High 2 · Reading series
Lesson 46 · The Image Cropped Too Closely
Audio track 46
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
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Our school newspaper received a photograph of students standing outside the principal's office. Cropped closely, the image looked like an angry protest. A classmate proposed it for a headline about school rules.
I asked to see the original frame. It showed that the students were waiting for a scheduled meeting, and several were holding notes for a friendly discussion. The cropped image was not invented, but its missing context changed what readers would assume.
We selected a wider photograph and interviewed the students before writing the article. They did disagree with a rule, yet they also wanted to offer a practical alternative. Our first headline would have made their position seem simpler and louder than it was.
The final article still raised a serious question. It simply showed the people and circumstances more accurately. A photograph can be genuine while the story told by its frame is misleading. Asking what remains outside the edge became part of our editing.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
校报收到一张学生站在校长办公室外的照片。画面裁得很近，看起来像一场愤怒的抗议。一位同学建议用它配一篇关于校规的报道。
我要求看看原始画面。照片显示，学生是在等一场事先安排的会议，有几个人还拿着准备友好讨论的笔记。裁后的画面并非捏造，缺失的背景却改变了读者会作出的判断。
我们选了一张视野更宽的照片，写文章前也采访了学生。他们确实反对某条规定，但也想提出可实行的替代方案。原先的标题，会让他们的立场显得比实际更简单、更激烈。
最后的文章依然提出严肃的问题，只是更准确地呈现了人物与情境。照片可以真实，取景却能讲出误导人的故事。追问边框外还有什么，成了我们编辑工作的一部分。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- Cropped
- 裁剪过的；近景改变观感。
- protest
- 抗议；原图并非这种场景。
- original frame
- 原始画面；可看见会议背景。
- scheduled
- 事先安排的；学生在等会。
- context
- 背景；裁剪后丢失。
- assume
- 推断；读者可能误以为愤怒。
- alternative
- 替代方案；学生希望讨论。
- accurately
- 准确地；最终文章更符合情况。
- genuine
- 真实的；照片未被伪造。
- misleading
- 误导人的；取景可能如此。
Background notes (Chinese)
照片内容真实，也可能因裁剪而失去关键背景。校报在选图前查看原始画面并采访当事人，避免夸大他们的态度。