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Lead Practice Exercises

By Susan Fergueson

Susan Fergueson
journalism teacher
Mount Si High School
Snoqualmie, Wash.

Lead practice exercises

Directions: Read the following hypothetical scenarios below. For each example, write five different leads. You may chose from any of the types of leads you know thus far-grammatical, 5W &H, question or quotation. After you have written all five leads, put a star next to the one you think is the best.

Example 1

  • The football team won Friday's game 17-14.
  • Kicker Dave Smith was tackled after kicking winning field goal.
  • Friday's victory meant the team clinched the league title, and will go to the district playoffs, which begin next week.
  • Score had been tied 14-14 since halftime.
  • Field goal was kicked with 2 seconds remaining on the clock.
  • When tackled, Smith suffered a dislocated ankle. The ankle injury requires surgery.
  • Smith learned Friday morning that he had been awarded a full-tuition football scholarship to Iowa State University.

Example 2

  • Five counterfeit $20 bills were passed last week at school
  • The United States Secret Service is investigating the case.
  • Two bills were passed at the DECA store, two at the finance window, and one in the cafeteria line.
  • The fact that so many bills were passed in such a short time is evidence of criminal activity, not just coincidence, said the Secret Service.
  • The bills were found to be counterfeit after they were deposited at the Snoqualmie branch of Bank of America.
  • Counterfeiting of bills falls under the Secret Service's jurisdiction. Agents from the Seattle field office responded to the call.
  • DECA adviser Bob Morrissey has educated all student store cashiers how to identify counterfeit bills, and the store will now be using special counterfeit detectors on all bills over $20.
  • According to Secret Service Agent Moe Monny, "the bills were as sophisticated a forgery as I've seen in my 25 years in the counterfeit division."
  • Monny said the Secret Service believes a student at MSHS passed the bills. "Whether the student is working alone, or is part of a larger crime ring, is something we hope to discover through the course of our investigation," Monny said.
  • The school has to "eat" the loss of $100, as the bank doesn't cover loss due to counterfeit bills.
  • Possession of counterfeit United States obligations (bills) with fraudulent intent is a violation of Title 18, Section 472 of the United States Code and is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 15 years, or both. Manufacturing counterfeit bills is also a federal crime, punishable by a fine and up to 15 years, or both.