Vocabulary Unit 5 | Burden of Fame

Media and Press

VOC | 1
Newspaper headlines often use words that are short and dramatic. The vocabulary box
below contains words that are often used by newspapers, and in the words below the
box you can find neutral vocabulary. Match each word from the first box to its synonym.

aid axe to ban blast blaze

en
to boost boost/head clash to cut drama

r r
to hit key link a move plea

r
pledge PM probe quit riddle

spark

1. marry = wed
wed

ez to back

13. leave/resign =
2. cut =
3. investigation =
14. connection =
15. make illegal =
Ift 0k
4. step towards aProbeta
goal = 16. prime minister =
5. support = 17. tense situation =blast
6. affect badly =dtoboost 18. help =boost
7. explosion = 19. increase/encourage =
link
8. cause =
Med Ü toba
9. disagree violently =
20. reduce = toca
21. promise =
ppelaaze
10. mystery = riddle 22. request =
11. important = 23. manager =
toback
12. fire = DramÍ
VOC | 2
Match the headlines 1–4 with the topics a–d:
1. PM pledges flood aid a. A promise made by a politician
2. Bank boss to wed in style b. A tragic fire
3. Phone company axes 1,000 jobs c. A future marriage
4. Hospital blaze kills 10 d. Bad news for a group of workers

ENGLISH U5
MYP PHASE 3 | YEAR 2
Vocabulary Unit 5 | Burden of Fame

SPK | 3
Work with a partner. Explain what these newspaper stories are about.
a. Government plan backed by universities
b. I quit, says football star following clash with boss
c. New virus sparks safety fears
d. Police probe corruption claims
e. Spy riddle behind city centre blast
f. Government moves for fast food advertising ban
g. Key politician in plane drama

SPK | 4. News Analysis

When we find information on some event that interests us, we often wonder if this
information is correct. Look at the NEWS ANALYSIS GUIDE below. It will help you to
assess information that you find and help you decide if it is correct.
1. Who is the author of the article? Is it a famous person? Could they be biased for some reason?
Fore example, do they belong to a particular organisation or have a personal connection with
the people or events in the story?
2. Does the headline give a clear idea of what the article is about? Does it show any particular
opinion about the topic?
3. What does the first paragraph tell you? Does it outline the main points of the story and/or give
the summary of the most important ideas? If so, what are they?
4. What is the purpose of the article? Is it to describe and report facts? Is it to give you the writer’s
opinion or point of view on a particular question? Is it to entertain you or make you laugh? Is it
to persuade you of something? Is it to teach or instruct you about something? Is it to explore or
examine something in detail? Is it to shock you or create controversy?
5. Is the text giving you facts or opinions? Does the author use statistics, published studies or
quotations from experts to support its arguments? Or does it just express personal emotions
and experiences?
6. Does the writer give just one side of the argument, or do they give several?
7. Are there any diagrams, illustrations or photos with the article? Do they fairly and objectively
represent the news in the article? Do they try to get a particular response from the reader
(laughter, anger, sympathy, shock)?
8. Have you read information about the same story somewhere else? Was the treatment of the
story similar or different?
9. How might different readers see this article? Is there a stereotypical portrayal of any groups of
people? Could it offend somebody?
10. Do you think that you personally could trust this story? Why?

VOC | 5
Discuss the meaning and use of the vocabulary items highlighted in the previous task.

ENGLISH U5
MYP PHASE 3 | YEAR 2
Vocabulary Unit 5 | Burden of Fame

Collocations connected with the news

VOC | 6
What do you think the highlighted expressions mean?
1. This new band is starting to make the headlines all over the world!
2. Read about the dog that became front-page news!
3. The PM has decided to hold a press conference.
4. The next news item is great news for drivers but terrible news for cyclists.
5. We keep you informed 24-hours a day!
6. There has been a very surprising turn of events in the peace talks.
7. Our website is the best for breaking news, bringing you news updates every moment of every
day.
8. We’re interrupting this programme for an important newsflash.

VOC | 7
Match the expressions in Task 6 with their meanings below.
a. piece of news, individual story or article
b. organise a meeting where journalists get information and ask questions about a particular piece
of news
c. become famous by being reported in the news
d. reports containing all the latest news
e. news that is appearing for the first time
f. become important enough to appear on the first page of a newspaper
g. a short broadcast of an important piece of news in the middle of a TV or radio programme
h. an unexpected change in a situation
i. tell you all the essential information

ENGLISH U5
MYP PHASE 3 | YEAR 2
Vocabulary Unit 5 | Burden of Fame

Word formation: suffixes

SPK | 8
Work in pairs. What are the positive and negative things about being famous?
Use the photos to help you.

SPK | 9
Discuss. What do you think a 'web celeb' is? Read the article to find out. Then, answer
the questions.

T
he internet has changed the meaning of
celebrity. In the past you had to be a 1. What is different about fame
successful actor, musician or sportsperson now?
to be famous. Now all you need is the internet. 2. What did Ghyslain Raza and
One of the world's first web celebrities was Gary Brolsma do to become
Ghyslain Raza. He filmed himself acting as a Star famous?
Wars hero and his friends put the embarrassing 3. Have you heard of any other
video on YouTube. Millions of people watched it web celebrities?
and 'the Star Wars Kid' became world famous.
Another web celebrity is Gary Brolsma, 'the Numa
Numa guy', whose video of himself singing a
Romanian pop song has been watched more than
thirteen million times. In 1968 artist Andy Warhol
said, 'In the future everyone will be famous for
fifteen minutes.· With the invention of the internet
and YouTube, maybe that time is now.

ENGLISH U5
MYP PHASE 3 | YEAR 2
Vocabulary Unit 5 | Burden of Fame

VOC | 10
Look at the article in the previous task and find one example of a word with each
suffix.

Adjective endings Noun endings

-ful -ous -ion -ity -er / -or / -ian (jobs)

Complete words 1-8 below and put them in the correct column in the table.
1. celebrat_______ 5. adventur_______ (adj)
2. photograph_______ 6. help_______ (adj)
3. politic_______ 7. danger_______
4. popular_______ 8. wonder_______

ENGLISH U5
MYP PHASE 3 | YEAR 2