Prime Time 5, Coursebook mit Audio-CD

Reading skills Scanning and skimming When you are doing research, especially on the internet, different reading skills can help you to choose the right texts and then to get the information you need from them. 1 Skim to get the gist. First use the title of this text to guess the topic. Then skim the text to see if you are right. The Baby Borrowers When research showed that Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, the BBC decided to produce a series called “The Baby Borrowers”. “The Baby Borrowers” was a social experiment designed to give teenagers first-hand experiences in various “parenting” situations. The programme makers thought that the most effective way for young people wanting to start a family to understand what it’s really like to be a parent is to put them in charge of a child. They believed that the TV series, enabling young people to explore the realities of teenage parenthood, would be a beneficial experience for teenagers and viewers alike. The series aimed to: • Create excitement and discussion related to the TV series and teenage pregnancies among young adults and parents. • Use the personal experience of other young adults shown on TV to help teenagers gain greater understanding of parenthood and other lifestyle choices. It should help them make decisions about adult life, for example, leaving home and marriage. “The Baby Borrowers” followed five teen couples who had never lived together before. They were given their own homes located in a quiet street in Norwich. In the first week they started real jobs and experienced the joys of pregnancy by wearing fake bellies, attending pre-birth classes and preparing for the arrival of a child. For three days the couples then looked after real babies and coped with feeding, changing and playing with the babies – the joys of parenting. After that, the couples cared for toddlers for three days, followed by pre-teens, pets and young teens (12–14 years old). Finally they shared their houses with elderly people (80+). They experienced the whole spectrum of life in just four weeks. Reactions to the show were ambiguous. Some viewers liked the idea very much while others, fearing that the babies and toddlers would suffer from psychological problems, criticised the show. 2 Scan to get the facts you want. You are researching why the programme was produced and how the message was put across. Look for what the text above says about this. (Only look up important new words.) 3 Check the source. Look more closely at the text above. Try to answer the questions in the check-list on this page. (It may not always be possible to answer every question, but this list can help you to decide if a text is reliable or not.) 4 Use more than one source. Look for more internet texts about such TV shows. Organise the information you find (facts, pros and cons, etc.) and present your results in class. TIP It is important to check the source of information you find on the internet. Check-list for internet texts • From which website is the text? • What do you know about that website? • What information is given about the author? • When was the text written? • Who is the text written for? • Does the author give facts or opinions? • Is the text trying to sell something? http://mediawatcher.baby _borrowers.net 25 May 2011 48 Media-mad 4 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv