Task 2. The 5 o'clock news.
Good evening, I'm Charles Mckay, and this is the 5 o'clock evening news. The top story this hour: The Town of Delta has been declared a health hazard.
The entire town of Delta was closed down by government authorities yesterday after testing confirmed that the town had been poisoned by the dumping of toxic chemicals in town dumps.
Suspicions were first aroused three weeks ago, when 200 people telephoned the hospital complaining of headaches, stomachaches, faint-ness and dizziness.
And investigation revealed that toxic wastes had leaked into the ground and contaminated the water supply.
People were being poisoned by their drinking water and by the fruits and vegetables they were eating from their gardens. In fact, any contact they had with soil or water was dangerous.
Government authorities have ordered all residents to leave the area until the chemical company responsible for the toxic waste can determine whether the town can be cleaned up and made safe again.
And now here's Sarah Cooper with tonight's consumer report, Sarah? Thank you, Charles, and good evening.
There was some good news for beer drinkers today. A recent study of 17, 000 Canadians shows that people who drink beer moderately are healthier than people who drink other alcoholic beverages, such as wine or liquor.
Researchers say they don't yet know exactly why this is so. They found, however, that moderate beer drinkers reported less illness and appeared to have a lower risk of death from heart disease.
Good health seemed to be connected to the amount of beer consumed and the regularity of drinking.
People who drank beer one or more times a day reported the least amount of illness. Heavy drinkers, however, people who drank 35 or more pints of beer a week reported more illness.
The war against cigarette smoking is heating up again. Legislation was introduced today that would make it illegal to advertise cigarettes, cigars or any other tobacco product in any form of media.
That means ads would be banned from newspapers, magazines, television, radio and billboards.
The legislation would also prevent tobacco manufacturers from sponsoring sporting events and from giving away free samples.
This is the strongest anti-smoking legislation that has been introduced to date. Cigarette manufacturers insist that the legislation would be useless.
In fact, they claim that in parts of the country where advertising has already been prohibited, cigarette smoking has actually increased.
That concludes the Consumer Report for tonight. Let's go over now to Jerry Ryan and find out what's happening in the world of sports, Jerry?
Thanks, Sarah, and good evening sports fans. It was an exciting day in world soccer.
Mexico defeated France 7 to 6, in a close game that offered spectators plenty of excitement.
The game between Canada and Argentina ended in a tie, 3 to 3.
And in a game there's still in progress, Italy is leading Haiti 2 to 1, with 30 minutes left to go.
Tune in tonight at 11 for a complete sports update.