Elisa Fiorenza – English 2nd year, LM

Elisa Fiorenza – English 2^nd year, LM

Task 4

*If you read the newspapers last month, you probably saw that the Seattle Times is now the ONLY newspaper in Seattle – the Hearst (yellow journalism) publication, the Post-Intelligencer, folded because of debt. It was the populist paper, while the Times is an upper-class Big Business paper. So this means you are forced to write in a more sophisticated way than, say, Pam or Roberta wrote. Of course, “sophisticated” in casual Seattle is much less sophisticated than in New York or London.
As a confirmation of all this, here are two stories of power stations (or power plants) from the Seatlle Times:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960806&slug=2342952
This second one is short because it is a “wire report” (Flash di agenzia): http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008485274_webpse09.html
And here is some background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seattle_Times

TWO GEOTHERMOELECTRIC* POWER STATIONS INAUGURATED BY ITALIAN NATIONAL ELECTRICITY BOARD “ENEL”

[*ok. I told the three students writing for a British tabloid like The Sun, or newspapers for the Bronx or North Dublin, to avoid using a technical term. But since your Seattle public is environmentalist (like Eugenia's Melbourne readership) and technologically sophisticated, you (and Eugenia) can use this technical term in your headline and lead paragraph.]

A 210 billion lire investment for the environment and people citizens [clever addition]

Monteverdi Marittima (Pisa, Tuscany) - Two new geothermoelectric power stations have been were inaugurated today, 21^st July 1997, by the Italian National Electricity Board “Enel”.

A sensible reduction of environmental impact and noise levels have has been achieved [here the present perfect is fine to emphasise that the effects continue into the present], thanks to these two state-of-the-art plants: Enel is one of the first electricity companies in the world to use a technology that involves “fluid washing”** at a depth of more than 1,000 metres. [Perfect lead for your Seattle readership]

[**Ok, your readers are technologically sophisticated, but I still think you should explain this term that most readers will not know. For example: “fluid washing”, i.e. pumping water into the Earth's hot core to produce the steam that drives the turbines... The ENEL press release didn't explain the term because it was apparently written by/for engineers who don't realize that ordinary people don't understand terminology that, for them, is obvious.

Moreover the construction of these two new Enel power stations should have a positive impact on the whole of the Monteverdi area in terms of employment, as well as social and economic benefits, given the multiple uses of steam in industry and as an alternative source of energy for domestic heating. [Well written. In any case, if you had explained the production of steam above, this last part would make more sense to readers.]

This is another important step for Enel in the development of geothermal power. Following the pPlans call for raising capacity will be raised over the next five years by around 200 Mw - in addition to the current 512 provided by the 27 existing plants. Around 210 billion lire is the total investment for these power plants, which have an overall capacity of 40 Mw and are able to produce 260 million kW/h per year. That is enough to meet the requirements of 350,000 people. [good. This is the right place – the next to last paragraph – for these statistics, which are of minor interest to the non investor or non technician.]

"We are considerably satisfied, “ said Enel chairman Chicco Testa “since “Enel” is paying particular attention to the environment and local situations, while working actively in the field of research, together with the to development and enhancement of geothermooelectric resources”. [Prefer verbs in English (“to develop,” “to enhance”), just as you prefer substantives in Italian (“sviluppo/development,” “valorizzazione/enhancement”).]

Excellent.
This article would stand a good chance of getting published in your target newspaper. And, in any case, a much better chance than the original ENEL press release.