Inference

Genre – news item with the elements of analysis.

Target audience is broad mainly interested in social and political issues.

Language and style of presentation is clear and understandable. There are a few specific terms.

Topicality – the article is topical as the influence of social network nowadays is very important.

Summary

Variant 1 Social network initially established as a fun have evolved into a powerful means of communication, spreading news and ideas, doing business. It involves wide audience potential. Both small businesses and big companies recognize the advertising and marketing potential of social networks. It is considered to be one of the most convenient means of communicating with clients. Profile pages can establish contacts with users in an informal format. The impact of social network on social life proved to be very strong if to speak about uprising and social unrest in the world in 2011 and protest campaign against the allegedly rigged results of Russia’s parliamentary elections of 2012.

Variant 2

The article is divided into three parts.

The author starts with the lead in which she reminds about the social unrest in the world in 2011 which was inspired through the social networks.

Then the author proceeds to speak about the social network as a wonderful means of communication and spreading news and ideas. She quotes the opinion of the director of one of the St Petersburg Internet agency on this matter.

After that we can read about the impact of the social networks on small business and its expanding influence on the government controlled structures and big business. The author points out that creating profile pages are very helpful in establishing contacts with clients because they provide users with an informal format. Businesses are ready to use the advertising potential of the networks especially for companies with low advertising budget. To illustrate the information the author provides the opinion of the director of Netology Internet marketing school and the head of marketing for the Kaspersky Lab computer security company and some other officials.

At the end of the article the author goes back to the impact of social networks on the social life an activity of people. She reminds about the protest campaign against the allegedly rigged results of Russia’s parliamentary elections.

V

doing business

• small businesses;

• big companies;

• advertising and marketing potential;

• free advertising potential;

• most conventional means of communicating with clients;

• Informal format;

• dialogue;

• the users involved

ariant 3 Cognitive map

S ocial Networks

means of communication

• spreading news and ideas;

• wide audience potential;

• a fun;

• playmates with teenagers

social life

• uprising;

• social unrest;

• protest campaigns

j

Just for fun

Do you know what red herring is? It is anything that diverts attention from a topic or line of inquiry. Can you think of a similar idiom in Russian?

Here are some of the well-known examples of red herrings which are often timed to the April’s Fools Day:

1698

Londoners read in the newspaper that everybody could watch white lions washing in the Tower. Crowds of people rushed to the walls of the famous prison. 200 years later one British newspaper republished the same comic announcement and London dwellers rushed to the Tower again.

1957

BBC “Panorama” program reported about the Swiss farmer who managed to grow and harvest a wonderful crop of macaroni thanks to some new technology. The news provoked an avalanche of telephone calls from all over Britain to get the address of the farmer and to ask for details of that new technology.

1981

Daily Mail reported about a Japanese athlete who took part in London marathon. Because of the ’mistranslation he decided that the marathon lasted 26 days instead of 26 miles and was still running somewhere around England.

1998

The USA Today published the advertisement f a new hamburger of the “Burger King” company which was specially designed for the left-handers. The next morning thousands of the fast food restaurant visitors came to demand a new hamburger.

ust for funjust

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