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Rachel	Matt

Views #1049 | Advanced (C1)

Decline of the Papers

Matt and Rachel discuss the decline of newspapers in society and how it is affecting them.

Script
Vocab
Quiz

Matt: Hey, Rachel, so do you read the newspaper these days?

Rachel: Actually, no. I used to get a newspaper delivered and I didn't read it at all, so I cancelled it cause I was worried about wasting trees, and wasting paper and therefore trees.

Matt: Right, right. Yeah, me neither. I don't get any of my news from Newspapers themselves.

Rachel: So how do you find out what's going on?

Matt: Most times I just look on the Internet, and I've got, you know ... my first page that pops up lists about six or seven headlines, and actually I find myself clicking on them quite a bit. You know, you see one sentence is enough to draw me in, and then I end up reading online my news.

Rachel: Yeah, yeah, me too. But I'm a bit worried about it because I always like, when you can choose news, which news article to read you tend to just choose the light entertainment article or maybe not the really serious news as much as you would if was on the front page.

Matt: Right, right. And I wonder where those headlines, like, who chooses what appears? So I worry about that too. But I wonder in the future if they'll even be newspapers anymore.

Rachel: I heard that they are actually really struggling to make money and even the most famous newspapers are starting to go bankrupt.

Matt: Really?

Rachel: Yeah.

Matt: And what ...? Do you think those companies will make a shift to being completely online then at some point?

Rachel: Yeah, I think they would have to. Yeah, yeah. Which is a shame because I mean cause I like the idea of the newspaper.

Matt: Right, right.

Rachel: Do you think books will disappear though?

Matt: That I don't know. I mean I think a lot of people ... like you were maybe saying, but like the feel of a book and like and I think people reading on a screen. I've never been able to read a book online. Me neither. I've always only read through something I can hold and take with me anywhere. But these days with the little handheld units! Have you ever tried to read online? Like read an actual novel?

Rachel: No, I just don't like the idea of it. I don't think my eyes could take that sort of electronic screen for like 300 pages, so no.

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

pop up

The first page pops up a list.

Here, “pop up” talks about a page or window that opens quickly on your computer screen. We most commonly use” pop ups” to talk about small advertisements that we all hate! Notice the following.

On my computer, the first page that pops up is my homepage.
Most people use their security settings to block (stop) pop-ups.

draw me in

One sentence is enough to draw me in.

When something draws us in, it gets our attention and makes us interested. Here are some samples:

I logged on to check my e-mail, but a pop-up on my homepage drew me in.
Web designers are always thinking of new ways to draw us to their sites.

go bankrupt

Some newspapers are starting to go bankrupt.

To go bankrupt means to have no money to pay bills. Many newspaper companies are losing money and going bankrupt because more and more people are reading the news on-line. Notice the sample sentences:

During the current economic crisis, many large companies almost went bankrupt and needed government help.
Studies show that most new restaurants go bankrupt before one year.

make a shift to (into)

Companies will make a shift into being online.

In this case, “make a shift” means find a new way to do something. Both news companies and their readers must make a shift from paper to digital news. Here are two more samples:

Many developed countries are making a shift to cleaner energy sources.
It might be difficult to make the shift from secondary school to university, but I’m excited!

a shame

Which is a shame because I like newspapers.

We say something is a shame when we hear bad or sad news about something or someone. Rachel really likes newspapers so she thinks it’s a shame that news companies are going online. Notice the following samples:

These days, people spend so much time online they never experience real life. What a shame.
It’s really a shame that people continue to hunt elephants for ivory.