12.05.10

Nowadays consumers are faced with the advertisements from competitive companies. To what extent do you agree that consumers are influenced by advertisements? What measures should be taken to protect them?

写作语汇一览表：

　　1.in response to an advertisement回应广告

　　2.commercials商业广告

　　3.informative传递信息

　　4.hooks圈套

　　5.tricks and catchy phrases花言巧语

　　6.Advertising is now a circus-show.广告现在就像是在进行马戏表演。

　　7.be immune to the influence of advertising不受广告的影响

　　8.subtle不易察觉

　　9.a great variety of beautiful products玲琅满目的商品

 

写作例句推荐：

　　1. The effect advertising has on our society may be subtle, and most of us

remain unaware of how it molds us to fill in the particular company’s needs.

　　2.While advertising is useful for a host of things, from selling products,

to putting public announcements on the air, some of the effects are detrimental

as they can intentionally misrepresent “real” people in their commercials.

 

写作提纲思路：

经济角度：promote consumption, enhance economy
公众角度一： make consumers informed of the latest information of commodities
公众角度二： exaggerating, misleading, stimulate consumers to buy what they do not need.

 

分别形成三个中心句：
1. One of the main functions of advertising is to assist consumers to find and buy suitable products.
2. Meanwhile, advertising serves to stimulate consumption and contributes to economic development.
3. Despite its importance, there is no denying that every now and then, advertising leads consumers into an impulsive purchase, thereby causing wasteful spending.

 

如何解决supporting sentences：
1. explanation 解释和说明中心句的意思或原因
2. extension 对主题句拓展，阐述其影响
3. example 举例说明
4. sorting 当主题句有几个分论点支持的时候，将分论点分类说明

5. contrasting 描述相反的情形，尤其针对无法落笔的情形

 

主题句： One of the main functions of advertising is to assist consumers to find and buy suitable products.

【1】 As for the majority of people, it is unlikely for them to get out of their way to have an overall knowledge of commodities they need; thus advertisements serve as an effective and up-to-date channel of information rendering them informed of new products. (Explanation/paraphrase/make the statement more explicit and concrete.)

【2】 With the presence of advertising, a consumer is able to acquire the latest information in the market, such as properties of a product or service, and thereby make a wiser buying decision. (Extension, further statement and exemplification.)

【3】 In contrast, without advertising, a consumer is at the risk of purchasing a product that fails to meet all of his or her needs, because of lack of knowledge of better alternatives in the market. (Contrasting)

 

【1】 Besides the informative merits of advertising, it is also beneficial in boosting economy and arouse the confidence of consumption. (Explanation topic sentence.)

【2】 Advertising describes a product in such an impressive way that it always succeeds in attracting target customers and driving them into a final purchase.

【3】 Furthermore, advertising reminds the potential customers of their needs.(the above two sentences have utilized “sorting”, that is to say, classification of the different layers of a certain statement.)

【4】 For example, the advertisement of chocolates on television always reminds you impressively that you need a bar of chocolate to appetite yourself. (exemplification)

【5】 Hence, by these two approaches advertising encourages spending and contributes to economic development.

 

1.

Whether we like it or not, we are bombarded by all kinds of advertisements in every aspect of our life these days. Although advertisements provide useful information for consumers when they decide what products to buy, there is a wide concern that advertisements have a negative influence on people’s life.

 

It is common practice for people to search for advertisements, on newspaper or internet, when they find it hard to choose from a large variety of goods of the same kind. As most consumers have little specialized knowledge about the products, they can only rely on the information from the advertisements. However, quite a large number of advertisements tend to exaggerate the quality of the products for higher sales amount, or even mislead consumers by giving them false information. It has put consumers at high risk of being deceived and suffering from economic loss.

 

There is no denying that advertising significantly boosts the sales of goods and promotes the economic development. However, it also leads to waste of social wealth, as many consumers buy the goods without enough consideration after they watch the attractive advertisements. It is common for companies to produce advertisements with famous singers and actors, and as a result, people, particularly teenagers, follow the trend and buy goods impulsively.

