General English Level 4 Version 2.1 © 2004 acl Pty Ltd GELEV4 Unit 01 Topic 02.doc  LANGUAGE FOCUS 05 Newspaper reports In this section we look at the language of newspaper reports. 1. Simple past tense The newspaper article says: An armoured car driver stopped at the pub to pick up four bags of money. As he was leaving the pub, Mr Coleman attacked him from behind and hit him on the head. We use the simple past tense to talk about something that happened in the past and has now finished e.g. stopped, attacked and hit. Newspaper reports use the simple past tense and other past tense forms to tell what happened. Look I You He She We They carried saw counted saved the money. Examples Listen to the examples. 1. The taxi driver stopped at the traffic lights. 2. The police caught the robber. 3. The doctor treated the injured man. 4. The women had lunch in a restaurant. 5. The young boy ran after his dog. 2. After + ing and before + ing clauses The newspaper article says: … the police arrived. After seeing the thief with the bags of money, they arrested him immediately. First the police saw the thief, then they arrested him. The newspaper article says: After leaving the café we saw this little man carrying four bags. This means the same as: After we left the café, we saw this little man … First they left the café, then they saw the man. 17