Level 3 · Reading series
Lesson 18 · A Headline without the Whole Story
Audio track 18
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
The headline said, “Students Want to Close the School Library.” I was angry. Our library was one of my favorite places. Then I opened the article.
The students had asked the school to close the library for two days during summer vacation so workers could repair the lights. They also wanted a temporary reading space in another room. The headline had left out both the reason and the second request.
I showed the article to a friend who had already shared the headline. “I thought they wanted to close it forever,” she said. We both learned the same lesson: a short title can point to a story, but it cannot carry the whole story. Next time, I will read before I react.
Sentence practice
Play any sentence in Dicvo’s Jenny English voice. Before playing all, choose how many times each sentence plays. A practice pause about as long as the sentence follows each play, including before the next sentence. The complete reading remains above.
Choose a sentence to begin.
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The headline said, “Students Want to Close the School Library.”
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I was angry.
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Our library was one of my favorite places.
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Then I opened the article.
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The students had asked the school to close the library for two days during summer vacation so workers could repair the lights.
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They also wanted a temporary reading space in another room.
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The headline had left out both the reason and the second request.
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I showed the article to a friend who had already shared the headline.
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“I thought they wanted to close it forever,” she said.
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We both learned the same lesson: a short title can point to a story, but it cannot carry the whole story.
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Next time, I will read before I react.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
标题写着：‘学生要求关闭学校图书馆。’我很生气，因为图书馆是我最喜欢的地方之一。随后，我点开了文章。
原来，学生请求学校在暑假期间暂时关闭图书馆两天，好让工作人员修理照明设备。他们还希望在另一个房间设一处临时阅读区。标题既没说出停馆的原因，也漏掉了第二项请求。
我把文章给一位已经转发标题的朋友看。她说：‘我还以为他们要把图书馆永久关掉呢。’我们都明白了：简短的标题能把人引向一件事，却装不下整件事。下次，我会先读正文，再作反应。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- headline
- 标题；文章最上方的简短概括。
- article
- 文章；读正文才能看到标题省略的条件。
- repair
- 修理；工作人员要维修图书馆的灯。
- temporary
- 临时的；维修期间另设阅读区。
- space
- 空间、场所；temporary reading space 是临时阅读区。
- leave out
- 省略、漏掉；标题没写原因和另一项请求。
- request
- 请求；学生提出的建议不止一项。
- forever
- 永远；朋友误以为图书馆会永久关闭。
- point to
- 指向、引出；标题只能引人了解文章。
- react
- 作出反应；文末提醒先读再表达意见。
Background notes (Chinese)
标题篇幅有限，可能省略条件、期限和原因。只看到 close，容易误以为图书馆会一直关闭；正文却明确写了‘暑假期间的两天’和‘修灯’。读完整篇，才能判断标题带来的第一印象是否准确。