POPULAR vs. QUALITY NEWSPAPERS

POPULAR vs. QUALITY NEWSPAPERS Students of English as a foreign language often ask teachers which newspaper to read. They naturally suppose that reading an English Newspaper will be a good way of improving their knowledge of the language. But they are frequently disappointed because they cannot understand popular newspapers and think the 'quality' newspapers will be even more difficult. In fact, the opposite is usually the case. Popular newspapers are written for people who haven't got much time for reading and who, perhaps, do not read as fast or enjoy reading as much as people who buy 'quality' newspapers. So, the editors try to attract the readers' attention with sensational headlines in big black type. The headlines do not explain the content of the news item underneath. On the contrary, they are often designed to puzzle the reader so that he will be persuaded to read the item to find out the meaning of the headline! Apart from that, they use double meanings, so a foreign reader is usually confused by them. Editors are also afraid that the readers will not be patient enough to read a long paragraph. Therefore, almost every sentence becomes a paragraph in itself, which is also a disadvantage for the student of English as a foreign language.

MANCHESTER

The City of Manchester is situated in the heart of a huge industrial area of Lancashire. For centuries this inland city has been the centre of the cotton trade. Cotton is not grown in Lancashire, of course, but it is made into cloth there, and the finished material is exported all over the world. All around Manchester are many smaller towns where the cotton industry has developed and where soap, chemicals, dyes, rubber goods and paper goods are manufactured. Manchester itself is now famous not only for the production of machinery of all kinds, but as a great trade centre of England, second only to London.

It was not always so. Until the building of the Manchester Ship Canal the cotton goods had to be transported to Liverpool, over thirty miles away, and there loaded onto cargo ships which carried them all over the world. Naturally, this increased the cost of the goods and reduced the profits of Manchester's trade.

Why is this no longer necessary? Because this famous canal goes all the way from Liverpool to Manchester, a distance of thirty-five miles. It is wide and deep enough to carry large ships easily and safely. It has transformed Manchester from an inland city into one of Britain's greatest ports. Huge docks and warehouses, stores and factories have sprung up along its banks (sides) and, every hour of the day. and night, great ships from all over the world are loading or unloading cargo at the port.

The Ship Canal was opened to traffic on January 1st, 1894. It is a very good example of engineering skill and perseverance. Five railway lines crossed the route chosen for the canal and bridges had to be built for them. Rivers and streams also stood in the way. They could not be allowed to flow into the canal because they would have interfered with the water-level. These were only a few of the problems the engineers had to solve.

At last, however, the work was finished. On January 1st, 1894, seventy-one ships sailed for the first time from the mouth of the River Mersey where Liverpool stands, right up to the City of Manchester. On May 21st of the same year Queen Victoria herself sailed up this wonderful waterway to perform the official opening ceremony. 'perseverance: continuing firmly in spite of difficulties

THE MIND AND THE BODY

A simple truth that should be self-evident is that an individual's personality is expressed through his body as much as through his mind. A person cannot be divided into a mind and a body. Despite this truth, all studies of personality have concentrated on the mind as the determinant of identity and have neglected the body. The body of a person tells us much about his personality. How one holds himself, the look in his eyes, the tone of his voice, and the spontaneity of his gestures tell us not only who he is but also whether he is enjoying life or is miserable and ill at ease. A person enters therapy because he is not enjoying life. In the forefront or the background of his mind, he is aware that his capacity for pleasure has been diminished or lost. The apparent complaint may be depression, anxiety, a sense of inadequacy, and so on, but these are the symptoms of a deeper disturbance, namely, the inability to enjoy life. In every case it can be shown that this inability stems from the fact that the patient is not fully alive in his body and in his mind. This problem cannot be fully resolved, therefore, by a purely mental approach. It must be tackled on the physical and the psychological levels simultaneously. Only when a person becomes fully alive is his capacity for pleasure fully restored. The principles and practices of bioenergetic therapy rest on the functional identity of the mind and the body. This means that any real change in a person's thinking and, therefore, in his behaviour and feeling, is conditioned upon a change in the functioning of his body. The two functions that are most important in this regard are breathing and movement. Both of these functions are disturbed in every person who has an emotional problem by chronic muscular tensions that are the physical counterpart of psychological conflicts. Through these muscular tensions, conflicts become structured in the body. When this happens, they cannot be resolved until the tensions are released. To release these muscular tensions, one must feel them as a limitation of self-expression. In other words, the body and the mind must work hand in hand to overcome the problem.

