Cambridge University Press

978-1-107-62709-3 – In Focus Level 1

Charles Browne Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips
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THE EFFECTS OF
1
Unit

ADVERTISING

1 Critical cartoons
A Warm up
Work with a partner or in small groups. Discuss the questions below.
1 How many hours of TV did you watch a day when you were a child? When I was a
2 The average child in the USA watches over 40,000 TV commercials each year. child, I . . .
What effect does this have?
3 Why do advertisers spend so much money putting commercials
on children’s TV shows when children have so little money?
In my opinion, . . .
If children watch so much TV, it must . . . I think one reason is . . .

Media link
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood is a documentary about
the multi-billion dollar industry that sells everything from junk food to
violent video games to children.
For additional media links, go to www.cambridgeinfocus.org

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-62709-3 – In Focus Level 1
Charles Browne Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips
Excerpt
More information

UNIT 1

2 Core vocabulary
A Scanning and skimming
1 Find and underline the keywords in the text. The first one is done for you. Try to
guess their meanings.
Keywords
assume behavior brand income industry
label prevent stock trend warn

Advertising is used in many ways. Health experts use

advertising to warn the public against bad things. For
example, they want to prevent young people from
starting to smoke. They assume that young people won’t
5 start if they know how bad smoking is. Sometimes, health
organizations may want to change people’s behavior –
getting them to exercise more, for example.

However, advertising is more often used by industry to

sell things. A company’s income depends on how much
10 money it makes by selling its products and services. These
days, the trend is for companies to advertise their brand.
A brand is a mark, a name, or a label that stands for a Wear the label and feel good
company’s products or services. In the past, a clothing
company would advertise a coat or clothing. Nowadays, a company might
15 advertise how people feel when they wear its label. In this way, the company
develops “brand loyalty.” That is when people like to buy only the products from
one brand. Then the company can charge more money for its products. Investors
in companies like brand loyalty very much because the price of their stock goes up
when a company has a strong brand.

2 Read the statements below. Which best describes what this text
is about?
A The uses of advertising in society
B The positive effects of brand loyalty
C How advertising can be used to improve our health
2

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-62709-3 – In Focus Level 1
Charles Browne Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips
Excerpt
More information

UNIT 1

B Words in context: identifying a part of speech

1 Look at the text on page 2. Three of the keywords are verbs. Verbs describe an
action. Find the verbs and write them below.
1
2
3

2 The subject of the sentence is the same for all three verbs. Write it below.

3 Use the three verbs to make your own sentences.

1
2
3

C Word parts: ism Example: consumerism

1 Find five words with ism in the puzzle and D T U W D G R Z U S W
circle them. Check their meanings. See page 97 C O N S U M E R I S M
if you need help.
C B S N F I U M S S V

2 Complete the sentences below with the words

O N A V O B S F I X F

from the puzzle. M Z L N H I P R I D N

M L L E E M O F Y J J
1 There have been many acts of
U T Y H O R B U I Y H
in the twenty-first century.
2 is a belief that there is no god. N J T V R V K A U R C
3 Many universities offer courses in I A G E E J X M M K A
. S Z T R M F P X O K X
4 Advertising encourages M E N F E M I N I S M
in society.
5 in Eastern Europe ended in
the 1990s.

3 Work with a partner. What do you think ism means? Circle the correct answer.
A an outdoor activity
B a belief or system of beliefs
C thinking too much about something

D Discussion dictation
1 Listen and write down the questions.
1 What were ?
2 What are ?
3 Are cigarettes ?

2 Work with a partner. Ask each other the questions. Be sure to ask follow-up
questions.

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-62709-3 – In Focus Level 1
Charles Browne Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips
Excerpt
More information

UNIT 1

3 Reading skills
A Pre-reading questions

1 Have you ever bought a product because of an advertisement you saw?

What was it? Why did you buy it?

2 What is one positive effect and one negative effect of advertising?

B Reading
Read the text. Highlight an interesting idea in each paragraph.

You Are What You Buy

Over the last 60 or 70 years,
consumerism has been a trend
in developed countries. People
buy things they do not need, and
5 they replace things before they
wear out. (1) We used to repair
things when they were broken, but
today we throw out old things and
replace them with new models.
10 Indeed, many of the things we use
cannot be repaired. Once, products were made to last for
many years. Now, they are designed to last only a few years.
Advertising supports this behavior of buying things that we do
not really need. Advertisements (or ads) make us notice products and brands by having
15 them repeatedly appear in our lives, especially on television. (2) There are many interesting
programs on television. The advertising industry tells us that to be happy we need this or that
product in our lives. It does this with images that connect the product to happy, successful,
or beautiful people. We assume that to be successful or happy, we must buy the product or
brand or we must wear the same designer label as the beautiful, successful people in the
20 advertisement.
The negative results of this consumerism are easy to see. (3) As people spend more and
more of their income on things they do not need, they have to work more to pay for them.
This prevents people from spending time with their family or spending money on education
or healthy food. In America today, there are more shopping centers than high schools, and
25 parents spend about 6 hours per week shopping but only 40 minutes playing with their
children.
Another negative result is that we become more tolerant of lies and half-truths. To increase
profits and stock prices, companies make many false claims about their products. Can we
really lose weight simply by taking a pill, without dieting or exercising?
30 People also warn us of the negative effects of consumerism on the environment. (4) We use
energy to produce these unnecessary goods, and that energy use puts more CO2 into the
air and causes climate change. When we throw away goods, they are either burned or
buried, again causing damage to the environment.
Advertisers say that all they do is inform us. But in reality they have tricked us into working
35 longer hours, buying stuff we don’t need, and thinking we need their products to impress
others.
4

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-62709-3 – In Focus Level 1
Charles Browne Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips
Excerpt
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UNIT 1

C Identifying topic and main idea

Read the questions below and circle the correct answers according to the text.
1 Which of the following best describes the topic of the text?
A Shopping
B Consumerism
C Fashion brands
D Money
2 Which of the following best describes the main idea of the text?
A Buying fashionable goods affects how people feel.
B Modern products are not designed to last.
C Advertising influences people’s behavior in negative ways.
D Consumerism has effects on the environment.

