CHAPTER 1.

NEWS ITEM

The social Function, Structure, and Language Features of news item Texts

A. The social function of a news item text is to inform readers, listeners, or

viewers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important.

B. The structure of a news item text is:

1. The headline (the title, usually written in very big font, in the front page of a
news paper).

2. The name of the city (this is usually written in CAPITAL LETTERS, for
example: JAKARTA, BANDUNG, SURABAYA, OHIO, and so on).

3. Date of the publication

4. The initial of the newspaper’s name (this is also usually written in CAPITAL
LETTERS, for example: NYT for New York Times, JP for Jakarta Post, and many
others).

5. The Newsworthy events (this is the topic of the news), ususally called the lead

6. The Background events (this is the events which become the background of
the main event)

7. The source (= narasumber – Indonesian, the person who gives information for
the news)

8) The Correspondence

C. The language features of a news item texts include the use of past tense
verbs, adverbs of time and of place, and direct as well as indirect sentences.
Italy has extended its lockdown until Easter, but there is some hope as the
country reports a declining infection rate.

The number of new coronavirus infections reported on Monday was 1,648, as

opposed to 3,815 the previous day.

The death toll, however, rose again, with 812 deaths reported, compared with
756 the day before.

Italy believes the peak of its crisis will come in just over a week's time. It is the
world's hardest hit country in terms of number of deaths. In total, 11,591 have
died in the country, the government says.

On Monday, the national doctors' association announced the deaths of 11 more

doctors, taking the total up to 61.

The lockdown - which was due to end on Friday - will now continue until at least
12 April, which is Easter Sunday.

Italians have been living under these strict rules for three weeks, with most
shops, bars and restaurants shut. They are not allowed to leave their homes
unless it is deemed essential.

The governor of the southern region of Puglia said on Saturday the restrictions
should remain in place until May.

Task 1 : Answer the questions below based on the text above!

1. What is the writer’s intention in writing the text?
2. What is the topic of the second paragraph?
3. What does the writer tell about in the third paragraph?
4. Who will likely read the text?
5. What benefit can you get by reading the text?
6. What is the news about?
7. “Coronavirus: Italy extends lockdown amid hopes of turning corner” (Title).
What does this sentence mean? Explain in your own words!
8. What makes Italian people have new hopes?
9. Explain about the infections reported and the death toll!
10. How can you relate paragraph 2 and 3?
11. What makes the difference between paragraph 3 and 4?
12. When should the end of the lockdown be?
13. Explain about the strict rules that Italian must obey during the lockdown period!
14. What do you know about Easter Sunday?
15. What benefit can you get by reading the news?

Task 2. Match the words in the left with their synonyms in the right side!
1. declining a. Continue
2. opposed to b. Important
3. Toll c. firm; rigorous
4. Rose d. Rules
5. Peak e. Regarded
6. Strict f. Highest
7. Deemed g. Decreasing
8. Essential h. Increased
9. Restrictions i. rate; number
10. in place j. different from

Area burned in 2019 forest fires in Indonesia exceeds 2018

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The amount of land in Indonesia consumed by fires

through September this year has exceeded the amount burned during all of
2018, according to data given by a government official on Monday.

Raffles Panjaitan, forest fire management acting director at the Forestry and
Environment Ministry, told reporters that by the end of September 2019 a total of
857,756 hectares (2.12 million acres) had been burned.That is more than the
529,267 hectares that burned in 2018, according to Indonesian government data.
The fires have consumed the most land since 2015, when government data
showed 2.6 million hectares burned.

The area burned surged from 328,724 hectares that was consumed between
January and August, Panjaitan said, and added that the size of the burned area
is expected to continue expanding this month, although not “as drastic” as last
month’s.“Fire fighting is continued to be carried out, even today the teams are on
the ground working to prevent escalation”, Panjaitan said.The country has spent
months to battle forest fires in Sumatra and Borneo that have caused thick haze
which drifted over neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.
Rain has started falling in some areas on Sumatra which offered some respite,
but Panjaitan does not expect the rainy season to fully arrive until around mid-
November. Forest and peat fires typically take place in Sumatra and Borneo,
often linked to slash-and-burn practices to clear areas for palm cultivation.

Task 3 : Answer the questions below based on the text above!

1. What is the text about?
2. How do you relate paragraphs 2 and 3?
3. In what year was the most forest area burned since 2015, and how many
hectares was the area burned?
4. What is the topic of the fourth paragraph?
5. In 2019, in what month was the most drastic expansion of the forest area
burned? Explain your answer!
6. What is the topic of paragraph 5?
7. What was the worst effect of the forest fires in Indonesia in 2019?
8. According to paragraph 7, what had reduced the effect of the forest fires in
Sumatra?
9. What does the last paragraph mostly tell us about?
10. What can we learn from the news?

Task 4. Say whether the following statements are true or false!

1. The forest fires in Indonesia in 2019 was worse than those in 2018. (...........)
2. Compared with 2018 and 2019, the amount of area burned in 2015 was the
worst. (...........)
3. The forest area burned in 2018 was 857,756 hectares. (...........)
4. The forest area burned until October 2019 was 328,724 hectares. (...........)
5. The expansion of the forest area burned reached its peak in September 2019.
(...........)
6. The effort to fight forest fire was paused during October because there have
been rains. (...........)
7. The forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan affected Malaysia and Singapore.
(...........)
8. Rain that fell in Sumatra in October reduced the effect of forest fire in Sumatra.
(...........)
9. The rainy season has started in October. (...........)
10. The main cause of the forest fires in Indonesia was the slashand-burn
practiced by palm oil companies. (...........)

Task 5. Match the words in the left with their synonyms in the right!

1. consumed a. Risen
2. exceeded b. radical; severe
3. surged c. smoke and fog
4. expected d. Increase
5. drastic e. Floated
6. carried out f. destroyed
7. escalation g. Done
8. battle h. Predicted
9. haze i. Fight
10. drifted j. Surpassed