Mark the best choice.
1. The studies of personality are all based on the idea that .
a) the body and the mind cannot be treated separately
b) an individual's personality is expressed through his body
c) personality depends on the mind of the individual
d) the body determines the individual's personality

2. Which of the following is not correct about depression and anxiety?
a) They are the signs of the inability to enjoy life.
b) They are reduced by the person's capacity to enjoy life.
c) They make the person aware that he doesn't get pleasure from life.
d) They are the complaints that cause the person to enter therapy.

ROSE-RED CITY

A rose-red city, half as old as time! These words describe the ancient, ruined city of Petra, hidden in the mountains of southern Jordan. The rose-red colour comes from the sandstone of the mountains into which caves, temples, tombs and monuments were built. Because it was surrounded by mountains, this beautiful city stayed undiscovered through the ages until the 18th century, when the archeologists found the way in. The first scientific investigation of the place, however, was possible towards the end of the following century. Today tourists can enter Petra through the same deep path, which twists for one mile through the mountain. At times, it is so narrow that the walls block out the sky leaving the traveller in complete darkness.

At the end of the road the darkness suddenly turns into brilliant sunshine in the Wadi of Urn, where the magnificient columns of the Treasury, Petra's most famous monument, tower up to the blue sky.The central city area lies in the Wadi Mousa and this is mainly where the most beautiful walls, steps, fountains and temples are found. Now the city lies quietly under the hot desert sun, and nobody lives there except the archeologists, museum keepers and guides and a small number of Bedouin families who still inhabit the caves high up on the hillsides. And the tourists, of course, who come every year to see the ancient, secret city of rose-red stone. They listen carefully to the guides who tell them that Petra was once a wealthy city of the ancient world. It began as a watering place for the caravans and developed into an important trading centre.

The hills around Petra were settled in the fifth century B.C. by the people of an ancient tribe, the Edomites, who began to build the city. However, it was actually the Nabateans, who settled the Wadi Mousa in 310 B.C. that brought wealth and prosperity to the city. They built beautiful temples to worship the sun and made delicately painted pottery. They also established a well-developed administrative system to live in peace. A long-line of Nabatean kings came to an end in 106 AD, when Petra was occupied by the Romans and became part of the Roman province of Arabia. At first, the city flourished under Roman administration. The Romans built beautiful monuments and made new improvements to the city, such as the Collonade Street, which is very famous among archeological circles. However, as the economy of the
whole eastern area began to change, the trade routes disappeared and Petra declined. By the sixth century AD, there was no longer any mention of Petra in ancient writings.

HOME SWEET HOME

For many British people, a house is the most important thing in their lives. In fact, 60% of the population doesn't live in rented housing. They would rather have their own houses, but prices are going up all the time, and many young people have not got enough money to buy a house. They live in small flats or in their parents' house (even when they are married). Prices are especially high in the southeast of England. In the north, and in Scotland, prices are quite low. Young people often buy old houses, perhaps more than a hundred years old because they are not so expensive. But they have to spend a lot of time and money on repairs and decoration.

YOUNG LOVE AT THE CAVE

Sarah Jones, Pete Parsons and Bette Lord work in Manchester. Sarah is a secretary. Pete drives a taxi and Bette teaches music. But tonight they are in London. They're playing at The Cave. Who are they? They're the new band YOUNG LOVE. From Monday to Friday they work in Manchester. At the weekend they sing in pubs and discos. They've got two jobs and they work very hard. Sarah Jones says, 'It isn't easy. I'm very busy. My office opens at 9.00 and I usually work from 9.00 to 5.00. I'm not working today because we're singing tonight in London'. YOUNG LOVE are playing at The Cave, Lower Harrington St, at 8.30. Tickets are £4.

1. What is YOUNG LOVE?
2. Why are they in London?
3. Do they sing in Manchester?
4. Where does Sarah usually work?
5. Why isn't she working today?

fox and sour grapes

One day, a hungry fox was walking in the forest. He saw a small bunch of grapes high on the vines. The fox was very happy to see them.

He thought, "Good, I got something to eat!"

He jumped and tried to get them, but could not reach! He kept trying for many times but in vain.

At last, the fox consoled himself by saying, "Those grapes are sour. I will find something nice to eat."

So the fox contentedly walked away in search of food. He kept searching, but could not find any food. After a couple of days, the fox died in hunger.

Moral: Never give up. Keep trying until you succeed!