News Item

The communicative Purpose :
To inform the readers, listeners, or viewers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important

The Generic Structure :
Newsworthy (s) : recount the event in summary form
Background event (s) : elaborate what happened, to whom, in what circumstances
Sources : comments by participants in, witness to and authorities expert on the events

Town ‘Contaminated

Moscow – A Russian journalist has uncovered evidence of another Soviet nuclear catastrophe, which killed 10 sailors and contaminated an entire town.

Yelena Vazrshavskya was the first journalist to speak to people who witnessed the explosion of a nuclear submarine at the naval base of shkotovo – 22 near Vladivostock.

The accident, which occurred 13 months before the Chernobyl disaster, spread radioactive fall-out over the base and nearby town, but was covered up by officials of the Soviet Union. Residents were told the explosion in the reactor of the Victor-class submarine during a refit had been a ‘thermal’ and not a nuclear explosion. And those involved in the cleanup operation to remove more than 600 tons of contaminated material were sworn to secrecy.

A board of investigators was later to describe it as the worst accident in the history of the Soviet Navy.

Exercise 1: Answer the question
1.What is the communicative purpose of the text?
2.…another Soviet nuclear catastrophe…
What is the synonym of the underlined word?
3.How many people who die?
4.Who was the first journalist speaking to witnessed?
5.Who was the source of the text?
6. When did the accident happen?
7. What is the dominant structure of the text?
8. …more than 600 tons of contaminated material…
What is the synonym of the underlined word?
9. What happened with the nuclear submarine at the naval base of Shkotovo?
10. Why did the official of Soviet cover the spreading of radio active in the base and the town nearby?