Commercial advertisement was once thought of as a technique of the marketers to inform the potential buyers about the availability of certain products. It was seen more as a medium to inform the buyers rather than persuade them to buy. The present day marketers see advertisement as a medium to damage the image of their competitors and their products. This indeed, is an undesirable and an immoral practice. Instead of speaking about their own products, these marketers speak about the drawbacks (often without any basics) of the competing products.
People watching TV advertisements would notice that there has always been an advertisement war between the marketers of different consumer goods. A few such cases are given below.
1.Parachute Coconut Oil vs. V.V.D. Gold
Sometime back, the producer of V.V.D Gold Coconut Oil claimed in their TV advertisement that only their products were superior and the one sold in blue colour bottles (the reference was to Parachute coconut oil) was suitable only for un-natural hair.
2.Tata Salt vs. Captain Cook
Tata salt was first iodised (碘处理) salt marketed by an Indian Company. It has been enjoying a good and steady market. Captain Cook, another producer of iodised salt, who entered the market later, had to adopt some strategy to get control of the market. The TV advertisement of Captain Cook stressed on ‘Free flow’ of their salt when transferred to a container. The producer of Tata Salt retaliated (报复) by saying that the claim of Captain Cook was a trick and those who were quality conscious should deal with it with caution.
3.Pepsi vs. Coca Cola
Coca Cola was selected as the official soft drink for the Wills World Cricket 1996. When the cricket series was on, the marketers of Pepsi constantly advertised on TV. Their advertisement gave the idea that the cricketers preferred only Pepsi and as a matter of fact there was nothing official about it.
4.Horlicks vs. Complan
Sometime back, the TV advertisement of Complan, a health drink directly attacked Horlicks, which has been in the market for several decades. The claim of Complan was that their brand (which according to them was Brand C) has a higher percentage of ingredients compared to Brand H (reference was nothing but to Horlicks).
The above examples clearly show how the technique of advertisement is misused by some marketers to ruin the image of their competitors. This, certainly, is not a healthy trend.
Any marketer should only speak about his products and not about his competitors’ products. The awareness of consumers has certainly increased over the years and they are no longer easily taken in. There are many consumer products like salt, oil, shaving blades etc. But one thing for sure is that offering the same product in a different container will not make the product different.
Mass media like Radio, Television and newspaper should not allow advertisements that tell lies. Legal regulations, in this regard, should also be made stricter.
Comparison of the past and the present | ||
In the past | A technique mainly used for offering_________ | |
At present | A trick used as a means of unfair _______ | |
Unhealthy trend of the _______ of advertisement | ||
_______ | Products | Wrong _______ |
V.V.D. Gold | No product of the kind could _______it. | |
Captain Cook | Captain Cook stressed on their “free flow” when their product was put into a container. | |
Tata Salt | Tata salt warned consumers to be_______. | |
Pepsi | Too much advertisement on TV seemed to say that Pepsi was the cricketers’ _______. | |
Complan | Complan claimed that their product was much _______in ingredients. | |
Solutions | ●Only products of their own are allowed to be ________ in the advertisement. ●Stricter laws should be made to protect every producer’s and consumer’s benefits. | |
Motion pictures are so much a part of our lives that it’s hard to imagine a world without them. We enjoy them in theatres, at home, in offices, in cars and buses, and on airplanes.
① For about 100 years, people have been trying to understand why this medium has so attracted us. Films communicate information and ideas, and they show us places and ways of life we might not otherwise know. Important as the benefits are, though, something more is at stake. Films offer us ways of seeing and feeling that we find deeply satisfying. They take us through experiences. The experiences are often driven by stories, with characters we come to care about, but a film might also develop an idea or explore visual qualities or sound textures. A film takes us on a journey, offering a patterned experience that engages our minds and emotions.
② Films are designed to have effects on viewers. Late in the 19th century, moving pictures emerged as a public amusement. They succeeded because they spoke to the imaginative needs of a broad-based audience. All the traditions that emerged－ telling fictional stories, recording actual events, animating objects or pictures, experimenting with pure form－aimed to give viewers experiences they couldn’t get from other media. The men and women who made films discovered that they could control aspects of cinema to give their audience richer, more engaging experiences. Learning from one another, expanding and refining the options available, filmmakers developed skills that became the basis of film as an art form.
