37 The press and the media

A Radio and television

Read these extracts from TV listings.
4.00 pm Jessica: talk show1 with Jessica 7.00 pm Documentary: Are we killing our kids?
Brown; today’s guest, Rona Fredale Investigating5 the junk food industry
5.00 pm Cartoons2: crazy fun for kids of 8.00 pm The Happy Couple: sitcom6 about a pair
all ages of newly-weds
5.30 pm Golden Chance: game show 3 with 9.00 pm Roundup: sports programme with all the
Bob Langley day’s top action - tonight: rugby final
6.00 pm News and weather forecast 10.00 pm The Day in Politics: current affairs7
programme. Presenter8: James Hill
6.30 pm Didbury Street: the nation’s 10.30 pm Wikdal: detective drama set in Norway.
favourite soap4 Episode9 3: A second body is found
1 usually has a host and famous people who answer questions about themselves 2 film where the characters

are drawn rather than real 3 show where people compete to win prizes 4 short for soap opera - a series

of TV/radio programmes about the lives of a particular group of characters, continuing over a long period and
broadcast (several times) every week 5 trying to find out the facts/truth about something 6 funny TV/

radio show where the same characters appear in a di erent story each week 7 news about political events
happening now 8 person who introduces the show 9 one of the parts into which a story is divided

B Other expressions connected with TV and radio

The (mass) media refers to TV, radio, newspapers and the Internet, i.e. means of communication
which reach very large numbers of people.
Subtitles enable people to read what the characters are saying (maybe in translation).
If a film is dubbed, you hear the speech in your own language.
To receive a lot of TV channels, you may need a satellite dish on the roof or wall of your house.
Many channels depend on (TV) commercials to make money. You may be able to stream radio and TV
broadcasts from the Internet and you may be
able to watch catch-up TV, or TV on demand,
Language help
which allow you to watch programmes whenever The noun means (a way of doing something)
you like. A lot of radio and TV stations o er free always ends in s, even in the singular. The Internet
podcasts which you can download. is an important means of communication.

C Newspapers
A popular or tabloid newspaper usually focuses on1 sensation2 rather than real news, whereas
a quality newspaper is usually more interested in serious news. A tabloid o en has stories about
celebrities, sport, scandals3 and crime, while a quality paper focuses more on serious journalism4
with in-depth5 articles. To read newspapers on the Internet, you may have to subscribe / pay a
subscription6.
1 emphasises / pays attention to 2 very exciting or interesting events 3 events which shock people in a moral

way 4 the work of collecting, writing and publishing or broadcasting news and articles 5 done carefully and in

great detail, explaining the reasons for events 6 pay a sum of money regularly (e.g. once a year)

D Verbs connected with the media

The BBC World Service broadcasts throughout the world. [transmits TV/radio programmes]
They’re televising the opening of Parliament tomorrow. (or, less formal: showing)
The film was shot / made on location in Australia. [filmed in a real place, not in a studio]
The series is set in London in the 1980s. [place/time where the drama happens]
Within minutes of the event, people were tweeting about it. [posting very short messages on the Internet]

Common mistakes
Remember that the noun news is uncountable and takes a singular verb. I have some news for you.
(NOT I have a news.) The news is on TV at 7 pm. (NOT The news are on TV.)

80 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

 Exercises
37.1 What sort of TV programmes from A opposite are these people talking about?

1 ‘It investigated 2 ‘Walt Disney made a 3 ‘The Minister of 4 ‘It’s so funny,

how the banks had lot of them. Mickey Education was on especially when the
wasted billions of Mouse was probably it, discussing the old uncle appears. We
euros in bad loans.’ his most famous.’ new schools policy.’ can’t stop laughing.’
documentary

5 ‘My mum watches it every 6 ‘We wanted to 7 ‘They always solve 8 ‘He interviewed that
day. She knows all the find out if it was the murder in the young star who just
characters as if they were going to rain end, but it’s very won an Oscar, oh,
real.’ tomorrow.’ exciting.’ what’s her name?’

9 ‘The prize is £500,000 this

10 ‘They showed a repeat of the Manchester
week. That’s a lot of money!’
United versus Valencia match.’

37.2 Fill the gaps with words from B opposite.

1 Which do you prefer if a film is in a foreign language, to read subtitles or to have the film
d ?
2 I downloaded a great p about bees. I listened to it on my MP3 player in bed last night.
3 I hate it when c interrupt a good film. I usually go and make a cup of tea while they’re on.
4 We’ve got a new s d on our roof. We can r hundreds of
channels now.
5 I’d like a job in the m , perhaps in TV or radio.
6 A lot of people use social networking sites as their main m of communication with
their friends.
7 People o en download b from the Internet so they don’t need to watch them on the
day they are transmitted.
8 With a fast broadband connection, you can s TV shows directly from the Internet.
37.3 Sort these words into two categories: ‘tabloid’ and ‘quality’ newspaper.
celebrity news complex political debate scandals in-depth reviews of books
competitions and prizes sensational crimes long articles huge headlines
tabloid quality
celebrity news

37.4 Rewrite the words in bold using verbs from the opposite page.
1 The documentary looked into investigated the food industry and emphasised
school meals.
2 The programme was filmed / in Northern Finland. (two answers)
3 CNN sends news programmes around the world.
4 They’re showing the cup final next week. (give a more formal verb)
5 The drama takes place in Paris in the 1880s.
6 Do you ever send those short messages over the Internet about news events?
37.5 Over to you
Which types of media do you use most? Give your reasons.

