--- title: Scary news: wars, disasters and how to talk about them — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Scary news: wars, disasters and how to talk about them», a lesson of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: The news on TV, the radio and phones shows real things: wars, earthquakes, floods, fires and accidents. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/) / Scary news: wars, disasters and how to… # Scary news: wars, disasters and how to talk about them Lesson 51 of the adult life course of Mova's primary school: 22 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/0/) — The news on TV, the radio and phones shows real things: wars, earthquakes, floods, fires and accidents. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/1/) — It shows the worst moments, because what is new and unusual today is what makes the news. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/2/) — Scary news is real, but it is usually far away, it is usually rare, and the same pictures are shown again and again, so the world can feel much worse than it is. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/3/) — Vivid example: in a kitchen in Manchester the six o'clock news shows smoke over a city and the word "missiles". - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/4/) — Ollie asks if he should sleep with his trainers on. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/5/) — Mum turns the sound down, finds the country on the map with him and says, "That's thousands of miles away, love. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/6/) — Nobody is attacking us." - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/7/) — Good grown-ups do four things with scary news: they turn it down, they tell the truth simply, they show the helpers, and they find one small thing the family can do. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/8/) — Asking questions and asking for a hug are always allowed. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/9/) — Wars, disasters and accidents on the news are real, but most happen far away; finding the place on a map shrinks the fear to its proper size. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/10/) — One event is often shown many times on different channels and phones; ten showings of a bombed building are still one building. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/11/) — When thousands of people flee a war, they are called refugees; they stay in camps, schools and other people's homes, and charities help them. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/12/) — Big earthquakes, volcanoes and hurricanes happen in particular parts of the world; where you live the chance can be very small, and buildings in earthquake places are built specially. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/14/) — Plane crashes and terror attacks are on the news because they are very rare; millions of flights land safely every day. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/15/) — A missing child on the news is a rare case; police use the news so that the public can help, and the family safety rules still work. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/16/) — Wars can end: peace treaties have been signed, and countries that once fought each other are friends now. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/17/) — Children are never sent to fight in a war in countries like ours; a playground claim that "we'll all be called up" is a rumour. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/18/) — Newsreaders speak slowly and look serious about deaths to show respect for the people who died and their families. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/19/) — You do not have to feel sad about a famous person you never knew; the people laying flowers knew their songs or films. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/20/) — Checking scary news again and again, especially late at night, keeps the worry going and makes nobody safer. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/21/) — It is all right to be happy, have a party or laugh while sad things happen far away; you can be kind and joyful at once. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/51-scary-news-wars-disasters-and-how-to-talk-about-them/22/) — "The world has gone mad" is a grown-up grumbling, not a fact; most people in the world are having ordinary, peaceful days. - ← previous: [Rumours about classmates and what to do with a secret](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/50-rumours-about-classmates-and-secrets/) - next →: [Elections, crime, the weather, breaking news and news vs opinion](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/52-elections-crime-the-weather-breaking-news-and-news-vs-opinion/) - ↑ back to [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/)