A new prime minister for Thailand

The army chief who forced out Thailand’s civilian government three months ago has been selected as the kingdom’s prime minister. General Prayuth Chan-Ocha was the only candidate nominated for the job.

(B) World Cup Match Accident ♫

TV announcer Jonathan Keats:

In Barcelona today, supporters clashed, when England played their World Cup match against Spain, the present cup holders. England had held the champions to one-one until half time, but soon after play was resumed a penalty was awarded against them. According to our reporter, Jim Bullock, the decision caused uproar among a group of England fans, and this is in turn triggered an angry response from some opposing supporters in an adjoining section of the stand.

The referee stopped the game when violence spilled over onto the pitch, and there were several minutes of noisy confusion until local police restored order and escorted alleged ringleaders out of the stadium. Apparently, there were further disturbances in pavement cafes and bars in town after the match. No one seems to have been injured seriously, either inside or outside the stadium. It is not known whether the police made any arrests.

After order had been restored on the pitch, England attacked vigorously, but the Spanish defence was too well disciplined for them, and their hopes of appearing in the final were dashed when the opposition captain, Marcos, scored the winning goal, just thirty seconds before time.

(C) The Business News ♫

1. World oil prices have continued to fall today, with US sweet light crude dropping more than $3 to $63.20. Several members of OPEC, the 13-nation producers’ group, which is responsible for producing about 40 % of the world’s total supply, want to cut output by at least one million barrels a day to increase prices.

2. US software giant Microsoft has posted profits and sales figures well above analysts’ expectations. The company made a $4.37 billion profit during the first three months of its financial year, up from $4.29 billion a year ago, while turnover rose 9% to $15.06 billion.

3. In South Korea, Hyundai Motor Company has reported a 38% fall in third-quarter net profit, which was slightly better than expected in a difficult year. Hyundai say that although global auto demand is shrinking, demand for smaller cars is rising. German car maker Daimler has reported a €213 million profit for the quarter a dramatic turnaround from the €1.5 billion loss it made in the same period a year ago.

4. British manufacturers are still doing well. The UK is currently the world’s sixth largest manufacturer, but the country appears set to remain in the top ten for the next 15 years. Even though it is expected to slip to ninth place by then, its share of global manufacturing value added is forecast to dip by just one percentage point.

5. It is predicted that the rapidly growing biofuel market, involving cereals, sugar, oilseeds and vegetable oil, will keep farm commodity prices high over the next decade. The study co-written by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization predicts prices will rise by between 20% and 50% in the next ten years.

(D) Local News ♫

A pleasant Sunday outing in the spring sunshine almost turned to tragedy for two Harpole families at Ladram beach last weekend.

The children in the party had pleaded to be allowed to explore an adjacent bay together, and their parents, who were looking forward to a cup of coffee at a nearby cafe, had agreed that they could go, provided they promised to be back within an hour. The four children then scampered off along the beach by the foot of the cliffs, clambered over the rocks at the end of the bay, and disappeared from sight around the headland. They failed to notice the time passing, until they realized in dismay that the tide was coming in rapidly, and hurriedly they retraced their steps along the now narrow strip of sand. If they had been a few minutes earlier, they could still have paddled back round the headland, but already the water was too deep for them to pass. Although they tried, they could not climb the steep cliffs either, so the eldest of the four, the only one who could swim, left the others sitting on a rock, holding one another by the hand, while he attempted to swim back and raise the alarm.

The boy, 12-year-old Thomas Tailor of Manor Road, Harpole, struggled manfully in the cold water against the strong current, and twenty minutes later he succeeded in rounding the headland. Soon after, he was able to scramble ashore in the next bay. After pausing to regain his breath, he raced to his worried parents and told his story. Luckily they managed to find the owner of a nearby motor boat, and sped off to the rescue. They found the frightened youngsters, still holding one another’s hands, with the waves now lapping around their feet.

QUESTIONS and TASKS:

1. Give semantic characteristic of informational (formal) style.

2. What are main peculiarities of this style in terms of basic nuclear tones, tempo, rhythm, internal boundaries placement used here?

3. What is Stepping Head?

4. Listen to the recording, analyze and read extracts exemplifying this style. Take into account the speaker’s intonation markers.

5. Do you agree that all extracts can be said to belong to the same variety?

6. Find any extract of your own exemplifying informational style. Single out its phonostylistic peculiarities and be ready to act it out in class.

POETRY

She is Not Fair ♫

¯She is ˙not ‘fair ¦ to ˌoutward _\ view,

As ↘many ↘maidens ˇ be;

Her ˈloveliness I “never _\ knew