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate 81

38 Politics and public institutions
A Types of government
republic: a state governed by representatives and, usually, a president (e.g. USA, France)
monarchy: a state ruled by a king or queen (e.g. UK, Sweden)
federation: a union of political units (e.g. provinces) under a central government (e.g. USA)
democracy: government of, by and for the people
dictatorship: system of government run by a dictator
independence: freedom from outside control; self-governing

B Presidential and parliamentary government (US and UK)

United States Presidential government: The powers of the President

and the legislature (Congress) are separate. These branches of
government are elected1 separately. The President is elected for a
four-year term and can appoint 2 or nominate high officials in government,
including cabinet members (who advise) and federal judges. The
President leads a major party, usually, but not always, the majority
party3 in Congress. Congress consists of two houses, the House of
Representatives and the Senate.

United Kingdom Parliamentary government: The government consists

of a legislature4 (Parliament) and a Cabinet of Ministers5 from the
majority party in Parliament. If no party has an overall majority, there may
be a coalition government formed from more than one party. The Prime
Minister is the head of the government and the leader of the majority
party in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister selects high
officials and heads6 the Cabinet. Parliament consists of two chambers,
the House of Commons and the House of Lords. MPs are members of
parliament elected from each constituency7 to the House of Commons.

1 chosen by vote 2 decide who to give positions of authority to 3 political party which won the most
4 group of people who make new laws 5 group of most important ministers 6 is the leader of
votes
7 geographical voting area

C Parliamentary elections
During a general election each constituency has to choose which politician it wants as its
representative. Usually there are several candidates to choose from. These candidates are all
standing (or running) for Parliament. They present the policies, i.e. their party’s plans. On polling
day every adult goes to the polling station and casts a vote by marking a cross on their ballot
paper. The candidate who gets the majority of votes wins the seat. If the vote is very close, the
constituency may be referred to as a marginal seat.

Language help
Here are some word families relating to words on this page.

verb person noun abstract noun

rule ruler rule
govern governor government
preside (o en followed by over) president presidency
represent representative representation
elect elector; electorate (group of people) election

82 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate

 Exercises
38.1 Circle the correct word from the choices o ered.
1 A member of parliament governs / rules / represents his or her constituency.
2 India gained republic / independence / democracy from the UK in 1948.
3 On electing / voting / polling day electors cast their votes.
4 She’s running / sitting / walking for Parliament in the next election.
5 His father was voted / stood / elected MP for Cambridge City.
6 What is your country’s economic politics / policy / politician?
7 The USA is a legislature / federation / congress of 50 states.
8 Although modern monarchs are said to rule / govern / preside over their countries they have
little real power.

38.2 Look at this text about politics in the UK. Fill in the missing words.

Parliament in the UK consists of two 1 chambers : the House of Commons and the House
of Lords. The country is divided into 2 , each of which elects a(n) 3
to represent it in the House of Commons. The ruling party in the Commons is the one
which gains a 4 of seats. The main figure in that party is called the 5
Sometimes more than one party may share power in a 6 government.
The Commons is elected for a maximum period of five years although the Prime Minister may
call a general 7 at any time within that period.

38.3 Match the sentence beginnings on the le with the endings on the right.
1 The President appointed his uncle c a over a Cabinet of Ministers.
2 The Prime Minister presides b on the ballot paper.
3 In last year’s election I voted c as a judge.
4 Lee says he would never want to stand d from in our constituency.
5 Put a cross beside the name you want e the seat in our constituency.
6 I haven’t decided yet how to cast f for the Green Party candidate.
7 I’m not keen on the candidate who won g for political o ice.
8 We had five candidates to choose h my vote.

38.4 Find a word from the Language help section to match each definition.
1 the person with the highest political position in a republic the President
2 someone who speaks or does something o icially, on behalf of a group of people
3 the leader of a country, e.g. a monarch or dictator
4 the period of o ice of the person with the highest political position in a republic
5 system used for controlling a country
6 the group of people who are entitled to vote
7 to act o icially for a group of people

38.5 Over to you

Write a paragraph about the political system in your country. Make sure your paragraph deals with
all the following aspects of the topic appropriate to your country:
kind of government, e.g. a republic or a monarchy chambers or houses elections terms of o ice
government leader

English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate 83