MEDIA VOCABULARY

Vocabulary

Label the sections below with different types of media. Most types have more than one section each.

guest, FM, AM, long wave, short wave, frequency, local, NPR, receive/ pick up, listen to, broadcast,

remote control, high definition, couch potato, channel hopping, commercial break, reality show, cable, satellite, announcer, anchor, documentary, live coverage,

static, tuner, podcast, DAB/ digital, turn the dial, turn up, turn down, on air, DJ, talk show, interview, traffic news, weather forecast, newsflash, World Service,

weather forecast, (Nielsen) ratings, switch channels, the zapper, soap opera, sit-com, breaking news, talk show, quiz show, prime time, on air, VJ, pop video, telly, telly addict,

popcorn, PG, X, trailers, the credits, B movie, review, producer, director, green screen, CG, subtitles, sequel, prequel, drama, IMAX, cartoon, Western, musical, horror, 15, 12, U, outtakes, special effects/ SFX

broadsheet, tabloid, editorial, classified ads, obituaries, crossword, your stars, sports pages, headline, reporter, editor, subeditor, columnist, column, the press, paparazzi,

caption, interview, (entertainment) listings, circulation, newsstands, newsagents, photographer, Sunday supplements, travel section, celebrity gossip,

interview, subtitles, rolling news, cameraman, miniseries, drama, rerun/ repeat, the box, terrestrial, listings magazine, CNN, game show, viewer, infomercial, current affairs, costume drama, episode, contestants, shopping channel,

extra, stuntman, box office, star studded, blockbuster, black and white, wildlife documentary, projector, censor, shoot, rom com, 3D glasses, drive in, double bill,

cartoon, candid camera, flat screen, surround sound, the watershed, dish, black and white, travel programme, broadcast, cop show, aerial/ antenna,

Extra practice of media vocabulary online

Online vocabulary quiz- fill the gaps

http://www.world-english.org/media_vocabulary.htm

Online movie vocabulary quiz with vocabulary in short texts

http://www.roadtogrammar.com/movies/

File 5 C Reporting verbs

REPORTED SPEECH

SUMMARY OF REPORTING VERBS

Note that some reporting verbs may appear in more than one of the following groups.

1. Verbs followed by 'if' or 'whether' + clause:

ask know remember

say see

2. Verbs followed by a that-clause:

add admit agree announce answer argue boast claim comment complain confirm consider deny

doubt estimate explain fear feel insist mention observe persuade propose remark remember repeat

reply report reveal say state suggest suppose tell think understand warn

3. Verbs followed by either a that-clause or a to-infinitive:

decide expect guarantee hope

promise swear threaten

4. Verbs followed by a that-clause containing should
(but note that it may be omitted, leaving a subject + zero-infinitive):

advise beg demand

insist prefer propose

recommend request suggest

5. Verbs followed by a clause starting with a question word:

decide describe discover discuss explain forget guess

imagine know learn realise remember reveal say

see suggest teach tell think understand wonder

6. Verbs followed by object + to-infinitive

advise ask beg command

forbid instruct invite

teach tell warn

Click on VERBS and do the excercises.

One small word, one big difference in meaning

Vocabulary

leap
verb ( MOVE SUDDENLY ) /liːp/ v (leapt or leaped, leapt or leaped)
[I + adverb or preposition] to make a large jump or sudden movement, usually from one place to another
He leapt out of his car and ran towards the house.
I leaped up to answer the phone

quote
verb ( SAY ) /kwəʊt//kwoʊt/ v
• [I or T] to repeat the words that someone else has said or writtenHe's always quoting from the Bible.
"If they're flexible, we're flexible", the official was quoted as saying.

momentous
adjective /məˈmen.təs//-t ̬əs/ adj
very important because of effects on future eventsthe momentous news of the President's death
Whether or not to move overseas was a momentous decision for the family.

mankind
noun /mænˈkaɪnd/ n [U] (also humankind)
the whole of the human race, including both men and women.
Mankind has always been obsessed by power.

vindicate
verb /ˈvɪn.dɪ.keɪt/ v [T] Definition
• to prove that what someone said or did was right or true, after other people thought it was wrong
The decision to include Morris in the team was completely vindicated when he scored three goals.

relieved
adjective /rɪˈliːvd/ adj Definition
happy that something unpleasant has not happened or has ended[+ to infinitive]
I'm so relieved to find you - I thought you'd already gone.
He was relieved to see Jeannie reach the other side of the river safely.
[+ (that)] I'm relieved (that) you didn't tell her.

