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Unit 11
Advertising
After-Class Reading
PASSAGE I Advertising: The Selling of a Product
New Words
cavity *
n. a hole in a tooth caused by decay 龋齿
detergent
n. a liquid or powder that contains soap used for washing clothes, dishes, etc. 洗涤剂
dissatisfied
adj. not contented or pleased 不满的
e.g. If you're dissatisfied with the service, why don't you complain to the hotel manager?
giant *
adj. extremely big 巨大的
identical *
adj. exactly the same 相同的
e.g. No two people have identical fingerprints.
imperfect *
adj. not completely correct or perfect 不完美的
inform *
v. give knowledge of a fact to (someone); tell 告诉，告知
e.g. We informed them about our plan.
laundry *
n. 洗涤
misinformation
n. 错误信息
roommate
n. 室友
self-image
n. the idea that one has about one's abilities, appearance and character 自我形象
shampoo
n. 洗发剂，洗涤剂
shiny *
adj. smooth and bright 有光泽的
toothbrush
n. 牙刷
unpopular *
adj. not liked by most people 不受欢迎的
e.g. The tax increase was an unpopular action.
Advertising: The Selling of a Product
A consumer walks into a store. He stands in front of hundreds of boxes of laundry detergent. He chooses one brand, pays for it, and leaves. Why does he pick that specific kind of soap? Is it truly better than the others? Probably not. These days, many products are nearly identical to each other in quality and price. If products are almost the same, what makes consumers buy one brand instead of another? Although we might not like to admit it, commercials[1] on television and advertisements in magazines probably influence us much more than we think they do.
Advertising informs consumers about new products available on the market. It gives us information about everything from shampoo to toothpaste to computers and cars. But there is one serious problem with this. The "information" is actually very often "misinformation." It tells us the products' benefits but hides their disadvantages. Advertising not only leads us to buy things that we don't need and can't afford, but it also confuses our sense of reality. "Zoom[2] toothpaste prevents cavities and gives you white teeth!" the advertisement tells us. But it doesn't tell us the complete truth: that a healthy diet and a good toothbrush will have the same effect.
Advertisers use many methods to get us to buy their products. One of their most successful methods is to make us feel dissatisfied with ourselves and our imperfect lives. Advertisements show us who we are not and what we do not have. Our teeth aren't white enough. Our hair isn't shiny enough. Our clothes aren't clean enough. Advertisements make us afraid that people won't like us if we don't use the advertised products. "Why don't I have any dates?" a good-looking girl sadly asks in a commercial. "Here," replies her roommate, "try Zoom toothpaste!" Of course she tries it, and immediately the whole football team falls in love with her. "That's a stupid commercial," we might say. But we still buy Zoom toothpaste out of fear of being unpopular and having no friends.[3]
If fear is the negative motive for buying a product, then wanting a good selfimage is the positive reason for choosing it. Each of us has a mental picture of the kind of person we would like to be. For example, a modern young woman might like to think that she looks like a beautiful movie star. A middle-aged man might want to see himself as a strong, attractive athlete. Advertisers know this. They write specific ads to make certain groups of people choose their product. Two people may choose different brands of toothpaste with the identical price, amount, and quality; each person believes that he is expressing his personality by choosing that brand.
Advertisers get psychologists to study the way consumers think and their reasons for choosing one brand instead of another. These experts tell advertisers about the motives of fear and self-image. They also inform them about recent studies with colors and words. Psychologists have found that certain colors on the package of an attractive product will cause people to reach out and take that package instead of an identical product with different colors. Also, certain words attract our attention. For example, the words "new," "improved," "natural," and "giant size" are very popular and seem to pull our eyes and hands toward the package.