 

To prevent the negative impact of advertising on consumers, the government needs to play a major role and take active measures. Related laws and regulations are required to ban any misbehavior in the advertising industry and punish those violators. Manufacturers and advertising companies should be aware of their social responsibility and refrain from being profit-oriented. Also, consumers should learn to judge the truthfulness of advertisements and avoid becoming over-dependent on them.

 

2. 

Advertising has become prevalent in the contemporary society, and vast billboards, TV commercials and fliers are all exerting profound impact on modern life. In the meantime, whether advertising is a blessing or a curse has sparked spirited debate. Some individuals argue that advertising has only beneficial influence on our lives while many others contend that it has detrimental effect as well. Personally, I am in favor of the former view.

 

Admittedly, advertising may also carry considerable potential drawbacks. To begin with, a vast of number of online advertisements may harm the internet users’ lives. To illustrate, email spamming may fill up one’s email box with junk emails and worse yet, many of these junk emails could destroy PCs with viruses or Trojan horses. Moreover, a high percentage of advertisements in the media are misleading ones. Today, it seems that many drug companies give false information about their products, which has rendered a host of customers afraid to buy medicine.

 

Despite this, advertising has brought numerous benefits. In the first place, advertisements inform us about the latest products on the markets. In general, with the help of ads, customers could make shopping more economical and less time-consuming. In the second place, elaborate advertisements can be a genuine art form. Indeed, instead of wasting our time, creative ads can afford us diverse amusements, thereby immensely brightening up our lives. Last but not the least, some advertising in the media can motivate people to contribute to charities. As a matter of fact, I would be hard-pressed to imagine how charities can get enough funds without the help of non-profit ads.

 

In the final analysis, I concede that the proliferation of the advertising industry does not come without some adverse effects. However, the benefits created by advertising far outweigh the disadvantages. Overall, I am convinced that we should further promote the development of advertising and meanwhile get this industry better-regulated.

 

3. 

No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements and advertising exerts a tremendous influence on us. Recently, there are people who are of the opinion that public have the right to know the correct information of the advertisements and government also should restrict the contents of these advertisements. Personally, I agree with this opinion for the following reasons.

 

In the first instance, consumers have the right to know the correct information before deciding on whether to buy them. Advertisements are highly information that helps people to make choice before they go to buy what they need. If the advertisement exaggerates the products it also will persuade people into buying things, which they do not really want.

 

Secondly, any misleading advertisements will lead to the marketing tricks, causing chaos in the market. That is to say, these misleading information causes illegal competition. For example, some advertising webpages with fake and overstated information which always jump into our sight when we are browsing the websites, can be extremely deceptive and misleading.

 

Last but not least, government should stipulate laws in consumers’ interests. According to the laws, advertisements must be truthful. If the advertisements mislead consumers, government may impose severe fine on them.

 

In general, the role of advertisements is inevitable and undeniable. A good advertisement can be a bridge between enterprise and consumers and helps keep business moving. So we need correct information and government also needs to restrict the contents of advertisements.

 

4. 

Although advertising has existed for thousands of years and is certainly not a recent invention, it is only in our modern society that the great influence and importance of widespread advertising is full play. However, in my opinion, many advertisements are harmful to young people’s mental development and, therefore, should be banned in the mass media.

 

To begin with, various factors have given rise to the thriving of advertising industry, the most significant one being the proliferation of new products, services and technologies. In order to give their new inventions the utmost publicity, many businesses choose to promote them by broadcasting attractive advertisements through mass media, such as television, radio and internet. In addition, the increasingly fierce competition in the commercial world has compelled a lot of companies to resort to exaggerated and even deceitful advertisements to gain an edge over their business rivals.

 

As many social critics have pointed out, the current trend in advertising exerts a corrupting influence on young people’s minds because there are always a lot of unwholesome and indecent contents in modern advertisements. For example, products such as wines, lingerie and cosmetics tend to use the female body and amorous scenes as the main attraction of their advertisements. What is even worse, a subculture of sexual suggestiveness and permissiveness seems to permeate the entire advertising industry. Young people, especially those adolescents, are often lured away from their studies and indulge themselves in erotic fantasies

Therefore, the authorities should take serious steps to counteract the negative effects of immoral advertising. One effective approach is to establish and impose a strict censorship on all mass media, expunging any sexual explicit and implicit pictures and words from the advertisements they tend to show. Also, rules and regulations should be laid down to ban advertisements from certain public places, discouraging its rampant omnipresence and creating a cleaner and healthier social environment. Furthermore, all local governments can increase the costs of all kinds of advertisements to be shown or published through mass media, thus reducing their currently enormous quantities.

