Notebook NEWSPAPER ARTICLE. Iraqi Treasures Hunted. Reader/Writer. Vocabulary

Transcription

1 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE SKILLS FOCUS Informational Skills Understand the structural features of a newspaper. Iraqi Treasures Hunted Structural Features of a Newspaper Like most types of informational materials, newspapers have special structural features that help you find and understand the information you are looking for. Follow these tips when you are reading a newspaper: Learn about your newspaper s sections. A newspaper may be divided into sections for world and national news, local news, sports, weather, comics, classified ads, and other subjects. Decide which section is most likely to have the information you want. Scan the headlines. Headlines usually appear in large, heavy type and are not complete sentences. Good headlines indicate what an article is about and usually grab your attention. Beneath a headline, you will sometimes find a byline, the name of the writer. The article itself may begin with a dateline, which includes the name of the place where the news event happened and often the date it happened. Check the lead, the beginning of the article. News articles usually answer most or all of the 5W-How? questions who? what? where? when? why? and how? in the lead. The less important information usually comes at the end of the article. Having the most important information up front makes skimming and scanning a newspaper much easier for readers. Some newspaper articles have pictures or graphics with captions, or short explanations. Newspapers may also have special side features called sidebars additional information that is related to the article but placed in a separate box. Sidebars often have their own headings, illustrations, and captions. Reader/Writer Notebook Use your RWN to complete the activities for this selection. Vocabulary recovered (rih KUHV uhrd) v.: got back something lost. Many of the stolen items have been recovered by the museum. civilizations (sihv uh luh ZAY shuhnz) n.: advanced cultures that are characteristic of particular times and places. Mesopotamia was home to some of the earliest civilizations. authorities (uh THAWR uh teez) n.: people with the official responsibility for something. Many artifacts were returned to the authorities. Word Definitions You can often discover a word s meaning based on its similarity to another word. For instance, you have learned the meaning of civilization. What do you think the words civilized, civility, and civilian might mean? Preparing for Constructed Response As you read, observe how structural features help you find information. You ll answer a constructed-response question about structural features later. Learn It Online Learn about the features of a newspaper through PowerNotes online: go.hrw.com L6-95 Go Preparing to Read 95

2 AFP/Getty Images. N E W S PA P E R A R T I C L E The headline tells you what the news story is about. Iraqi workers repair a damaged statue. Iraqi Treasures HUNTED Long after the looting of the National Museum, Iraq s treasures remain at risk. The byline tells you who wrote the article. by Barbara Bakowski Read with a Purpose Build Background Read the following article to find out about efforts to save Iraqi treasures of ancient art. In the days following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, U.S.-led military forces struggled to maintain order. As the city of Baghdad fell, it was easy for thieves, or looters, to take advantage of the confusion and disorder. Looters were even able to steal some of the nation s greatest treasures: ancient, priceless artifacts from Iraq s National Museum. 96 Unit 1 Collection 1

3 The dateline tells you where and (sometimes) when the news event happened. STONY BROOK, N.Y., January 14 Nearly four years have passed since looters removed thousands of items from Iraq s National Museum. Many of the missing pieces have been recovered. Historians and art experts, however, say Iraq s historical artifacts are still in danger. After the robberies, museum director Donny George walled off much of the collection to protect the remains. George left Iraq in 2006 and is serving as a visiting professor at New York s Stony Brook University. Now looters are stealing items from throughout Iraq, says his Stony Brook colleague Dr. Elizabeth Stone, an expert in the archaeology of the Middle East. Dig sites are the new targets. Some of the objects being taken date back to the world s earliest civilizations. Mesopotamia had the world s first cities, first writing, Stone says. All our ideas of how we live in cities came from there. A The lead presents the most important information. Birthplace of Civilization Present-day Iraq occupies the land once called Mesopotamia. The name comes from a Greek word meaning the land between rivers. In the plains between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, some of the world s earliest settlements were founded: Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria. It was the cradle of civilization more than 5,000 years ago, Stone says. A Read and Discuss What has the author set up for us in these first three paragraphs? B Read and Discuss What do all these inventions indicate about the early Mesopotamians? Early Mesopotamians were ahead of their time in many ways. They improved farming methods, created irrigation systems, learned how to measure time, wrote a set of laws, and invented the wheeled chariot. The Sumerians also invented cuneiform, one of the first writing systems in the world, before 3000 b.c. The Epic of Gilgamesh, a famous work of Sumerian literature, was recorded on clay tablets that still survive. It was written down in about 2000 b.c. B Ancient Objects Stolen Iraq s National Museum, founded in 1923, held the physical record of Mesopotamia s long history. The museum housed at least 500,000 valuable items. Then, in April 2003, U.S.-led troops moved into Baghdad. Looters used the resulting confusion as an opportunity to steal statues, coins, and more. In the final count, about 14,000 items from the museum were stolen, including the 5,000-year-old Warka mask and a copper sculpture known as the Bassetki statue. Iraqi authorities, the United Nations, the U.S. government, and international law-enforcement officials began a search. Researchers at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago listed photographs and descriptions of the stolen objects on a Web site to aid in their recovery. Relics Returned Officials adopted a no-questions-asked policy to encourage the safe return of the missing Continued on Page 99 Vocabulary recovered (rih KUHV uhrd) v.: got back something lost. civilizations (sihv uh luh ZAY shuhnz) n.: advanced cultures that are characteristic of particular times and places. authorities (uh THAWR uh teez) n.: people with the official responsibility for something. Iraqi Treasures Hunted 97

