The problem you are having is a very common problem even without language
difficulties. Certain words have multiple meanings, and certain names are used
to refer to unrelated entities. The best way to sort out undesired "hits" from
the ones you want is to force the inclusion or exclusion of related or
unrelated words that may appear on the pages. Fortunately, Google provides good
tools to help sort out the results you want in this way. You can find good help
on advanced search features for Google at:
://www.google.com/help/refinesearch.html
If you are unfamiliar with advanced search techniques, Google also provides a
friendly interface to help you construct such a search:
://www.google.com/advanced_search
Often, the best way to approach a problem like yours is to first do the search
with no advanced features. Even though you really want to search
news.google.com, you may find it easier to refine your search on general
websites first, since there are more of them. In this case, search on "rape":
://www.google.com/search?q=rape
Most of the "hits" are unrelated to your subject. Look at a few of these pages
and identify other words which frequently
appear: "sex," "sexual," "abuse," "man," "woman," "women." You can exclude
these in your next search:
://www.google.com/search?q=rape+-sex+-sexual+-abuse+-man+-woman+-women
Now, sites involving the plant are starting to appear. You could keep going by
adding more words to exclude, but you get diminishing returns, and you may run
up against Google's 10-word search limit. Rather, it is time to look at the
good hits to look for words that always appear: "oilseed," "seed," "plant." You
could force inclusion of all of them, but, in this case, only one might appear,
and none of these words are likely to appear in undesired sites, so an "OR"
operation is the best way to go:
://www.google.com/search?q=rape+-sex+-sexual+-abuse+-man+-woman+-women+%
2Boilseed+OR+%2Bseed+OR+%2Bplant
Finally, shift over to the news.google.com:
http://news.google.com/news?as_q=rape+-sex+-sexual+-abuse+-man+-woman+-women+%
2Boilseed+OR+%2Bseed+OR+%2Bplant
The search now looks like it gives you only what you want! By experimenting
with searches in this way, refining them as you go along based on the results
you get, you should be able to construct an effective advanced search without
having to know or guess the right words to include or exclude up front.
Good luck with your searches! |