Section 1. Text comprehension questions

TEXT COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What problem is brought up in the present newspaper writing?

2. Which situations of British everyday life are characterized by the absence of simple, universal and socially neutral words and word-combinations in the English vocabulary?

3. In what way can the phrase “I hope you like it” concerning the food you offer to your guests be interpreted?

4. Can this expression be regarded as an equivalent of its French counterpart “Bon appé tit”? Provide your explanations.

5. What expressions are there in the English language to use when drinking with someone, and why does the author call the English people “unfortunate” in this respect?

6. Why does the phrase “Good health” sound out of place for ordinary people in the pubs down the Old Kent Road?

7. What alternative phrases do the majority of English people resort to and why does the author also find them inadequate?

8. What social groups of the British society are associated with clothes made of tweed and the phrase “Old chap”?

9. What deficiencies is the English valedictory vocabulary characterized by in the author’s opinion?

10. Who is seeking funds to finance a research project into the problem of “linguistic gaps” and what are the aims and purposes of the project?

ª Section 2

ANALYSIS OF GENRE PECULIARITIES OF A NEWSPAPER PUBLICATION

2.1.

1. Does the information conveyed relate to events currently in the news or does it focus on a single topic of certain social significance?

2. How does the journalist create interest in the topic chosen and make the reader get involved in the discussion of the problem?

3. Is the balance between information and evaluation in favour of the former or the latter? Provide your arguments and illustrate them by references from the text.

2.2.

1. Comment on the arrangement of the information conveyed and the composition of the publication.

2. How is the logical connection between different parts of the author’s reasoning achieved so that the reader is led easily into the reading matter?

3. Does the headline deserve comment in terms of its vocabulary and grammar?

2.3.

1. Does the text contain a large amount of quoted material? What are the ways of introducing it? Provide examples.

2. Is the text characterized by a wide use of dashes? What purposes do they serve in the present text?

3. Which newspaper genre are the lexical peculiarities of the text in keeping with – a news report or a feature article?

4. Does the author mainly rely on stereotyped forms of expression or give reign to his individual stylistic preferences?

5. Find instances of deliberate combination of different stylistic strata of the text vocabulary and comment on the stylistic effect achieved.

6. Pick out examples of highly emotive and thoroughly evaluative words and account for their use proceeding from the author’s personal attitude to the problem in hand.

7. Do we trace a wide use of trite stylistic imagery and/or genuine stylistic devices?

8. What are the dominant stylistic devices the author makes use of to enhance the emotional-expressive impact of his arguments on the reader?

9. What epithets and metaphors serve to express the author’s sympathy for his compatriots in respect to certain deficiencies in the English vocabulary?

10. Does the use of some epithets ring the bell of certain social contradictions and prejudices in the British society?

11. Make a conclusion about the genre of the newspaper writing under analysis.

ª Section 3