 

In summary, the prevalence of advertising in our modern society and its inimical effects on the youth of today must be curbed, otherwise public morality and traditional cultures and values and even the future of the world will be caught in a precarious situation.

 

5. 

Television screens, newspapers, buses, and almost all city streets are flooded by all kinds of advertisements. This has both advantages and disadvantages to consumers who are unavoidably influenced, though the degrees vary from person to person.

 

Because of the advertisements placed by many competing companies, consumers are able to learn about certain new products rapidly. If a product happens to be what some consumers need, they might be attracted to make a purchase and have trial use. If it turns out to be really good, people would set about recommending it to friends and the sales of this product will go up very quickly. So, we see this is a win-win situation both to consumers and manufacturers and we also see that consumers are not just influenced profoundly all at once. It takes time for them to establish faith in the advertised products.

 

In most cases, the advertised products are good and worth buying. But there are also cases where the effects or functions of a certain product are much exaggerated and it will definitely fool some people when they are attracted all at once and go to buy it. Since a product can only win the market through its quality and its long established fame, there’s every reason to believe that those fake or much exaggerated products will eventually lose their market shares and die out. Thus, we see that the market is selective and consumers are sensible in the long term.

 

In developed countries, there are strict censorship and supervising systems regarding advertising. If the advertisement put up by a company fails to honor the advertised effects, it would be termed as fraud, thus violating the law which could lead to really serious result. In most cases, the manufacturing company would be fined so heavily that it would be difficult for it to survive any longer.

 

From the foregoing discussion, we can see that advertisements influence consumers both favorably and unfavorably and the degrees of this influence differ from person to person. To protect consumers, governments can follow the practice of developed countries by enforcing really strict censorship and supervising laws in regard to advertising as a whole.

 

6.

The extent to which people are influenced by advertisements can be measured in terms of the high sales of popular consumer goods, many of them being unnecessary or completely useless. Mainly through the media, advertisements on products and services are able to penetrate the public mind with half truth and half lying. In many cases, consumers are becoming so greedy that they are not only buying things they really do not need but also spending the money they do not have.

 

Although advertising gives people a chance as consumers, actually most advertisements tend to cause them to desire for something worthless. Under such circumstances, it is easy to change people's need into greed. So much so, they are constantly encouraged to want things--want this and want that. This human behavior is haunted by the media from all fronts: on radio, on television, and online, not to mention printed circulations such as newspapers and magazines. Obviously, a great number of "impulsive" buyers are persuaded under the illusion that new products or services could make a difference in their lives. Despite all the benefits of the free market economy, the effects of unreliable advertising are particularly negative in that the power of advertising does not reflect the real needs of the society in which products and services are sold.

 

Worse still, many consumers are convinced to waste money they do not have. Surrounded by advertisements, people are too unwise to perform a balanced act between income and expenditure. Increasingly, what seems to be good for economy begins to backfire because advertising is misleading consumers deeply into commercial debts which they probably could not afford to pay in due time. Thus, instead of improving people's lives, advertising may be considered as a "necessary evil" in modern time. Furthermore, as manufacturing and service companies are competing to have a larger share of the market, it is next to impossible to expect the media to reduce the amount of dishonest advertising. Besides, when it comes to making money, companies and the media are in the same religion.

 

After all, greed being a human instinct, consumers have only themselves to blame for their foolishness toward advertisements. Since outlawing commercial advertising is out of the question, people should educate themselves to be more prudent in buying and spending behaviors. As for consumers, what better measures can be taken to protect themselves other than self-control?

  

12.05.12

In most countries,prison is an effective solution to the problem of crime. Some people think it is a more effective solution to provide education for those who violate the law. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

 

1.

Sending criminals to prison is considered as an effective way to deal with them in most countries. Some people suggest that what criminals need is education instead of penalty. In my point of view, both sides are essential in the rehabilitation of those law violators.

