1、英语新闻的结构特征http:/ 2007-04-04 15:47:11 来源：词霸四六级官网新闻的种类很多，按分类标准的不同，有各种不同的分类方法。如按照事件的性质分类，新闻可分为“硬新闻（hard news）和“ 软新闻”（soft news）两大类，硬新闻也就是“纯新闻消息报道”，指题材严肃，具有一定时效性的客观事实报道；软新闻是指情感味浓，写作方法诙谐，轻松幽默的社会新闻，不注重时效性。新闻英语中常见的体裁主要有三大类：消息（news）、特写（features）和新闻评论（commentaries and columns）。新闻写作由于记者写作风格不同，文体结构无定格。但大体上说新闻文体
2、的主体结构是由标题、导语、正文三部分组成。标题（headline）：浓缩概括全文的中心实质问题。导语（1ead or introduction）：通常为文章的第一段。文章的第一段提供主要话题和最主要的事实。正文（body）：在导语的基础上，引入更多的与主题相关的事实，使之更加详实、具体，并展开评论，进而得出结论。在此我们以消息为例，详细分析一下它的基本结构。消息类新闻属于“硬新闻” ，是广泛采用的的一种新闻体裁。消息报道中的导语十分重要，它位于第一段或第一、二段。通过它点出新闻的主题，这是消息这种新闻文体区别于其它文体的一个重要特征。五个 W 和一个 H（When？Where？Who？What
3、？Why？和 How？）是构成一则完整的消息不可缺少的要素。直接的消息报道或纯消息报道一般采用“倒金字塔形式” （the Inverted Pyramid Form），其特点是按新闻报道最重要的五个 W 和一个 H 头重脚轻地安排材料，把新闻的高潮和结论放在最前面的导语里，然后以事实的重要性递减的顺序来安排（in theorder of descending importance）材料。在报纸、广播、电视等新闻媒体每天刊载和播发的新闻中，百分之九十是用倒金字塔结构写成的。对于报纸来说，倒金字塔结构的新闻有自己的优势。主要是可以使读者很快得到新闻的精华部分；在生活节奏越来越快的今天，一般读者很少
4、把一条新闻从头到尾读完，他们可能随时放下报纸，因此，报纸有必要让读者首先读到最重要的新闻内容。为了帮助读者了解这种倒金字塔式结构，请见西方新闻学著作中的图表说明：The Inverted Pyramid FormIntroduction containing most important or most interestinginformation导语包括最重要或最吸引人的消息more facts 更多的事实材料supporting information or background 辅助性消息或背景材料quotes or more facts of lesser importance 引语或
5、次要的事实材料minor details 细节材料least significant information 最不重要的消息为了说明“倒金字塔结构 ”的新闻文体特点，现举美联社 2001 年 11 月 22 日的一篇报道为例：NOVEMBER 22，19 ：43EST ，200128 Killed in Colombia LandslideBy JUAN PABLO TOROAssociated Press WriterFILADELFIA Colom bia（AP）Rain-softened walls of a condemned strip mine crashed down onsco
6、res of gold miners in western Colom- bia Thursday，killingat least 28 and leaving 40others missing，authorities saidThe victims were said to be poor people who ignored government warnings that erosion hadmade the mine unsafeIt appeared both the illegal digging and recent heavy rains were toblame for t
7、he accidentSurvivors said two separate mudslides occurred at the site in Filadelfia，a small town120 miles west of BogotThe second avalanche buried miners who were trying to rescue friends who had been engulfed in the first avalancheRescuers shoveled furiously for hours in hopes of finding som- ebody
8、 alive，butonly recovered bodiesAs night fell Thursday， national disaster chief Eduardo Jose Gonzalez said hopes of finding anyone alive waned as crews prepared to suspend operationsThe search was to resume FridayGonzalez said 28bodies had been recovered，and at least 40 people were missing Thirty-two
9、 miners were reported injured and taken to hospitalsHundreds of people had gathered at the scene，many of them anguished and weepingrelativesEmergency crews from the Red Cross andthe civil defense forces were using heavy machinery to remove the thick mud spread overthe siteComplicating therecovery ef
10、fort，huge pools of water had seeped into the sitefrom a river running up to the hillsideused by the miners to rinse gold particles fromdirtSurvivors said the earth crashed down without warning on a group of about 200 people trying to scrape gold from the well-worn hill-sideThe workers were toiling w
11、ith shovelsand picks inside a deep hole they had carved into the hillThe cavern had no structuralsupportsMany workers managed to scramble out of the way or crawl out from beneath the mudOthers were not so lucky“We heard a very loud sound and the hill suddenly fell down upon us，”said 20-year-old Manu
12、el Loaiza“I was trapped up to my knees but some of the others dragged me out”Loaiza said he made less than 9a day at the crude mineHis 39-year-old uncle is still missing under the mudAccording to Julian Arboleda，an aide to Caldas State governor Luis Alfonso Arias，of- ficials ordered the mine closed
13、several months agoBut residents thrown out of workby Colom bias econom- ic downturn took the risk of working there anyway，Arboleda saidLandslides triggered by rains are Colombias most common natural disaster，killing dozens of people annuallyThursdays accident was the worst such tragedy in recent yea
14、rsAccording to the governments disaster relief agency，nearly 200 people died in a poor neighborhood in the city of Medellinwhen a 1987 landslide buried their housesLandslides buried 150 dam workers in 1983 and a rescue team sent on their behalf首先要注意消息报道导语（第一段）里的“电头” （dateline）“FILADELFIA，Colombia（AP
15、）”即“ 美联社发自哥伦比亚费拉达菲亚的消息”。美联社新闻报道的时间通常置于消息的最前面（NOVEMBER 22，19：43EST），即美国的标准时 11 月 22 日 19 点 43 分。第一段十分简单明了地告诉读者：星期四，哥伦比亚西部的一露天金矿由于大雨而发生坍塌，至少 28 人死亡，40 人失踪。第二段增加了新的新闻事实：金矿坍塌的遇难者是贫民，虽然政府警告说由于侵蚀使采矿危险，但他们置若罔闻；金矿的坍塌可能是由于非法的开采以及近日的大雨造成的。这一段支持并扩展了导语。第三段是背景材料。利用事故的生还者的所见所闻讲述当时的情景：共发生了两次塌方，第二次的塌方将赶去救援的矿工也吞没。第四
16、、五、六、七以及第八段均是与主要新闻事实有关的次重要材料。第四、五、七、八段讲述了来自红十字、民防组织以及各方救护人员的救援进展情况。第六段也是对导语的进一步扩展：官方宣布事故中有 28 人死亡，至少 40 人失踪；有 32 名矿工受伤被送往医院。第九、十、十一和第十二段也是背景材料，利用目击者的所见所闻进一步描述了金矿坍塌时的情景。第十三、十四和第十五段均是与新闻事实有关的次重要的材料：这个金矿几个月以前就关闭了，但由于经济衰退人们又重操旧业；山体滑坡是哥伦比亚最常见的自然灾害。通过分析我们可以看出这篇新闻报道是典型的“倒金字塔” 结构，导语是一段简单清楚的叙述。随后的数段对导语进行了解释、补充和扩展，有利地支撑了导语。在导语中基本将“五个 W，一个 H”交代清楚。它所回答的问题分列如下：Whogold minersWhatwere killedWhenThursday（Nov22）Where in western ColombiaWhythe walls of mine were softened by rainHow （were killed）by crash应该说明，记者即使采用“倒金字塔结构” ，也不一定在导语中全部都包括五个 W 和一个 H，或许只有三个或四个 W，另外一个或两个 W 出现在下面的段落里，这也是常见的。