③ The popular origins of cinema suggest that some common ways of talking won’t help us much in understanding film. Take the distinction between art and entertainment. Some people would say that blockbusters(大片) playing at the multiplex are merely “entertainment”, whereas films for a narrower public－perhaps independent films for festival fare, or specialized experimental works－are true art. Usually the art / entertainment split carries a not-so-hidden value judgment: art is high-brow, whereas entertainment is superficial. Yet things aren’t that simple. As we just indicated, many of the artistic resources of cinema were discovered by filmmakers working for the general public. During the 1910s and 1920s, for instance, many films that aimed only to be entertaining opened up new possibilities for film editing. As for the matter of value, it’s clear that popular traditions can promote art of high quality. Cinema is an art because it offers filmmakers ways to design experiences for viewers, and those experiences can be valuable.
④ Sometimes, too, people treat film art as opposed to film as a business. This split is related to the issue of entertainment, since entertainment generally is sold to a mass audience. Again, however, in most modern societies, no art floats free of economic ties. Novels good, bad, or indifferent are published because publishers expect to sell them. Painters hope that collectors and museums will acquire their work. True, some artworks are funded through taxes or private donations, but that process, too, involves the artist in a financial transaction(交易). Films are no different. Others are funded by patronage or public moneys. Even if you decide to make your own digital movie, you face the problem of paying for it－and you may hope to earn a little extra for all your time and effort.
The crucial point is that considerations of money don’t necessarily make the artist any less creative or the project any less worthwhile. Money can corrupt any line of business (consider politics), but it doesn’t have to. In Renaissance Italy, painters were commissioned by the Catholic church to illustrate events from the Bible. Michaelangelo and Lenonardo da Vinci worked for hire, but it would be hard to argue that it hurt their artistry.
Here we won’t assume that film art prevents entertainment. We won’t take the opposite position either－claiming that only Hollywood mass-market movies are worth attention. Similarly, we don’t think that film art rises above commercial demand, but we also won’t assume that money rules everything. Any art form offers a vast range of creative possibilities. Our basic assumption is that as an art, film offers experiences that viewers find worthwhile.
1.Where should the sentence “It doesn’t happen by accident.” be put in the passage?
A. ① B. ②
C. ③ D. ④
2.Which of the following statements about film is TRUE?
A. Hollywood films are usually far more appealing.
B. Film offers a wide variety of creative possibilities.
C. Films are made in the hope that consumers will pay to see them.
D. When watching films, viewers feel controlled by film designers.
3.The writer uses the examples of Michaelangelo and Lenonardo da Vinci to ______.
A. indicate that money is unlikely to corrupt artistry
B. show that money doesn’t necessarily destroy artistry
C. prove that money cannot buy everything in the field of art
D. suggest that money is an important concern even for famous artists
4.According to the writer, film should ______
A. avoid concentrating on popular traditions
B. focus on artistry rather than entertainment
C. provide the audience with something worthwhile
D. earn enough to pay for the developers’ time and effort
5.Which of the following can be the proper title for the passage?
A. Film: art or business B. Art or entertainment
C. Film offers us experiences D. Money doesn’t rule everything
Electronic sensors built into paper could be used in a range of ways from information storage to touch screens and more.
Electronic sensors built into cartons（纸盒）may make it easier to tell when it’s time to throw out rotten milk or orange juice. And that’s just the start. At least that’s the goal for researchers working on putting electronics into paper. They’re trying to figure out how to combine the flexibility, low-cost and recyclability of paper with the information-carrying ability of electronics.
Daniel Torbjork, a physics graduate student in Finland, has been working on the problem. He’s published a review of the field in the journal Advanced Materials.
Much research has been focused in this area. While most electronic applications require patterned conducting structures, conductive paper could be used in applications such as energy storage devices, sensors, electric heaters and others, according to Torbjork.
“You could even have some interactive functions in magazines,” Torbjork said, “You could put a simple game in a package. If you want a touch screen, press a button and then something happen. Sensors in paper could tell us when something has gone bad.”
Additional applications, such as information storage and security paper, have been suggested for magnetic papers containing magnetite. In Massachusetts, researchers have figured out how to post a video of such a device put into a paper airplane.
German researchers have also put electronic chips in paper bank notes to defend counter-feiters（造伪币者）. Paper is a good material but printing electronics also requires low-cost manufacturing. As many US and European paper makers lose market share to cheaper paper from China, these big paper companies are looking for added value products. That’s where electronic paper devices could make a difference.
