Baby consumersBaby consumersEvery mother wants the best for her baby. A mother wants her baby to have the best in the way of food, clothing and so on. Most of the time she fails to use her common sense when it comes to （当提到……） buying for a baby, especially the first one. Far more is spent in buying prams （婴儿车） , push chairs, special milk for small babies than is necessary. Manufacturers （制造商） and advertisers recognize this. They take advantage of this.

weakness of a mother and in this way try to increase their sales as much as possible.

The child himself watches TV, and it’s a strong influence on small children. He finds TV commercials and children’s programmes equally attractive and is affected by the suggestions. Early in life the child begins to feel that if something is said on TV, it must be true.

For this reason, most adverts for sweets, cereals, fast foods, drinks are geared to （调整某物）使其适合）

children because of the effect that their repeated demands can have on their mothers. By exercising choice in this way, they become consumers at an early age and it is likely that choosing and buying goods and services will remain an important part of their future lives.TASK

1. What does the underlined word “weakness” mean in Chinese in this passage? 弱点

2. What’s your opinion on baby consumers?

1.What do you want most in life?2.What about your points of view about children’s consume? 3.Are TV commercials for children good or bad?

短语收藏夹短语收藏夹

• 1. copy each other 互相模仿• 2. care about 在乎，关心• 3. put pressure on sb. to do sth.

强迫某人做某事• 4. make commercials 拍广告

• 5. be bad for... 对……有害• 6. encourage sb. to do sth. 鼓励某人做某事• 7. have the right to do sth. 有权利做某事• 8. be free to do sth. 能随自己的意愿做某事• 9. be suitable for ... 对……适合

短语收藏夹短语收藏夹

一、从方框里选用适当的短语填空，注意其正确形式。

• 1. Reading in bed _________ your eyes. • 2. Many people __________ money, because

money is very important in our life. • 3. Children are easy to _______________ , so TV

programmes must be made good for them. • 4. This kind of book ___________ children. • 5. Many film stars __________________ on TV.

copy each other, care about, make commercials, be bad for..., be suitable for

is bad forcare about

copy each other

is suitable for

make commercials

二、根据汉语意思完成下列句子。• 1. 我们能够随自己的意愿做自己喜欢的事。

We can _____ _____ _____ _____ what we like.

• 2. 英语老师经常鼓励我们讲英语。The English teacher often ______ ______ ______ ______ English.

be free to do

encourages us to speak

• 3. 你有权利选择自己的将来。You ______ ______ ______ ______ choose your future.

• 4. 不要强迫小孩学他们不喜欢的东西。Don’t ______ ______ ______ children to ______ what they don’t like.

have the right to

put pressure on

study

A1 Look at the introduction and the headings in the passage, and answer the following questions.

1. What do the article and the letters talk about?

• 2. Does the heading of the article express the author’s opinion on the topic?

TV commercials.

No. The heading just states a fact.

• 3. Of the three letters, which two hold similar opinions on the topic?

Letter B and C.

A. Little Spenders Are Big SpendersA. Little Spenders Are Big Spenders

1.What do little spenders refer to?

2.Who is the latest

target for TV

Commercials?

Read quickly and answer.

Children.

Children.

3.Who do commercials use in order to get the attention and the money of these young viewers?

Child actors.

4.Do the child actors earn big money?

Yes.

A3 Read the passage again and choose thebest answers to complete the statement below.1. Paragraph 1 tells us there is an increase in the

_____._____. a size of Asian families b amount of money Asian families spend c time Asian children spend watching TV

2. The commercials work very well because ____.____. a advertises pay the kids big money b kids like being in commercials c kids like to copy each other

c

c

3. The findings of the Japanese survey might be encouraging to _____._____.

a parents b advertisers c governments

4. All the following statements are true except _____._____.

a Li Yue thinks that it is wrong for children to make

commercials

b In Zhang Jie’s opinion, children should be

protected from all commercials

c Liu Ping argues that parents should be responsible

for their children

b

b

5. “Little Spenders Are Big Spenders” means ____.____.

aa advertisers spend big money on little child advertisers spend big money on little child

actorsactors

bb Asian families are getting smaller and richer Asian families are getting smaller and richer

c young children spend a lot of money

c

A4 Facts are things that we know to be true. Opinions are things that we believe, though they may not be true. Read the statements below and decide whether each one is a fact or an opinion.

1. Asian children are watching more TV.Asian children are watching more TV.

2. Many commercials use child actors.

3. Child actors earn big money.

Fact

Fact

Fact

4. It is bad for children to have too much

money.

5. It is illegal for children to work in

factories.

6. We should protect children from TV

commercials.

7. Advertisers should be free to tell

children about their products.Opinion

Opinion

Fact

Opinion

Language points★... children who watch too many TV commercials will

care more about money and owning things. (P2) 看太多电视广告的孩子对钱和拥有东西都很在乎。解析：

(1) too many “ 太多”，后接可数名词复数形式； too much“ 太多”，后接不可数名词。例如：There are too many people in the hall.

礼堂里人太多。It is bad for children to have too much money.

孩子有太多的钱不好。

提示： too much 可作副词，放在动词后面修饰动词。例如：

Eating too much is easy to get fat.

吃太多很容易胖。(2) owning 是动名词，作介词 about 的宾语，即“ 介词 +doing” 。

★So governments are now trying to do something to protect children. (P2) 所以政府正尽力为保护孩子做点事情。解析：do something 意为“做些事情，采取措施”，表示笼统的概念。例如：Something must be done to stop people from cutting down trees. 必须采取措施阻止人们砍伐树木。We should do something to keep the children safe. 我们应该做点事情来保证孩子们的安全。

★ It is illegal for them to work in factories. (P2)

对他们 ( 孩子们 ) 来说，在工厂做工是违法的。解析：illegal 意为“违法的，非法的”，由前缀 il-+legal构成。 il- 表示否定意义，与某些词一起可以构成其反义词。例如：

logical 符合逻辑的 —— illogical 不符合逻辑的limitable 有限制的 —— illimitable 无限制的

★We should protect children from these commercials. (P2) 我们应该保护孩子们，抵挡这些广告。

• 解析： protect 意为“保护”，常与介词 from 或against 连用，构成句型： protect sb. / sth. from (doing) ...“ 保护某人 / 某物以免受到……的伤害”。例如： Sunglasses can protect your eyes from the strong sunlight. 太阳镜可以保护你的眼睛以免受到强烈阳光的伤害。

• We should protect the animals from being killed.

我们应该保护那些动物以免它们被杀害。

★Children have the right to know what they can buy. (P2) 孩子们有权利知道他们能够买什么。解析：what they can buy 是一个宾语从句， what 相当于the things that ， everything that 或 all that ，确切意思要视从句而定。例如：

• I don’t know what he said just now.

我不知道他刚才说什么。• This is what I want. 这就是我想要的东西。

一、选择最佳答案填空。( )1. He doesn’t care much about ______ to school

late.

A. go B. went

C. going D. to go

( )2. She spent ______ money in buying ______

clothes.

A. too much; too much B. too many; too many

C. too many; too much D. too much; too many

C

D

二、根据汉语意思完成句子。3. 能不能告诉我他说什么了？Can you tell me ______ ______ ______ ?

4. 我们应该保护好树木以免被砍伐。We should _______ the trees ______ ______ cut down.

5. 父母经常会采取点措施来让孩子们学习。Parents always _______ _______ to make their children

study.

what he said

protect from being

do something

Talk time

• What do you think of the commercials made by child actors? Are they bad for children?

How to protect kids?

Homework

• Finish Exercises in Book B.