Try to rewrite the following sentences into headlines, applying the theory above.

MPs BACK TAX PROBE

STAR IN GEMS ORDEAL

FACTORY BLAST RIDDLE

Violent words

EXPERT REVEALS NEW MOBILE DANGERS

• Articles, prepositions and auxiliary verbs are often omitted from headlines.

• This use of the present simple instead of the past tense makes the story sound more immediate.

• The use of language is often ambiguous. It is not entirely clear, for example, what
mobile refers to here. It is actually about the dangers of mobile phone use but it could have referred to dangers that can move in some way. Readers have to look at the story in order to find out.

• Words with dramatic associations such as danger are often used.

TV STAR TRAGIC TARGET FOR MYSTERY GUNMAN

This story is about how a well-known television actor was shot by an unknown killer.

• Tabloid newspapers like to use references to royalty or popular figures like film or pop stars or sports personalities in order to attract readers' attention.

• Alliteration such as TV Star Tragic Target is often used to attract the eye in headlines and to make them sound more memorable.

• Newspapers sometimes use 'shorthand' words such as 'gunman' in order to express an idea or image as briefly and as vividly as possible.

Violent and militaristic words are often used in newspaper headlines, especially in tabloid newspapers, in order to make stories seem more dramatic.

EU acts to crush terror of the thugs Palace besieged by journalists

Crackdownon soccer louts Typhoon rips through town

Headline English

What will the stories under these newspaper headlines probably be about?

Example: MAJOR CLASHAT FORD

A significant conflict at a Ford motor factory.

1 KEY ADVISOR QUITS

4 PM AXES AID

Find a word from each headline which matches one of the words in the box in meaning.

Example: TAX PROBE REVEALS FRAUD probe = investigation

1 NEW INTEREST RATES BOOST SAVINGS

2 FILM STAR TO WED VICAR

3 MORE STRIFE AT FACTORY

4 BY-PASS PLANS GET GO-AHEAD

5 STORMS HIT REGION

6 BLAZE AT LOCAL SCHOOL

7 MOTHER’S PLEA FOR HELP

8 HUSBAND’S FINAL VIW

9 PRISONER’S SECRET PLOY

10 EW BID TO CONQUER EVEREST

Explain the meanings of the underlined words in the headlines 1-8, then answer 9.

Example: MAJOR CLASH AT FORD clash: dispute or conflict

1 PEACE MOVES AT RISK

2 TV POLL EXPOSED

3 MERGER TALKS FAIL

4 COUR TRIIM DRAMA ENDS

5 IBM HEAD TO GO

6 SON OUSTS DAD

7 PRINCE PLEDGES SUPPORT

8 JOBS THREAT AT FACTORY

9 Why are these words used in headlines?

1 The prisoner’s protest at the Tryall jail has ended.

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2Banks are planning to introduce security cameras at cashpoint machines.

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3 A tanker overturned, spilling its cargo of heating oil on the M11 motorway.

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4 Nutritionists have condemned new slimming drugs as very harmful.

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5 The London School of Economics has won an award for being the best business school.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

6 The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has made a deal to fix oil prices.

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7 The Zolosis factory was blamed for failing to protect workers against unsafe chemical levels.

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8 Contaminated baby food of various brands has caused a scare in the city of Redding.

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9 The director of car company will be charged with fraud.

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