“The major obstacles are paper’s large surface roughness and chemical impurities.” Torbjork says. But others in the field think that electronic sensors in paper are still far from the consumer marketplace.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen.” said Roy Horgan. “You need a conductive surface. It could be 10 years out. What we are looking for are solutions that you can commercialize today.”
Solar Print is partnering with Italian automaker Fiat to develop a unique auto-glass with tiny photostatic cells（光电）that can capture electricity from the sun. In the meantime, using paper to conduct electricity is still a “blue-sky” project.
“I would love to see someone prove me wrong, because that means that it’s actually happening.” Horgan said. “If someone comes up with conductive paper, then that’s a very interesting technology.”
1.Putting electronics into paper will ________.
A. cut the cost and impurity of paper
B. depend on flexible conductive structure
C. help consume rotten milk or orange juice
D. combine the advantages of paper and electronics
2.Paragraphs 4 to 7 mainly talk about the ________ of the conductive paper.
A. practical use B. theories
C. structures D. design process
3.Some paper makers welcome the new technology probably because it will ________.
A. put an end to fake money B. make the paper smoother
C. add more value to paper D. improve the printing technology
4.From the passage, we know that Roy Horgan ________.
A. has a burning desire to make a great profit
B. showed much interest in Solar Print industry
C. is not confident about the conductive paper
D. started a “blue-sky” project to study paper
Biologists believe that love is fundamentally a biological rather than a cultural construct, because the capacity for love is found in all human cultures and similar behavior is found in some other animals. In humans the purpose of all the desire is to focus attention on the raising of offspring. Children demand an unusual amount of parenting, and two parents are better than one. Love is a signal that both partners are committed, and makes it more likely that this commitment will continue as long as necessary for children to reach independence. But what does science have to say about the notion of love at first sight?
In recent years the ability to watch the brain in action has offered a wealth of insight into the mechanics of love. Researchers have shown that when a person falls in love, a dozen different part of brain work together to release chemicals that trigger feelings of euphoria, bonding and excitement. It has also been shown that the unconditional love between a mother and a child is associated with activity in different regions of the brain from those associated with pair-bonding love.
Passionate love is rooted in the reward circuitry of the brain—the same area that is active when humans feel a rush from cocaine. In fact, the desire, motivations and withdrawals involved in love have a great deal in common with addiction. Its most intense forms tend to be associated with the early stages of a relationship, which then give way to
a calmer attachment form of love one feels with a long term partner.
What all this means is that one special person can become chemically rewarding to the brain of another. Love at first sight, then, is only possible if the mechanism for generating long-term attachment can be triggered quickly. There are signs that it can be. One line of evidence is that people are able to decide within a second how attractive they find another person. This decision appears to be related to facial attractiveness, although men may favor women with waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7, no matter what their overall weight is. (This ratio may indicate a woman’s reproductive health.)
Another piece of evidence comes from work by a psychologist at Ben-Gurion University, who found in a survey that a small percentage (11%) of people in long-term relationships said that they began with love at first sight. In other words, in some couples the initial favorable impressions of attractiveness triggered love which sustained a lengthy bond. It is also clear that some couples need to form their bonds over a longer period, and popular culture tells many tales of friends who become lovers.
One might also assume that if a person is looking for a partner with traits that cannot be quantified instantly, such as compassion, intellect or a good sense of humor, then it would be hard to form a relationship on the basis of love at first sight. Those more concerned with visual appearances, though, might find this easier. So it appears that love at first sight exists, but is not a very common basis for long-term relationships.
1.When a person falls in love, _____________.
A. he feels as if he were addicted to cocaine.
B. he will be committed to the beloved as long as necessary.
C. he will experience complex feelings brought on by different regions of his brain.
D. he will experience a calmer attachment form of love before he feels the extreme love.
2.We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. pair-bonding love comes from a long stable friendship.
B. the mechanism for creating long-term attachment ensures love at first sight
C. it is impossible for those ordinary-looking people to fall in love at first sight.
D. men may be attracted by a girl whose figure suggests her admirable reproductive capacity.
3.The underlined word “traits” in the last paragraph probably means ______.
A. characteristics
B. something typical in your temper
C. particular quantities in your personality
D. attitudes that show your moral standards
4.Which of the following may be the best title of the passage?