Speaking to the world

One small word, one big difference in meaning

Functions and examples

1. We use a / an when we are talking about something for the first time.
He is wearing a suit and a tie.
They have a cat.

2. We use the when we are talking about a specific person or thing, or if there is only one, or if it is clear which one we are talking about.
She took a glass of water and started to drink. (one of many glasses of water)
She took the glass of water nearest to her. (a specific glass)
She took the glass of water and started to drink. (there is only one glass of water)
Can you turn on the TV? (it's clear we are talking about the TV in this room)
I have to see the doctor tomorrow. (it's clear I am talking about my usual doctor)
I need to see a doctor. (not any specific doctor)
How many people have walked on the moon? (there is only one moon)
The best film I've ever seen is Top Gun. (there can only be one best film)

3. We use no article when we are talking about people or things in general.
Carrots are good for you. (carrots in general)
The carrots growing in my garden are almost ready to eat. (specific carrots)
English people drink a lot of tea. (English people in general)
The English people in this hotel are very nice. (specific English people)

4. We use a / an to say what kind of person or thing someone or something is (often with an adjective, or to say it belongs to a particular group.
You have a nice house.
That's a very expensive car!
A cat is an animal a bus is a vehicle.

5. With school, university, prison, hospital, church, bed, work and home we use the when we are talking about a particular one, and no article when we are talking about the idea of school, university...
The church on our street was built in the 17th Century. (a particular church)
I go to church every Sunday (the idea of church, not a particular building)
My friend works at the prison outside the city centre.
My husband is in prison.
The work isn't finished yet.
I was feeling sick yesterday so I didn't go to work.
The new bed is bigger than the old one.
I put my children to bed a 8pm.

6. We use the with singular countable nouns to talk about a type of thing.
The computer was invented in the 20th Century. (not a particular computer)
The computer in my office is broken. (a particular one)
The crocodile is very dangerous. (this type of animal)
The crocodile in the river is very big. (a particular one)
She plays the piano. (not a particular piano but this type of instrument)
The piano she is playing is very old. (a particular one)

7. We use the + adjective to talk about a group of people (including nationalities).
I always give money to the homeless.
The unemployed receive money from the government.
The French produce good wine.

8. We use a / an to talk about someone's job.
My wife is an optician.
She works as a mechanic.

9. We use no article with continents, countries, regions, cities, streets, mountains, lakes and parks.
Asia, Italy, California, Bristol, Main St., Mount Everest, Lake Superior, Central Park

We use the if the country contains Kingdom, Republic, State, Union

10. We use the with plural names of people and places.
The Smiths, The Netherlands, The United States, The Bahamas, The Alps (also The Caribbean)

11. We use the with oceans, seas, rivers and canals.
The Atlantic Ocean, The Red Sea, The Nile, The Panama Canal

12. We use the with north, south, east and west to talk about the location of a place within another place, but no article to compare the location of two places.
Greece is in the south of Europe.
Spain is south of France.

We use no article with northern, southern, eastern and western:
Greece is in southern Europe.

13. We normally use the with buildings, except if the first word is the name of a place.
The White House, The Sheraton Hotel.
Oxford University, Buckingham Palace.

I don't want to miss a thing - Aerosmith

 

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Well, every moment spent with you
Is a moment I treasure
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
Lying close to you
Feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes and thank God were together
And I just wanna stay with you
In this moment forever, forever and ever
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
I don't wanna miss one smile
I don't wanna miss one kiss
Well, I just wanna be with you
Right here with you, just like this
I just wanna hold you close
Feel your heart so close to mine
And just stay here in this moment
For all the rest of time
Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
'Cause I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep, yeah
I don't wanna miss a thing
I don't wanna miss a thing

File 5 B Counting Sheep - A Review

Dreaming of a peaceful night's sleep

Paul Martin takes a literary look at the science behind the pleasures of sleep and dreams in Counting Sheep

Counting Sheep: The Science and Pleasures of Sleep and Dreams

by Paul Martin

(Flamingo, £7.99)

Minnesota is a surprisingly barbaric place. Do you know why? School starts there at 7.30 in the morning. One feels like marching in and enforcing some kind of regime change. In one district of this hell-hole, scientists allowed teenagers an extra hour of sleep. They started feeling less sleepy and depressed during the day, had fewer days off sick, were more punctual, and were also taught by happier teachers.