D Identifying unnecessary information

1 Look at the four numbered sentences in the passage. Which contains information
that is not related to the main point of the author?
Sentence number:
Reason it is not necessary:
2 Compare your answers with a partner.

E Identifying opinions
Which one of the following sentences best describes the author’s opinion?
Circle A, B, or C.
A Advertising causes us to buy too many things, and this has many negative results.
B Advertising is neither good nor bad; people are free to choose not to buy things.
C Advertising is a useful way to find out about a product.

Going beyond the text

Work with a partner or in small groups. Ask and answer the questions below.
1 Look back at the ideas you highlighted. Are they the same? What are the differences?
2 You have 3 minutes. How many different ways of advertising can you think of?
For example, newspaper advertisements are one way.
3 Imagine you want to buy these items:
• a mobile phone • a pair of shoes • a pizza
How important is advertising to you when you decide to buy these things?

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-62709-3 – In Focus Level 1
Charles Browne Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips
Excerpt
More information

UNIT 1

4 Find out more

A Information gathering
Work in small groups. Find at least five advertisements. If you can, use the Internet to
search for popular advertisements. Write notes about each one in the chart below.

Why the ad appeals

Advertisement Product Target group
to the target group

photo of Kobe Bryant is strong, cool, and

Nike Young people
Kobe Bryant good-looking.

B Comparing results

Form new groups and compare your advertisements. Discuss the questions below.
1 How many of these products do you buy? How do you feel about them?
2 What words can you think of to describe the products?
3 Do the makers of any of these products use a celebrity spokesperson to advertise?
Which makers? Does this make you want to buy the product?
4 Do any of the products use humor to sell the product? Which ones? Does this make you
feel more positive about the product?

I think the advertisement for . . .

is original / funny / memorable / The ad suggests / appeals to / features . . .
romantic / eye-catching / feminine

I like the way some

Some / quite a few ads use celebrities. advertisements . . .
An example is . . . , which uses . . .

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-62709-3 – In Focus Level 1
Charles Browne Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips
Excerpt
More information

UNIT 1

5 Critical thinking
A What does the author mean? inference: a guess
that something is
true or not from the
1 Work with a partner. Read the statements below and decide information you have
if they are suggested by the text on page 4. Write down your
reasons.

Inference? Where
Statement
(Yes/No) (line no.)
1 In the past, products were of a higher quality.
2 Consumerism causes parents to spend less time with
their children.
3 Advertisements are a reliable source of information.
4 Advertising makes people assume that they will find
happiness if they buy something.

2 Compare your answers with a new partner.

B Categorizing
Read the statements below about some of the effects of advertising. Decide if they
sound positive or negative. Check (✔) the boxes. Then compare your answers with
a partner.
Advertising . . . Positive Negative
creates more waste.
means people have to work harder.
increases company profits.
leads to less time with family.
gives more information to customers.
changes bad behavior.

C Tweet your opinion

1 Work with a partner or in small groups. Here are some
common advertising techniques. Explain what you know
about each technique.
1 Comparing products 5 Selling top-quality products
2 Using creativity at a high price tweet: a very short
message posted online
3 Recommendation or 6 Focusing on lifestyle using the social media
appeal by a famous person 7 Selling at a low price site Twitter
4 Using fear 8 Using scientific research

2 Which techniques are popular in your country?

Which do you think are most effective? Write a Tweet
tweet with your opinion. Use the model on the Here, a popular technique is . . .
right.
The most effective one is . . .

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-62709-3 – In Focus Level 1
Charles Browne Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips
Excerpt
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UNIT 1

D Discussion
1 Work in small groups. In C, you looked at eight advertising techniques. Read these
statements taken from advertisements. Which techniques do they use? Write 1 to 8
in the chart below.

Technique
Advertising statement
(1–8)

1 Tests showed a 69% improvement after using Brand A.

2 Mouthwash A is better than Mouthwash B.

3 Tiger Woods loves to use Brand Z.

4 30% off Brand X this week
5 Smoking shortens your life by 10 years.
6 Enjoy your life. Drive an XYZ and feel free.

2 Another advertising technique is called “greenwashing.” This is when advertisers

say their product is good for the environment in order to increase sales. Look at
the advertisement below and discuss the questions in your groups.
1 What is this advertisement for?
2 Do you think the ad is effective? Does it
make you more likely to buy the product?
3 What things does the ad NOT say about
this product?
4 Why could this be an example of
greenwashing?
5 Can you think of any other examples of
greenwashing?

Although the ad is probably

telling the truth, I think . . .

This could
ld bbe an example
l
of greenwashing because . . . The ad doesn’t say Another example of
anything about . . . greenwashing is . . .

Quotable Quotes
Final thoughts . . .

Advertising is legalized* lying.

H. G. Wells
English writer

1 Do you think that advertisements sometimes lie?

Give examples.
2 Do you think there should be laws on what and how products
are advertised? Give examples.
*legalized allowed by law
8

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