A. The stages of passionate love
B. The science of love at first sight
C. The biological construct of pair-bonding
D. The mechanism for generating long-term love
Love working with children? Looking for an exciting new opportunity? Want to work on a friendly, fun and supportive team? This is what our team member Anna says about working at My Crèche:
“It’s the nicest place I’ve ever worked. Everyone is so friendly and we have so much fun working together. They give me opportunities to learn new things every day. They care about my personal development. Working at My Creche has enabled me to build relationships with the children as well as parents within the community which makes me feel so welcomed in the local area.”
Conveniently located in the heart of Crouch End, London, N8, My Creche offers drop-in and pre-booked childcare for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years of age. We also provide after-school and breakfast clubs for children up to 8 years old. Our goal is to enable parents to pursue personal and professional activities when they need to, with total peace of mind knowing their children are being cared for in a safe and fun environment.
We are looking for an enthusiastic and committed professional with excellent interpersonal skills, who is committed to ensuring the best outcomes and care for children. This is an excellent opportunity for a proactive individual to be a part of a fresh and progressive childcare concept and we welcome newly qualified professionals. We are a small and very supportive team with great training opportunities.
The successful candidate will:
● Have a certificate Level 3 in Childcare and Education.
● Have experience working with children.
● Be an excellent communicator with strong people skills.
● Be energetic and able to multi-task.
Salary: £16,500 — £19,000 per year depending on experience and qualifications.
Full time (flexible work available) and 28 days annual leave.
1.The author uses Anna's words mainly to ______.
A. examine B. inform
C. compare D. advertise
2.What does a successful candidate need?
A. A college degree.
B. A language certificate Level 3.
C. Great skills in communicating with people.
D. Years of working experience with children.
Decades ago, I was one of the unhappiest men in New York. I was selling motor-trucks for a living. I didn't know what made a motor-truck run. That wasn't all: I didn't want to know. I despised (看不起）my job, I despised living in a _______furnished room filled with cockroaches (蟑螂). When I _______out for a fresh necktie, they scattered in all directions. I despised eating in dirty restaurants _______filled with cockroaches.
I came back to my lonely room each night with a sick headache _______by disappointment and bitterness. Was this life? Was this the adventure I had _______? Was this all life would ever_______to me —working at a job I despised, living with cockroaches, and eating bad food? I _______for leisure to read and to write the books I had dreamed of writing back in my college days.
I knew I had everything to gain and _______to lose by giving up the job I despised. So I quitted the work I hated and_________I had studied in the Teachers’ College, preparing to teach, I would make my living teaching adult classes in night schools. Then I would have my __________ free to read books, prepare lectures, and write novels.
What subject should I teach? As I looked back and__________my own college training, I saw that public speaking was of more __________value to me than everything else I had studied in college because it had__________out my lack of confidence and given me the courage to deal with people. It had also made__________that leadership usually favors the man who can get up and speak his mind.
Then I started teaching in night schools, where I had to show__________ results quickly. These __________didn't come for college credits. They came for one reason only: to solve problems. They wanted to stand up on their own feet and say a few words at a business meeting without fainting from__________. They wanted to call on a(n)__________custome
r without, having to walk around the block three times to get up__________. They wanted to develop self-confidence, I had to__________my students--I had to help them. By doing this, I found my true calling and happiness.
1.A. well B. cheap C. fully D. partly
2.A. sought B. reached C. stood D. set
3.A. abruptly B. barely C. probably D. properly
4.A. fed B. raised C. aroused D. followed
5.A. stepped out for B. looked forward to C. worked up to D. gone in for
6.A. happen B. cater C. mean D. see
7.A. asked B. longed C. searched D. went
8.A. everything B. anything C. something D. nothing
9.A. once B. while C. since D. after
10.A. moments B. days C. months D. years
11.A. checked B. took C. recalled D. evaluated
12.A. practical B. economical C. inner D. technical
13.A. given B. wiped C. carried D. got
14.A. essential B. solid C. clear D. simple
15.A. concrete B. accurate C. absolute D. various
16.A. salesmen B. customers C. children D. adults
17.A. disappointment B. fright C. bitterness D. depression
18.A. unique B. earnest C. regular D. tough
19.A. Interest B. hope C. courage D. expectation
20.A. assist B. organize C. lead D. motivate