 

It is necessary to send criminals to jail for social security and justice. It would have a deterrent effect on those who intend to commit crimes. These people would consider the consequence of their behavior if they know they would be punished by law. By contrast, if criminals can escape the punishment, there is a risk that the crime rate would increase and the society would become unstable and dangerous. In addition, it is fair for victims and their relatives to see the criminals imprisoned; otherwise people would protest and lose their trust on the government and on the law.

 

On the other hand, to rehabilitate the criminals is likely to need more than a simple imprisonment. If we look into the underlying causes of crimes, a large number of people perpetrated crimes because they hand little knowledge about the law and lacked basic skills to earning a living. After they are sent to prison, they should receive more education about the law, so as to enhance their awareness in this regard. Also, they should be taught with practical skills such as driving, cooking and repairing, which can be useful for them to find jobs when they are set free.

 

To summarize, only by the combination of punishment and education can we successfully transform criminals into law-abiding citizens and this has been proved to be effective in some countries.

 

2. 

Criminal offenders are imprisoned and released too many times. There is no real intercession until criminality is firmly in place and has become an all-encompassing (all-embracing) lifestyle. It would appear that our sentencing policies are conflicting, often too soft for violent crimes and too harsh for non-violent crimes.

 

In addition, our public safety arrangements are too shortsighted. It would be better to spend more on concentrated probation and scientifically based rehabilitation programs now, and less on more secure prisons tomorrow. Too many people including decision-makers believe that rehabilitation programmes for inmates do not work, although research proves otherwise.

 

We also have the tendency to make convicted felons an untouchable class, isolating them from normal society and meaningful employment, making nonstop criminal activity all the more attractive.

 

I believe that if we were to rate prisons in the same way that we rate schools: by their success, we would establish a far more effective prison system. Achievement would be calculated by the percentage of released prisoners who are not charged with new crimes within a year, and again within two years. Yes, we would need to be in command of such factors as age, past records, and anticipated recidivism rates for the type of crimes each was convicted of. However, this should be fairly easy in today’s computer age. This would persuade prison administrations to develop and endorse job training, anger management classes, release preparation programs, education, and other interventions known to lessen recidivism.

 

Another initiative would be to encourage those rehabilitated former offenders to become involved in teaching others. By bringing them into jails to speak to inmates and tell their own success stories, we would be able to set up a kind of adult “ big brother” program where past offenders can be called on for advice or just encouragement. Is not reducing criminal recidivism worth some innovation?

 

相关考题：

1. Some people think that all the lawbreakers should be sent into the jail, while others believe that they should also be made to do some work or learn some skills in the community. What is your opinion? (20090917)

2. Sending criminals to prisons is not so effective in dealing with the problem. Education and job training should be offered to them. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement? (20080918)

 

12.05.19

The increase in food production owes much to fertilizers and better machinery, but some people think that it has a negative impact on human health and community. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

 

In recent years, due to the widespread use of fertilizers and farm machinery, there is a significant growth in the food production all over the world. However, some people are concerned that this trend may have a negative impact on people’s health and the development of the society.

 

As the world population keeps going up, the demand for food supply increases every year. In many countries and regions, food shortage and malnutrition remain a serious issue, posing a threat to people’s survival and health. Since the amount of arable land is limited, there is no doubt that traditional agriculture needs to be updated in order to feed the growing number of people. The introduction of fertilizers, pesticides and machinery has proved to be an effective way to raise the production of grains and has extricated numerous people from hunger.

 

On the other hand, the negative effects of chemicals and machinery have aroused heated discussion. The first thing people worry about is the harm done to people’s health. Pesticides can kill pest and fertilizers enhance the growth of plants, but both contain chemical ingredients that threaten people’s health. In addition, the residual chemicals pollute the soil and underground water. For example, in some areas, the overuse of fertilizers leads to the bloom of weeds in rivers and lakes, causing unbalance of the ecological system. Another thing worth mentioning is the increased unemployment rate of farm workers as a result of the population of farm machines.

