Introduce the story: Today we'll talk about a journalist who was asked to provide
some statistics.
Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What was the consequence of the editor's insistence on facts and statistics?
Vocabulary:
editor n.编辑
publish v .出版
extreme n .极端
fax n.传真
statistics n .统计数字
impatient adj. 不耐烦的
journalist n .新闻记者
fire v.解雇
president n.总统
originally adv .起初，原先，从前
palace n .王宫；宏伟的住宅
Passage:
Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their readers
with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a
well-known magazine to write an article on the president's palace in a new African
republic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused
to publish it. The article began: ‘Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which
surrounds the president's palace.’ The editor at once sent the journalist a fax
instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.
报刊杂志的编辑常常为了向读者提供一些无关紧要的事实和统计数字而走向极
端。去年，一位记者受一家有名的杂志的委托写一篇关于非洲某个新成立共和国
总统府的文章。稿子寄来后，编辑看了第一句话就拒绝予以发表。文章的开头是
这样的：“几百级台阶通向环绕总统府的高墙。”编辑立即给那位记者发去传真，
要求他核实一下台阶的确切数字和围墙的高度。
Notes:
1 go to extremes. 走极端。
2 provide…with…作“向……提供……”解。
3 to write an article on, 写一篇有关的报道。
4 lead to …作“通往……”“导致……”解
The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took a long
time to send them. Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine
would soon go to press. He sent the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply.
He sent yet another fax informing the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would
be fired.
记者立即出发去核实这些重要的事实，但过了好长时间不见他把数字寄来。在此
期间，编辑等得不耐烦了，因为杂志马上要付印。他给记者先后发去两份传真，
但对方毫无反应。于是他又发了一份传真，通知那位记者说，若再不迅速答复，
将被解雇。
5 go to press, 付印。
When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as
it had originally been written. A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the
journalist. Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as
well. However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the
editor that he had been arrested while counting the 1, 084 steps leading to the
fifteen-foot wall which surrounded the president's palace.
但记者还是没有回复。编辑无奈，勉强按原样发稿了。一周之后，编辑终于接到
了记者的传真。那个可怜的记者不仅被捕了，而且还被送进了监狱。不过，他终
于获准发回了一份传真。在传真中他告诉编辑，就在他数通向 15 英尺高的总统
府围墙的 1084 级台阶时，被抓了起来。
Notes:
6 Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well. 这
是 not only… but… as well 引导的并列句子，如果将 not only 置于句首，后面主
谓语应采取倒装结构。
5.2【阅读理解】The facts
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
Comprehension:
1 How do editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes? (By providing
their readers with unimportant facts and statistics.)
2 What had a journalist been instructed to do? (Write an article on the president's
palace in a new African republic.)
3 How long ago was this? (Last year.)
4 Why was the editor dissatisfied with the first sentence? (Because it was too
general.)
5 Did he refuse to publish it? (Yes, he did.)
6 What did the editor instruct the journalist to find out? (The exact number of steps
and the height of the wall.)
7 Was the journalist able to supply this information immediately? (No, he wasn’t)
8 Why was the editor getting impatient? (Because the magazine would soon go to
press.)
9 How many more faxes did he send the journalist? (Three.)
10 What did the last one say? (That the journalist would be fired if he didn't reply.)
11 What happened to the original article the journalist had written? (It was published.)
12 How long was it before the journalist could fax the editor? (A week.)
13 Why hadn't the journalist faxed sooner? (Because he had been arrested and sent to
prison.)
14 How many steps led to the wall surrounding the president's palace? (1084.)
15 How high was the wall? (Fifteen feet.)
16 When had the journalist been arrested? (When he was counting the steps.)
17 How long had he spent in prison? (A week.)
5.3【拓展写作】The facts
Step 3: Composition
Describe how the journalist was arrested and what happened afterwards. Expand the
following into a paragraph of about 150 words.
The journalist counted the number of steps as he ... On arriving outside the main gate,
he … He then ... in order to measure the wall. While he was busy measuring the wall,
a policeman... Though the journalist ..., the policeman refused to believe him. He was
arrested and sent to prison because the police thought that... When the journalist ... he
made things worse for himself. This proved to the police that…
Key to composition
A possible answer
The journalist counted the number of steps as he wearily climbed up to the high wall
surrounding the president's palace. On arriving at the main gate, he sat down to get his
breath back. He then produced a tape measure in order to measure the wall. While he
was busy measuring the wall, a policeman approached him and asked him what he
was doing. Though the journalist explained he was a reporter and his editor had asked
him to find out the exact height of the wall, the policeman refused to believe him. He
was arrested and sent to prison because the police thought that he might be a spy or
might even want to assassinate the president. When the journalist insisted he was
innocent, he made things worse for himself. This proved to the police that the man
certainly was guilty and deserved to stay in prison indefinitely.
课外练习：
1 The editor acted as he did because .
(a)he wanted an excuse to fire the journalist
(b)he had not read the article beyond the first sentence
(c)he was dissatisfied with the factual content of the article
(d) he wanted to please the president of the new African republic
2 The journalist took a long time to send the details required because .
(a) it took him a long time to count all the steps
(b) he had not been allowed to fax the information he had obtained
(c)he did not realize how soon the magazine would go to press
(d) he had been arrested before he had time to obtain the facts
3 Why had the journalist been arrested?
(a)Because his activities must have appeared suspicious.
(b) For having gone to extremes to provide unimportant facts.
(c)For climbing the palace wall in order to measure its height.
(d) Because the article was published in its original form.
4 the first sentence, the editor refused to publish the article.
(a)Reading
(b)Having read
(c)He read
(d) Being read
5 The magazine to press.
(a)was
(b)had gone
(c) was about to go
(d) was due
6 He sent the journalist two faxes, but did not receive .
(a)the replies
(b)the reply
(c) no reply
(d) reply
7 He informed the journalist he would be fired unless he .
(a)was replied
(b) replied
(c) would reply
(d) did not reply
8 He informed while carrying out his instructions.
(a)his arrest to the editor
(b) the editor his arrest
(c)the editor of his arrest
(d) the editor that his arrest had been
9 Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their
with unimportant facts and statistics.
(a)audience
(b)lectures
(c)public
(d) common
10 The magazine would soon go to press. It would soon be .
(a)pressing
(b) printed
(c)typed
(d) impressed
11 The poor man had been arrested. He was very .
(a)poor
(b)stupid
(c)innocent
(d) unfortunate
12 He had at last been to send fax.
(a)admitted
(b)let
(c)left
(d) given permission
答案：1c 2b 3a 4b 5c 6d 7b 8c 9c 10b 11d 12d