You may think that this is hardly an astonishing conclusion to reach, and you would be right, but the fact remains that there are an awful lot of people out there who think that sleep is somehow wrong.

As Paul Martin puts it: "The puritans and dull, workaholic sleep-deniers of this world would have us believe that sleep squanders our precious time that should instead be spent in fruitful labour... Many annoying aphorisms, proverbs and sayings have been coined with the naked intention of making us feel guilty about sleeping."

Mrs Thatcher never slept for very long, or so she claimed. It certainly helps explain her behaviour over the past decade or so. Edison wondered aloud whether sleep was necessary at all; he claimed never to need it. This was an outright fib. He had a camp bed near his laboratory and cat-napped enough to make regular sleep unnecessary. On top of which, the frequent hypnagogic states he entered - that's the half-sleep where you mumble or visualise a surrealist stream - often helped inspire his inventions.

Churchill had the right idea about bed and sleep. Never get out of it before noon, and sleep during the day "and no half-way measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That's what I always do".

Dr Johnson said publicly that no one who slept late would amount to anything, but privately conceded that he didn't often rise before noon. The list is more or less endless. People who rise early and with a song on their lips are barely to be counted as human. The writer of this column, incidentally, is scarcely human until about 12.30pm, and is best avoided until at least then.

You learn all this - apart from that last bit - from this excellent book. Martin writes with more panache than we expect from scientists even these days, when it seems that a snappy prose style is as much an element of their training as the periodic table (cf the somewhat leaden efforts of many contemporary novelists). You will learn about the effects of sleep deprivation (madness and death, in a nutshell), what yawning is all about and narcolepsy, the alarming condition whereby people suddenly fall asleep in the middle of doing something else (often sex); researchers at Stanford have been breeding narcoleptic dogs to uncover the mystery, and would appear to be getting somewhere.

The book is particularly good on dreams, and generous with its commendation of scientists who worked in eras without access to ECGs, PET scanners and other machines that go ping. The Marquis de Saint-Denys wrote comprehensively about dreams in the mid-19th century and pioneered research into lucid dreaming, that state whereby you can influence the content of your dreams. The good news is that almost anyone can do it, and the first step is being told that it can be done.

Martin assesses the theories of Francis Crick and Graeme Mitchison, whose idea of overlapping memory storage in the brain is plausible, but whose notion of dreaming as getting rid of unneeded or unwanted information - reverse learning - "is not wholly convincing". Still, Martin quotes Thomas Nashe, who in his 1594 Terrors of the Night wrote that "a dream is nothing else but a bubbling froth or scum of the fancy... you must give a wounded man leave to groan while he is in dressing. Dreaming is no other than groaning, while sleep our surgeon hath us in cure."

And that's one of the nicest things about Martin's book: it is as keen on literature as it is on science. Most quoted writer: Shakespeare. Followed by Dickens. I am surprised not to see "myoclonic jerk" in the index, but you can't have everything.

File 5 B Counting Sheep

Used to

Used to do

We use 'used to' for something that happened regularly in the past but no longer happens.

• I used to smoke a packet a day but I stopped two years ago.
• Ben used to travel a lot in his job but now, since his promotion, he doesn't.
• I used to drive to work but now I take the bus.

We also use it for something that was true but  no longer is.

• There used to be a cinema in the town but now there isn't.
• She used to have really long hair but she's had it all cut off.
• I didn't use to like him but now I do.

'Used to do' is different from 'to be used to doing' and 'to get used to doing'

to be used to doing

We use 'to be used to doing' to say that something is normal, not unusual.

• I'm used to living on my own. I've done it for quite a long time.
• Hans has lived in England for over a year so he is used to driving on the left now.
• They've always lived in hot countries so they aren't used to the cold weather here.

to get used to doing

We use 'to get used to doing' to talk about the process of something becoming normal for us.

• I didn't understand the accent when I first moved here but I quickly got used to it.
• She has started working nights and is still getting used to sleeping during the day.
• I have always lived in the country but now I'm beginning to get used to living in the city.

For excercises click on USED TO