Invasive marketing and chilldren

Parents of young children and teens have an important role to play protecting their children from invasive marketing and in educating them about advertising from an early age.            According to Consumer Report magazine “young children have difficulty distinguishing between advertising and reality in ads, and ads can distort their view of the world.” Research has shown that children between the ages of two and five cannot differentiate between regular TV programming and commercials. Young children are especially vulnerable to misleading advertising and don’t begin to understand that advertisements are not always true until they’re eight.           According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, most food advertising on children´s and teenagers’ TV shows is for fast foods, soft drinks, candy and pre-sweetened cereals – while commercials for healthy food make up only 4 percent of those shown.           Fast food chains spend more than 3 billion dollars a year on advertising, much of it aimed at children and teenagers. The results of all this aggressive marketing of fast food, soft drinks and candy to children and teenagers are visible. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, almost one in four Canadian children between 7 and 12 is obese. A 2002 U.S. study showed that fast food commercials during children programming on Saturday mornings are pitching bigger and bigger portions, a trend that researchers link to an alarming rise in obesity among young people.                                                                                           http://mediasmarts.ca/marketing-consumerism * ads: advertisements. 1. The text is : a- expository         b- argumentative                      c- narrative                 0.5 pt 2.    Are these statements true or false?   2 pts   1. Very young children can’t tell the difference between an advertisement and a common TV programme.                                                                             2. The percentage of commercials for healthy food is higher than that for fast food.                        3. Little money is spent by some companies on advertisements targeted for children.                     4. Because of fast food campaigns, many children get very fat.                                                       3. Answer the following questions according to the text:       3.5 pts       1. Are parents responsible for the protection of their children against advertisements?       2. What food is mostly advertised on children’s TV programmes? How much is the proportion of nutritious food advertised?          4. What are the results of the aggressive marketing of fast food? 4. What or who do the following words refer to in the text?   1.5 pt 1. them (§1)                                              2.those  (§3)                                    3.it (§4) 5. Choose the title you think is the most appropriate to the text:  0.5 pt     a- Aggressive Advertising     b- Advertising           c- Positive effects of adverting on children. B -Text Exploration (7 pts) 1.    Find in the text words that are closest in meaning to the following:  1.5 pt a. aggressive (§1)                       b. distinguish ( §2 )                 c. advertisements ( § 3 ) 2. Classify the following words into roots and affixes: 1 pt                         Misleading   -   advertisement   -    consumerism Prefix Root Suffix ……………………. …………………………………….. ………………………. ……………………. ……………………………………. ………………………. ……………………. ……………………………………. ………………………. 3. Rewrite sentences (b) so that they mean the same as sentences (a): 2 pts 1.a. Authorities don’t allow marketers to mislead the consumer.   b. Marketers …………………………………………………………………………………..……………. 2.a. Children eat too much fast foods. That’s why they become obese.    b. If children …………………….too much fast foods, they ……………………………………… obese. 4. Classify the following words according to the pronunciation of the final “s”: 1 pt                       Commercials   -   promotes   -    advertises   -   sponsors /S/ /Z/ /IZ/ 5. Fill in the gaps with words from the list:   1.5 pt    consumers -  money -  buying   -  advertising  -  target  -     goods               Children represent an important ……………..1…………..  for marketers because they have their own …………2…………… , they influence their parents’ buying decisions and they’re the adult ……………3……………...  of the future. Industrial spending on ………………. 4 ……………. to children has exploded in the past decade, increasing from a mere $ 100 million in 1990 to more than $2 billion in 2000. Parents today don’t mind ……………..5…………… more for their kids because families are smaller and ……………….6 ………………. definitely plays an important role in their decision. Part Two : Written Expression (5 pts)                          • Choose One of the following topics and write a paragraph of about 120 words.         Either topic one: Write a short paragraph about Ways to lose weight and fight obesity. Use the following notes. § Go on diet. § Eat less. § Exercise more. § Cycle to work or school. § Use the stairs rather than lifts.