B5U4 MY FIRST WORK ASSIGNMENT UNFORGETTABLE ,SAYS NEW JOURNALIST

必修5  Unit 4  Making the news

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MY FIRST WORK ASSIGNMENT" UNFORGETTABLE" ,SAYS NEW JOURNALIST

我的第一项工作任务“难以忘怀，”新闻记者说

Never will Zhou Yang (ZY) forget his first assignment at the office of a popular English newspaper. His discussion with his new boss, Hu Xin (HX), was to strongly influence his life as a journalist.

周阳永远不会忘记他在一家畅销英文报纸的第一项工作任务。他同新上司胡欣的讨论对他的记者生涯必将产生强烈的影响。

HX: Welcome. We're delighted you're coming to work with us. Your first job here will be an assistant journalist. Do you have any questions?

ZY:   Can I go out on a story immediately?

HX:  (laughing) That' s admirable, but I' m afraid it would be unusual ! Wait till you' re more experienced. First we'll put you as an assistant  to  an experienced journalist. Later you can cover a story and submit the article yourself.

胡：欢迎你，非常高兴你来参加我们的工作，你来这里首先就是当助理记者。有什么问题吗？

周：我可以马上去采访吗？

胡：（笑）真是勇气可嘉！不过恐怕这不太合乎常规，还是等到你比较有经验以后吧。我们先要派你给有经验的记者作助理。以后，你才能独自去进行新闻采访并提交自己的新闻稿。

ZY:   Wonderful. What do I need to take with me? I already have a notebook and camera.

HX:  No need for a camera. You'll have a professional photographer with you to take photographs. You'll find your colleagues very eager to assist you, so you may be able to concentrate on photography later if you' re interested.

ZY:   Thank you. Not only am I interested in photography, but I took an amateur course at university to update my skills.

HX:  Good.

周：太好了！我需要随身带些什么？我已经带了笔记本和照相机。

胡：不需要照相机！你们将带上一名专业摄影师去拍照。你将发现你的同事们会热情地帮助你。如果你对摄影感兴趣，以后你可以集中精力去钻研。

周：谢谢你。对摄影我不仅只是感兴趣，在大学里我还专修过业余摄影课来更新我的技术。

胡：那很好啊。

ZY:   What do I need to remember when I go out to cover a story?

HX:  You need to be curious. Only if you ask many different questions will you acquire all the information you need to know. We say a good journalist must have a good "nose" for a story. That means you must be able to assess when people are not telling the whole troth and then try to discover it. They must use research to inform themselves of the missing parts of the story.

ZY:    What should I keep in mind?

HX:   Here comes my list of dos and don'ts: don't miss your deadline, don't be rude, don't talk too much, but make sure you listen to the interviewee carefully.

周：我出去采访时还需要记住些什么事呢？

胡：你需要有好奇心。你只有提出了许多不同的问题之后才有可能获得你需要知道的信息。我们说，一个好的记者必须有一个对新闻非常敏感的“嗅觉“。那就是说，在人们没有说出全部真相时，你必须能够判断出，并努力发现真理。记者必须通过调查研究，来使自己了解到被遗漏的那部分情况。

周：我应该注意些什么呢？

胡：下面是我的行为准则：不要延误任务规定的期限，不可对人粗鲁，不可自己说得太多，务必认真倾听被采访人回答问题。

ZY:   Why is listening so important?

HX:  Well, you have to listen for detailed facts. Meanwhile you have to prepare the next question depending on what the person says.

ZY:   But how can I listen carefully while taking notes?

HX:  This is a trick of the trade, If the interviewee agrees, you can use a recorder to get the facts straight. It's also useful if a person wants to challenge you. You have the evidence to support your story.

周：为什么听人家讲话这样重要呢？

胡：你得听清楚事实的细节。同时，你还要根据被采访人所说的话准备提出下一个问题。

周：在我记笔记的同时，怎么能仔细倾听对方的答话呢？

胡：这就是我们职业的诀窍了。如果被采访人允许，你可以使用录音机，录下全部事实。如果有人提出质疑，这也有用，你就有证据来支持自己的报道了。

ZY:   I see! Have you ever had a case where someone accused your journalists of getting the                         wrong end of the stick?

HX:  Yes, but it was a long time ago. This is how the story goes. A footballer was accused of taking money for deliberately not scoring goals so as to let the other team win. We went to interview him. He denied taking money but we were sceptical. So we arranged an interview between the footballer and the man supposed to bribe him. When we saw them together we guessed from the footballer's body language that he was not telling the truth. So we wrote an article suggesting he was guilty. It was a dilemma because the footballer could have demanded damages if we were wrong. He tried to stop us publishing it but later we were proved right.

ZY:   Wow! That was a real "scoop". I'm looking forward to my first assignment now. Perhaps I'll get a scoop too!

HX:   Perhaps you will. You never know.

周：我明白了！你有没有过这样的情况：别人控告你的记者，说他的报道失实？

胡：有的。不过这是很久以前的事了。事情是这样的：一位足球运动员被指挥受贿，故意不进球，好让对方球队赢球。我们去采访了他。他否认收了钱，但我们对此表示怀疑。于是，我们安排这名球员和被认为行贿的人一起接受采访，而当我们看到他们在一起时，我们就从足球运动员的体态语上猜到他没有说真话。我们写了一篇文章，暗示足球队员有罪。这事有些为难，因为如果我们错了，他就可以向我们索要赔偿。他竭力阻止我们发表这篇文章，但后来证实我们是正确的。

周：哇！那才是真正的独家新闻哩！我期盼着即将到来的首次任务。说不定我也会搞到独家新闻呢！

胡：也许你会的，谁知道呢。