollywood 好莱坞（美国电影界） Silicon Valley 硅谷（指高科技集中地）

C. Personification of Place and Building GOP The grand old party 美国共和党 Oval Office 椭圆办公室（指美国总统办公室）

D. Revealing the source of news. From Anarchy To Islamic Rule In Afghanistan U.S. officials say that militia may be the key to stability By Michael Dobbs Washington Post Staff Writer The stunning capture of Kabul by the radical Taliban militia organization represents the best chance in years of ending the anarchy that has wracked Afghanistan since the Soviet invasion in 1979, but it also could be the prelude to the construction of a particularly strict Islamic state, according to U. S. officials and experts.

D. Revealing the source of news. 2. The Rich Get Richer and Elected By STEVEN V. ROBERTS WASHINGTON, Sept.23 ––The House of Representatives, which prides itself on being “the people’s House.” has been turning into a rich man’s club. The representatives newly elected in 1984 were almost four times as wealthy as the first-term lawmakers elected only six years before, according to a new study based on the numbers’ financial reports.

3. The Mob in the Markets: FBI Sees Bigger Presence By Sandra Sugawara Washington Post Service WASHINGTON ––Organized crime’s presence on Wall Street is growing and there are increasing signs that foreign mobsters are trying to penetrate U.S. stock markets, according to a top FBI official. Thomas Fuentes, senior chief of the FBI’s organized-crime section, said Wednesday at a House of Representative hearing that organized crime’s involvement in the U.S. financial and securities markets “has become significant,” although it has mainly been limited to low-priced, thinly traded stocks that are not listed on major stock exchanges.

4. Genetic rice creeps closer China could be the first country in the world to approve genetically modified (GM) rice. The State Agricultural GM Crop Bio-safety Committee, the technical body which evaluates GM rice for research and marketing, is likely to meet in November, according to insiders—and Chinese scientists are confident of the progress they have made.

5. Bali bombing TWO people have been taken in for questioning after weekend bombings on Bali Island that killed up to 22 people, Bali’s police chief Made Mangku Pastika said on Tuesday. Authorities have said al-Qaida-linked militants blamed for earlier blasts in 2002 are top targets. But, police are continuing their manhunt after the three suicide bombings in Indonesia last Saturday. Currently Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and other nations are on high alert to protect their beaches from a repeat of the weekend attacks. (KEY WORDS 21ST CENTURY October 5,2005)