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Lesson 5 The facts
Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their readers with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president’s palace in a new African republic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused to publish it. The article began: ‘Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president’s palace.’ The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.
The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took a long time to send them. Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press. He set the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply. He sent yet another fax informing the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired. When the journalist again failed to(=didn’t) reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally been written. A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the journalist. Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well. However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the editor that he had been arrested while counting the 1,084 steps leading to the fifteen-foot wall which surrounded the president’s palace.
Teaching steps:
1. Guess what the story is about according to the picture given.
2. Listen and answer the question: What was the consequence of the editor’s insistence on facts and statistics?
3. Read the story and answer the following questions:
How do editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes?
What had a journalist been instructed to do?
Why was editor dissatisfied with the first sentence?
What did the editor instruct the journalist to do?
Why was the editor getting impatient?
How many steps led to the wall surrounding the president’s palace?
When had the journalist been arrested?
How long had he spent in prison?
4. New words and expressions
editor 编辑
extreme 极端
statistics 统计数字
journalist 新闻记者
president 总统
palace 王宫
publish 出版
fax 传真
impatient 不耐烦的
fire 解雇
originally 起初
5. Language points
(1) editor
┌edit
├compile
├compose
└com-pose
└（文字）→作文
└（音符）→作曲
└（图案）→作图
(2) extreme
┌extremely
├particularly
├especially
├absolutely
└强调副词
go to extreme
He always go to extremes to criticize to government.
(3) journalist
├reporter
├photographer
└correspondent
(4) fax sth. to sb.
sent sb. a fax
(5) I’m impatient to see you.
├I can’t wait to see you.
├I’m anxious to see you.
├I’m eager to see you.
└I’m out of patience.
├out of control
├out of order
└out of mind
(6) give给：
┌provide sb. with sth
├offer sb. sth.
├present sb. with sth.
└He presents me with information.
(7) reputed
├well-known world-known
├popular
└famous
(8) set out to do
├begin to do
└set about doing
I set out to prepare the lunch.
(9) inform sb. sth.
├I informed him her death.
├inform against sb.
└be well-informed
(10)
┌as well →too
├as well as →and
└fail to →don’t
(11) 倒装
整个动词提前，助、系、情态动词倒装，目的：强调。
a. 地点、表地点的副词：in, out, down, there, here, off, over, away… 句子倒装。
The girl jumped down.
Down jumped the girl.
In front of the door stands an old man.
（主语是人称代词时不倒装）
Down she jumped.
b. 否定词在句首时须倒装：neither, nor, hardly, scarcely, rarely, seldom, not, never, not only, barely, at no time, nowhere以及所有带“no”的词组。
By no means is he a good teacher.
Not only…but
Jack could not swim.
Neither could Tom.
Never have I seen such a good movie.
└While doing…做某事过程中
6. Exercise
1. Having read the first sentence, the editor refused to publish the article.
2. The magazine was about to go to press.
3. He sent the journalist two faxes, but did not receive a reply.
4. He informed the journalist he would be fired unless he replied.
5. He informed the editor of his arrest while carrying out his instructions.
6. Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their public with unimportant facts and statistics.
7. The magazine would soon go to press. It would soon be printed.
8. The poor man had been arrested. He was very unfortunate.
9. He had at last been given permission to send a fax.
7. Retell the story
8. Discussion
How important is factual accuracy in published materials? Give reasons.
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