Many people believe that advertising does not affect them. They know that there is freedom to choose, and they like to think they make wise choices. Unfortunately, they probably don't realize the powerful effect of advertising. They may not clearly understand that advertisers spend billions of dollars each year in aggressive competition for our money, and they are extremely successful. Do you believe that ads don't influence your choice of products? Just look at the brands in your kitchen and bathroom. (632 words)
Phrases and Expressions
be identical to
be exactly the same as or very similar to
e.g. The tests are identical to those carried out last year.
fall in love with
start to love someone or something very much
e.g. I had fallen in love with this beautiful new house.
feel dissatisfied with
feel that something is not as good as it should be 对......感到不满
e.g. He seemed dissatisfied with my explanation.
reach out
stretch out the hand in order to get something 伸手，伸手拿
e.g. The child reached out and picked up the kitten (小猫).
PASSAGE II Should Advertising Be Banned?
Proper Names
Allie
艾莉（文中为猴名）
Arkansas
（地名）阿肯色州（美国州名）
Henderson State University
汉得森州立大学（阿肯色州）
Jennifer Hurley
（女子名）詹妮弗.赫莉
Marian Bailey
（女子名）玛丽安.贝利
Morris Berkowitz
（男子名）莫里斯.伯克威兹
Santa Cruz
（地名）圣克鲁斯（美国加利福尼亚州西部城市）
New Words
adapt *
v. make or become suitable 使适应，使适合
e.g. The world will be different, and we will have to be prepared to adapt to the change.
assist *
v. help someone to do something 帮助，协助
e.g. You will be expected to assist the editor with the selection of illustrations (插图) for the dictionary.
behaviorist
n. 行为科学家
beneath *
prep.under 在......下面
e.g. She found pleasure in sitting beneath the trees.
canine
adj. & n. 犬（的）
capuchin
n. 僧帽猴
collapse *
v. fall down suddenly 倒塌
e.g. Thousands of buildings collapsed in the earthquake.
collapsed
adj. 倒塌的
command *
n. an order that should be obeyed 命令
e.g. Since he was the head of the family, his wish was a command.
conditioning
n. 训练，条件反射作用
disc
n. 磁盘
earthquake *
n. 地震
floppy
adj. soft and often hanging loosely downwards 松软的
floppy disc
软盘
helpmate
n. 助手，帮手
highway *
n. 公路
itch
n. 痒
locker
n. 可锁的衣物柜
nerve *
n. 神经
olfactory
adj. connected with the sense of smell 嗅觉的
opposable
adj. 可相对的，与其他手指相对的
paralyzed *
adj. 瘫痪的
phase *
n. a part of a process of development or growth 阶段，时期
e.g. This autumn, 6,000 residents will participate in the first phase of the project.
primate
n. 灵长目动物
quadriplegic
n. 四肢瘫痪者
reinforcement *
n. 强化
retrieve *
v. (formal) find something and bring it back 取回，收回
reward *
v. & n. 奖励
e.g. I ) All his hard work was rewarded when he saw his book in print.
II) My mother used to give me chocolate as a reward when I was good.
rubble
n. 碎石，碎砖
sniffer
n. 嗅探者，嗅探器
socialized
adj. 社交化的
stimulus *
n. (plural stimuli) 刺激物
e.g. It is through our nervous system that we adapt ourselves to our environment and to all external stimuli.
superior *
adj. better, more powerful, more effective. etc. 较好的，优良的
e.g. It makes her very angry when he says that men are intrinsically (本质上地) superior to women.
thumb *
n. 拇指
towel
n. 毛巾
trait *
n. (formal) a particular quality in someone's character 特征，特性
unscrew *
v. 拧开
video *
adj. 录像的，录影的
video camera
摄像机
videotape
n. 录像带
washcloth *
n. 浴巾
washroom *
n. 盥洗室，厕所
whale
n. 鲸鱼
Should Advertising Be Banned?
Advertising is a powerful medium for manipulating people's desires, values, and lifestyles. In general, advertising is done hypocritically, manipulating people without regard for their good.[1] Advertising causes people to want things that they do not need, distracts them from values of life that do not involve buying and consuming products, and weakens traditional symbols.
Those who control advertising control culture by controlling what we spend our money on and what our values and lifestyles are. Almost any message can be packaged [2] in the language of advertising. Charities and good causes project the same stereotyped images and values that products do.[3] With the right advertising, who knows what people could be persuaded to believe? Advertising could be used as easily to support racial violence or violence against police as to support sentiments like saying no to drugs or loving your children.[4] The medium is perfect for propaganda.