 

Despite the above problems, fertilizers and machinery will continue to be used in agriculture, as food security overrides the concern over health risk and pollution. To solve these problems, people need to research and develop new types of chemical products and avoid the abuse of these products.

相关考题：

1.Food can be produced much more cheaply today because of improved fertilisers and better machinery. However, some of the methods used to do this may be dangerous to human health and may have negative effects on local communities. To what extent do you agree or disagree? (20050205)

 

12.05.26

Some people believe that the government should support the funds for the arts, while some other people suggest that the money should be used for public health and education. Discuss both views and give your opinion. 

 

1.

Although many people think that artistic activities are an indispensable part of their life, some other people consider the investment on arts is a waste of the government’s money because arts are less important than other public services, such as health and education. This essay will discuss both sides and present my personal view.

 

Those who suggest that more government fund should be allocated to arts activities may give their reasons as follows. First of all, arts provide people with various means of entertainment and relieve their stress. After a day’s hard work, people want to go to the concert hall, gallery or theatre, where they can entertain themselves and forget their business temporarily. With so much pressure in life, arts enable people to reflect on the significance of life and develop a positive attitude. In addition, some artistic works, which are created by ancient or renowned artists, are valuable assets of a country and represent its cultural identity. The government has the obligation to preserve them.

 

On the other hand, other people hold different opinions and argue that government should focus their fund on health and education, which seems to be able to bring more benefits to people’s welfare. For instance, if the government spends more money on the construction of school building and library, people would have more access to proper education. Also, healthcare conditions are not satisfying in many countries. The shortage of medical resources makes it hard for people to receive treatment when they fall ill. No wonder some people believe it is an urgent need for the government to raise the investment on healthcare.

 

In my opinion, the improvement of public service and the construction of basic facilities are undoubtedly urgent issues that call for the government priority. However, the role of arts should not be neglected or denied, as the benefits of investment on arts may be less visible, but they are also essential to the sound development of the society in the long term.

 

写作建议：

此类题目是典型的argumentative essay双边类的写法，这类问法在剑桥系列丛书五册到八册中共出现过九次，建议此类文章分为四段来写，body paragraphs分为两段展开，首先，第二段可以写政府set up a fund to provide money发展艺术事业的诸多benefits，比如：To begin with, the arts make money, to be specific, arts organizations create jobs, spur local economy, and generate tax revenues. Then, the arts attract tourists, for a primary reason for travel is to experience the cultural offerings of other areas. The arts bring people to town and keep then there much longer. Last but not least, the arts provide a high rate of return on public investment. The arts strengthen a community in many ways. One investment can reap many rewards 。其次，第三段可以写利用这些钱发展public health和education的种种reasons，for example, in the first place, spending money on the public health is critical to reducing health care costs and improving health in one country and it is the heart and soul of public health and is crucial in preventing and managing disease as well. In the second place, these funds will also go to screening that is crucial in catching the infection early so people can stay healthy for as long as possible. In the next place, to remain competitive, the nation must increase the number of college graduates. Cutting the spending on education would put college out of reach for many low-income students。最后，在文章收尾处present your own viewpoint。

 

写作语汇一览表： 

1. make ends meet收支平衡

2. account for占

3. ask for a budget increase要求增加预算

4. send a clear message that…传达了明显的信息

5. value education注重教育

6. outlay费用；开支

7. disease prevention疾病预防

8. make essential health services available基本医疗有保证

9. improve the social and economic well-being of the health workers提高医务人员

的社会、经济福利

10. cultural diversity文化多样性

 

写作例句推荐： 

1.   Through the arts we display, preserve, and pass on age-old art forms to

keep the history of our area alive.

2.   And we are told we are divided as a people, and then suddenly the arts

have this power to bring us together and speak to our common condition.

3.   The arts do provide for a great variety of benefits for citizens in our

communities by providing economic, community and educational benefits.

4.   The funding structure would see money trickle down to the most needy

creative people.

5.   The arts enhance a communities’ quality of life and its economy.

 

相关考题：

1. Some people think the government should spend more money on public services other than waste money on arts.To what extent do you agree or disagree? (20110611)

2. Many countries spend a lot of money in art. Some people think investment in art is necessary, but others say money is better spent on improving health and education. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. (20070920/20040626)