NEWS ITEM: Basic Comprehension

Grade                         : 10th grader of Senior High School

Subject                       : English

Competence               : Reading

Hi guys, do you like reading news on a newspaper or internet? What can you get from them? Now, I'm going to explain about news item text briefly. Have a read!

1. Know-It-First

A. The Purpose

The purpose of news item is to inform the readers, listeners, or viewers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important.

B. 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.

C. Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:

• Short, telegraphic information about story capture headline:  A news item text should deliver and focus in core information related to the headline.

• Use of material processes to retell the event: It consists of action verbs such as do, watch, sink, etc.

• Use of projecting verbal processes in sources stage: A news item text should have authentic sources. It uses projecting verbal processes. For example: Allan said the robbery happened in the early morning.

• Focus on circumstances. It focuses on the circumstances of the events.

Here it is an example of news item text:

Brave Boy Found Alive After Two Days at Sea

Newsworthy (s) :

Feeling no fear, a five-year-old boy spent two days floating at sea on a mattress in a bid to survive from the effects of the tsunami that killed thousands of people from his town and was reunited with his family on Thursday.

He cried as he rushed to his parents, older brother and younger sister at a refugee camp in Meulaboh, his hometown of 40,000 people in Aceh that was one of the hardest hit in Sunday’s disaster.

Background event (s)

Wira later calmly recounted to reporters the amazing events that brought him back to his family, a rare tale of happiness in the devastated province on the island of Sumatra that has seen nearly 80,000 people killed by the flooding.

Nursing only a gash to his left leg, Wira said he was playing with his brother and sister near his home when the waters rushed through.

According to Antara news agency, Wira said he held on to various floating pieces of wood while being swept away.

“I was not afraid because I am used to the sea.” Wira said while massaging his wounded leg.

“As I was still holding to a door, the mattress came by so I decided to climb on it. I was not afraid, but I was cold.”

Wira said he spent two days out at sea until he was found by fisherman on the look out for bodies off coast of Meulaboh. –AFP

2. Let's practice!

Read the text carefully in order to be able to answer the question related to the text:

Tornado Wreaks Havoc in Semarang

(Residents assess the damage after a tornado damages 150 houses in the district of Tembalag in Semarang, Central Java late on Saturday afternoon.

Three people were injured and at least five of the houses in the Sendangguwo and Tandang neighborhoods were destroyed, while many others were seriously damaged as the tornado ripped off their roofs. Thoirin aka Jayeng, 40, a resident whose house was leveled at the Sendang Asri housing complex, said the winds hit about 4 p.m.

“I saw this black wind coming and becoming pointed into a funnel. It suddenly approached and hit my house,” he said.

Tohirin’s wife, two children and mother-in law were in the kitchen at the time when the tornado known locally as “Ulur-ulur” passed over their home, destroying the guest and bedrooms.

“It was as if the wind had lifted my home up,” Thoirin said.

The disaster also destroyed the walls of four neighboring houses.

Many other homes in the area lost their roofs and residents and neighbors had started rebuilding on Sunday.

Tembalang district head Dayat said the tornado also damaged a small mosque and felled power lines and about 50 trees. His office was still collecting data on the damage, he said.

Villagers said the tornado was the worst to hit the district in living memory.

Semarang Mayor Sukawi Sutarip and his wife, Sinto Sukawi, visited the scene on Sunday, accompanied by senior officials.

“We will provide the victims with assistance immediately,” the mayoral spokesman Achyani said.

Taken from The Jakarta Post, December 20, 2004)

Now, after reading the text above, finish the short quiz below.

Reading Comprehension