WORKSHEET: STYLE

1. Understanding Newspaper Headlines

Newspaper headlines are often incomplete sentences (i.e. Difficult Times Ahead). Here is a guide
to the most common exceptions found in newspaper headlines.
a) Noun Phrases
Headlines often contain a noun phrase with no verb. A noun phrase describes a noun (i.e. around
strange, exotic people). Here are some examples of noun phrase headlines:
Under Pressure from Boss
Unexpected Visit
Overwhelming Response of Voters
b) Noun Strings
Another common headline form is a string of three, four or more nouns together (i.e. Country
Leader Question Time). These can be difficult because the words don't appear related by verbs or
adjectives. Here are some more examples:
Widow Pension Pay Committee
Landscaping Company Disturbance Regulations
Mustang Referral Customer Complaint
c) Various Verb Changes
There are a number of verb changes made to headlines. The most common are:

Simple tenses used instead of continuous or perfect forms. For example:

Forgotten Brother Appears = A forgotten brother has appeared (after a long period of time).
Professors Protest Pay Cuts = Professors are protesting pay cuts (at the university).

The infinitive form refers to the future. For example:

Mayor to Open Shopping Mall = The mayor is going to open a new shopping mall.
James Wood to Visit Portland = (Famous actor) James Wood is going to visit Portland soon.

Auxiliary verbs are dropped in the passive form. For example:

Man Killed in Accident = A Man has been killed in an accident.

Tommy the Dog Named Hero = Tommy the Dog has been named a hero (by the mayor).
d) Drop Articles
Perhaps you have noticed in the examples above that both definite and indefinite articles are
also dropped in newspaper headlines (i.e. Mayor to Choose Candidate). Here are some more
examples:
President Declares Celebration = The president has declared a celebration.
Passerby Sees Woman Jump = A passerby has seen a woman jump (into the river).

Review: Match these newspaper headlines into with the following categories (some headlines fit
two categories):
Categories
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Noun Phrases
Noun Strings
Simple Tenses instead of Continuous or Perfect
Auxiliary Verbs Dropped in Passive Form
Articles Dropped
Infinitive to Indicate Future

Newspaper Headlines
Forgotten Brother Appears
James Wood to Visit Portland
Landscaping Company Disturbance Regulations
Man Killed in Accident
Mayor to Open Shopping Mall
Mustang Referral Customer Complaint
Overwhelming Response of Voters
Passerby Sees Woman Jump
President Declares Celebration
Professors Protest Pay Cuts
Tommy the Dog Named Hero
Under Pressure from Boss
Unexpected Visit
Widow Pension Pay Committee
2. Translate the following passage into Vietnamese:

VENDING MACHINE THAT CAN DETERMINE BUYERS AGE

TTO - On Nov 12, Fujitaka Co. (Japan) launched a kind of automatic vending
machine being capable of determining buyers age.
According to the manufacturer, this intelligent vending machine calculates a buyers age
on bone and skin structure. It is especially suitable for selling sensitive products like
cigarette.
With this machine, when buying cigarette, the buyer must look into the visual identification
camera on the upper part of the machine and press a button. After 3 seconds, the machine will
decide whether the buyer is above or under 20 years of age (the legal age for buying cigarette in
Japan). If the buyer is of legal age, the machine will sell cigarette.
With special cases when the buyer is around 20 years old, the machine will request the buyer to
insert their card into the card reader before buying.

Fujitaka says this machine has been tested with 500 people ranging from 10 69 years of age,
with the precision rate at 90%. According to a companys spokesperson, this auto vending
machine is easy to use for the elders who find card authorisation difficult.
Another special feature of this machine: it only sells to card bearers. Japanese Cigarette
Association is planning to issue cigaretter buying cards for adults only; then only card bearers
can buy cigarette, and so limit the number of smokers.
This vending machine will be available globally from 2008 spring.
MINH ANH (from Yomiuri)
3. Translate the following passage into English:

CHI D KIU NHT

i vi gii tr Nht Bn, in thoi di ng (TDD) tr thnh mt vt bt ly thn.
Ngoi vic nghe v gi, TDD cn l phng tin truy cp internet, gi - check email, chp
nh cng nh ghi nh lch lm vic v l cch con ngi th hin c tnh ca mnh!
Khi ang khoe nhng hnh dn ng nghnh v khun mt ch chut Mickey Mouse gn lp
lnh trn ch d nh xinh xn ca mnh, mt c b 18 tui tit l: Th m em thch nht hin
nay l mt chic dy eo in thoi Chanel.
Nm bt c xu hng ny, nhng nh thit k thi trang ni ting th gii nh Hermes
International, Chanel, Gucci v Louis Vuitton thm vo cc b su tp ca mnh nhng chic
dy eo in thoi vi mc gi cao ngt ngng: 300 USD!
Ch cn tn b quanh cc con ph qun Shibuya,Tokyo, bn s nhn thy mt xu hng chi
mobile ht sc Nht Bn: nhng ph kin nh dy eo, hnh dn, nhng vin qu lp lnh
y mu sc c trang tr trn in thoi nh mt cch thc th hin c tnh ca ngi s
dng. Xu hng ny khin ngnh kinh doanh ph kin thi trang dnh cho TDD tr thnh
mt ngnh kinh doanh bo b ti Nht. Tomomi -mt hc sinh trung hc -gii thch n gin:
l cch khin chic in thoi ca bn khc bit vi ca nhng ngi khc
Khng ging my tnh c nhn v cc vt khc, keitai (TDD theo ting Nht) gn gi hn
vi mt c nhn. V vy, n cng l cch gii tr th hin c tnh ring ca mnh trong mt
nhm ngi nht nh. Xu hng ny cng ang thnh hnh ti cc nc chu khc nh Hn
Quc, Hng Kong v ang bt u manh nha chu u v M.
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