There are also clearly some cases where, although the thing advertised is not bad, it is made worse when packaged in advertising. For example, the advertising agency [5] for a political candidate discovers what slogans and symbols voters respond positively to and then packages the candidate in those things. The candidate is associated with images with positive emotional value—the family dog, the American flag, and so on—and the right words are put into her mouth or said in the voice-over. In the thirty-second television slot we see the candidate with her husband and children and pet dog and it tells us that we should vote for her because she loves America. Advertisements show the candidate as a person who looks as if she has the right virtues for the office. The commercials show the candidate talking to workers, minorities, or senior citizens[6] to convince us that ordinary people just like ourselves will vote for her and she cares for our concerns. Thus, in the short advertising message, too short to communicate any real content, the candidate tells the viewers what her market researchers say the viewers already believe, and shows the viewers images of voters backing[7] the candidate for them to identify with. This is the same thing that advertisements for products do. They reflect the average consumer back at himself, using the product.[8]
This sort of advertising corrupts[9] the political process by showing us the candidate, not as she is, but packaged to appeal. Thus, it shares in the general atmosphere of hypocrisy and dishonesty of advertising. The political process has been corrupted by letting political issues be reduced to which market researcher is the most skillful in constructing an appealing image, and which candidate has the most money to throw into ads. When we vote for a candidate because of her television commercials, we are voting for an advertising package, not for the individual and her true political convictions.
Some want to blame the advertising professionals for the corrupting influence of advertising. They say that advertising artists and copywriters should consent to persuade people only of things that are good for them. But what is good for people? At the moment, business and industry control advertising and hence control culture. It is up to them to determine how advertising is used. It is business and industry that pay artists and copywriters to package their messages, and mass media[10] to distribute them. Blaming advertising specialists for the negative impact of advertising is like blaming the messenger when you don't like the message[11]. If we want to blame someone we should blame business and industry.
Some suggest that instead of allowing business and industry so much freedom in advertising, there should be some sort of governmental regulations banning advertising for potentially harmful products, such as cigarettes or alcohol. Everyone agrees that some advertising should be kept away from children, but perhaps we should be keeping some of it away from adults as well.
However, even if we were to restrict advertising to products that are not harmful, restrict the advertising that is targeted at children, and stop political advertising, advertising would still be bad for us. It is not that an advertisement for a single product corrupts us, it is rather that the cumulative effect of seeing great quantities of advertisements corrupts us.[12] Advertising provides an atmosphere of hypocrisy and a background of manipulative messages and distorted images. It makes us anxious and suspicious. It weakens our cultural and religious symbols. Advertising promotes material solutions to all problems. It creates false needs. It keeps us daydreaming about products, which is bad for our ability to think clearly. It is hard to think rationally against a background of advertising fantasy. Thus, advertising has a negative cumulative effect on us. (777 words)
Phrases and Expressions
adapt to
change something or someone to suit different conditions or uses
e.g. The good thing about children is that they adapt very easily to a new environment.
based on 以......为基础
e.g. The figures are based on average market prices.
head up
be in charge of a government, organization or group of people
e.g. He was chosen to head up the team investigating the situation.
in response to 作为反应
e.g. In response to your inquiries, we regret to inform you that we cannot help you in this matter.
lend... a (helping) hand
help
e.g. I'd be glad to lend a helping hand.
seek out
keep looking for someone or something until you find them 找出
e.g. Now is the time for local companies to seek out business opportunities in Europe.
sniff out
find something (as if) by smelling
e.g. I ) A police dog, trained to sniff out explosives (炸药), found evidence of a bomb in the apartment.
II) Her job is to go around the big fashion shows sniffing out talent for a modeling agency (模特代理公司).
speaking of 说到
e.g. Well, speaking of vegetables, do you want more carrots?
take... in 接纳，吸收
e.g. The new town takes in three former villages.
track down
find someone or something that is difficult to find 找到，捕获
e.g. I finally managed to track down the book you wanted in a shop near the station.
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