ABSTRACT
The answer in each case is simple, but what is it about these openings that makes the remainder of the text more or less predictable? Part of the answer obviously lies in the mention of certain key words, e.g. high pressure, flight, will. However, there is more to it than that. If you asked someone to write a fictitious weather forecast, airport announcement, fairy tale, or will, it is more than likely that their text will begin in much the same way as the relevant example here. Furthermore, we know that flight departure announcements, for example, have not merely conventional beginnings but a fairly uniform internal structure (e.g. ‘All passengers holding boarding cards should now proceed to Gate 11’). The point is that what enables us to speak of particular ‘text types’ (see Chapter 5) is the fact that texts performing a common function typically share specific structural characteristics: for example, jokes need a punch line, and letters need opening and closing formulas. In other words, individual texts may be unique in their precise form, but they almost always fit a given pattern or ‘template’.