4 Riches from the Ruins The full-page sidebar goes into greater detail about a point in the article. C Status: Found Warka Mask 5,000-year-old marble mask from the Sumerian city of Uruk; one of the world s oldest realistic carvings and one of the world s oldest masks Warka Vase Stone (alabaster) vase from about 3000 b.c.; badly damaged during theft Bassetki Statue Copper sculpture from about 2300 b.c. Samir Mezban/Associated Press. Nimrud Gold Gold jewelry and precious stones dating from the eight and ninth centuries b.c. Golden Harp of Ur Gold and ivory harp from about 2600 b.c.; also badly damaged during looting Clay Pot from Tall Hassuna clay pot dating to the sixth millennium b.c., at least 1,500 years before the invention of the wheel Status: Still Missing Nimrud Lioness Carved ivory and gold plaque dating to 800 b.c. Hatra Goddess of Victory Life-size head, made of copper, from the third century b.c. Ninhursag Bull One of two copper bulls from a temple built by the King of Ur around 2475 b.c.; the other has been recovered. C Informational Focus Structural Features Why do you think the writer chose to put this information in a sidebar? 98 Unit 1 Collection 1 The 5,000-year-old Warka mask, one of the most important artifacts stolen from Iraq s National Museum, is held up by Iraqi Minister of Culture Mufeed Muhammad Jawad Al Jazairee after it was found and returned to the police. Lagash Statue Headless inscribed limestone statue from about 2450 b.c. Hatra Heads Five statue heads from a city that thrived in the first century a.d. Cuneiform Bricks Nine bricks bearing royal inscriptions from the ancient Akkadian, Babylonian, and Sumerian empires.

5 Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images. The photographer s credit is usually printed along the side of the photo. Continued from Page 97 treasures. A few months after the looting, the Warka mask was returned to the museum. A police raid later in the year turned up the Bassetki statue. It had been hidden in a sewer in Iraq. A headless stone statue of a Sumerian king was recovered by American agents after it had been smuggled through Syria into the United States. Other treasures were found in the Netherlands, The caption explains Britain, and Italy and were returned to Baghdad. what is shown in a More than 5,000 of the stolen artifacts have picture. been recovered. Experts say it may take decades to locate the rest. Some may never be found. The head of a broken sculpture lies in a pile of rubble after looters Meanwhile, the National Museum remains plundered Iraq s National Museum for its treasures. closed to the public. But thieves digging at any of thousands of sites Looting Goes On may be able to smuggle priceless goods out of Experts in the United States and other counthe country. Those objects have not yet been tries say dig sites in Iraq are still being raided. One of the many unfortunate consequences recorded or photographed, and therefore will be easier for smugglers to sell. D [of instability in Iraq is] widespread looting of archaeological sites, says Susan B. Downey. She is an art historian at the University of California, Los Angeles. Iraqi law makes it illegal to remove artifacts from dig sites without government permission. Read with a Purpose What specific efforts have been made to save ancient Iraqi art? Patrick Robert/CORBIS. Viewing and Interpreting What do you think happened here in the museum before this photograph was taken? D Read and Discuss How do archaeological digs figure into the puzzle of stolen objects? Iraqi Treasures Hunted 99

6 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE SKILLS FOCUS Informational Skills Analyze the structural features of a newspaper. Vocabulary Skills Demonstrate knowledge of literal meanings of words and their usage. Iraqi Treasures Hunted Informational Text and Vocabulary 1. In which section of the newspaper would you be most likely to find this article? A Health B Sports C Entertainment D World News 2. The byline tells you A what information is most important B who wrote the article C who is in charge of the museum D what the article is about 3. According to the article, which of the following artifacts has not been returned to the museum? A A Sumerian mask B A copper sculpture C A clay pot D A carved ivory and gold plaque 4. Which statement best sums up the point of the news story? A Thousands of artifacts were stolen from the Iraqi National Museum. B Many stolen artifacts have been returned to the Iraqi museum. C The Iraqi National Museum remains closed. D Ancient Iraqi artifacts are still at risk of being stolen. Practicing the Standards 5. Another term for authorities is A looters B researchers C officials D journalists 6. The closest meaning of civilization is A society B ancient city C clay tablet D artifact 7. Recovered does not mean A regained B reclaimed C reworked D retrieved Constructed Response Think as a Reader/Writer How did the structural features of this article help you find information? Use details from the article to support your answer. In what sense can ancient artifacts be seen as stories from the past? What can these stories tell us? 100 Unit 1 Collection 1