普通高中课程标准实验教科书 英语选修9 Unit 5 Inside advertisi

KEEPING ADVERTISEDRS HONEST

 

Organizations and individuals advertise because they want to persuade people to behave in certain ways, for example to buy a certain brand of rice, stop speeding or see a movie at their cinema. Advertisers go, to a lot of trouble and expense to make adverts¹ and so they want to make sure they achieve their purpose. Unfortunately, not all advertisers are good or honest people. Unless we have ways to protect ourselves, these dishonest advertisers will tell lies or use methods that may mislead us. Fortunately, most countries have developed ways to control advertising² and prevent false or unsuitable advertising.

 

The law

One way to control advertising is to make laws that prevent advertisers doing the wrong thing. Many countries have laws that forbid ads being shown at inappropriate times or in unsuitable places. For example, an ad that has an adult theme cannot be shown during children's television programmes. In some countries advertising alcoholic³ drinks or tobacco is banned altogether. There are also laws in most places that prevent advertisers making false statements about their products or from promoting immoral⁴ or harmful behaviour.

 

 Advertising organizations

 Most advertisers are decent and honest, and  they are as interested as everyone else in  making sure ads are ethical⁵. For this reason,

 most advertisers belong to advertising  organizations that not only educate and  support their members, but also make rules  for everyone in the organization to follow.  They are called a code of ethics⁶ and include  such rules as: Advertisements must not be  untruthful or misleading; Advertisements must not say bad things about other  people's products. If well-known people are used in advertisements, they must be honest and truthful⁷ about products they advertise.

 

Complaints organization

Even though there are laws and advertisers' codes of conduct, some bad ads do get made. This is why many countries have a government organization which examines complaints about ads. A consumer can complain to the organization, giving reasons for their complaint, and if the complaint is correct, the organization can make the company stop using the offending advertisement.

 

The consumer

You may have heard the saying: "Buyer Beware". This means that the consumer is responsible for checking the product before buying. When it comes to advertising, consumers need to be educated about techniques used by advertisers so they can judge the claims for themselves and not blindly accept everything that is said in advertisements. As we are flooded with advertisements in our modem⁸ world, many schools believe it is their duty to educate students about advertising.

1 adverts   

advertisements 广告，做广告

参考例句：

• the adverts on television 电视广告
• The adverts are not very informative. 这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

4 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

5 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

6 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

7 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

8 modem   

n.调制解调器

参考例句：

• Does your computer have a modem?你的电脑有调制解调器吗？
• Provides a connection to your computer via a modem.通过调制解调器连接到计算机上。