The dreamt vacation (Part III)
It was a rainy blowing day. It was 27th December. It was the day. We were all exciting at the local airport. We had to fly to Bs As, where we would take our flight to Europe. When we arrived at Bs As, the sun was shining and it was a hot day. We all were happy, but unfortunately it lasted a few hours because our teacher told us that we had to wait until the following day to take the flight since our plane was broken.
The company was in charge of our accommodation, meals and calls. We stayed in a comfortable and warmly hotel. The hotel was near “peatonal Florida”, so we decided to go out and know that famous place which is full of shops, we also went to “Puerto Maderos”, Obelisco, and Cabildo. The day was almost to finish, we had dinner and went to bed because the following day was the day!
It was 28th December. It was 6: 30 when the telephone rang; it was our “alarm clock”. We had a bath and got our luggage down stairs. Then we had our breakfast. At 8 o’clock our mini bus arrived it would take us to the International Airport of Ezeiza.
We wait for HOURS, until a soft and gentle voice said that we had to check in. We were so exciting; I couldn’t believe that in few hours we were to be in Europe.
As I got into the plane, a lady welcomed and indicated what my seat was.
sábado 22 de septiembre de 2007
The dreamt vacation (Part II)
We had the date of our departure, so we-students- had to arrange every document required to travel abroad. I made the procedure in order to get my passport six month before, but something was wrong, all my documents had been lost at the police station; and in two weeks we were suppose to be in Ireland. I can’t explain how my heart was, the whole dream of being in Europe was vanishing at same time as the police officer told me “sorry, you have to make the procedure again, it will take two weeks to get the passport.” When I arrived home, my parents saw my depress face, and they could infer that something happened. My parents had worked so hard to save the money for the journey that they decided to not renounce to this. A few days after this incident, my mother and I traveled to Capital federal to obtain the passport. It was said that there the procedure was more quickly and it would take only a few days. Fortunately, it was true.
We had the date of our departure, so we-students- had to arrange every document required to travel abroad. I made the procedure in order to get my passport six month before, but something was wrong, all my documents had been lost at the police station; and in two weeks we were suppose to be in Ireland. I can’t explain how my heart was, the whole dream of being in Europe was vanishing at same time as the police officer told me “sorry, you have to make the procedure again, it will take two weeks to get the passport.” When I arrived home, my parents saw my depress face, and they could infer that something happened. My parents had worked so hard to save the money for the journey that they decided to not renounce to this. A few days after this incident, my mother and I traveled to Capital federal to obtain the passport. It was said that there the procedure was more quickly and it would take only a few days. Fortunately, it was true.
The dreamt vacation (Part I)
Have you ever dream with the perfect vacation? Ten years have passed since I first traveled abroad and I had the chance to experience the most beautiful vacation that have ever imagined. I was only 17 years old when my parents gave me the most precious gift, a journey to Ireland.
One day, as I was at class, our English teacher told us about her project of forming a group of students to travel to Ireland in order to attend an English course. As soon as I heard this news, I could picture into my mind how amazing it would be. So, I told my parents about the meeting that my teacher has arranged to inform about the journey; and they agreed to go to the reunion, I couldn’t believe it. From that moment after the meeting, many parents and students worked together to get money for the journey. Almost ten months have passed when we get the sufficient amount of money to pay for our course and accommodation. When one day our teacher said that she already had the date for our departure, it was the December 27th, 1996.
Have you ever dream with the perfect vacation? Ten years have passed since I first traveled abroad and I had the chance to experience the most beautiful vacation that have ever imagined. I was only 17 years old when my parents gave me the most precious gift, a journey to Ireland.
One day, as I was at class, our English teacher told us about her project of forming a group of students to travel to Ireland in order to attend an English course. As soon as I heard this news, I could picture into my mind how amazing it would be. So, I told my parents about the meeting that my teacher has arranged to inform about the journey; and they agreed to go to the reunion, I couldn’t believe it. From that moment after the meeting, many parents and students worked together to get money for the journey. Almost ten months have passed when we get the sufficient amount of money to pay for our course and accommodation. When one day our teacher said that she already had the date for our departure, it was the December 27th, 1996.
jueves 6 de septiembre de 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6546209.stm
A survey is suggesting that only a tiny minority of us are getting eight hours' sleep a night. But do we really need that much?
Vocabulary:
Injuction: An injunction is a court order, usually one telling someone not to do something. (LEGAL)
Nutshell: You can use in a nutshell to indicate that you are saying something in a very brief way, using few words.
Loll: If you loll somewhere, you sit or lie in a very relaxed position.
Drool: To drool over someone or something means to look at them with great pleasure, perhaps in an exaggerated or ridiculous way.
Disrupt: If someone or something disrupts an event, system, or process, they cause difficulties that prevent it from continuing or operating in a normal way.
Brood: If someone broods over something, they think about it a lot, seriously and often unhappily.
Main Ideas:
Sleep is an essential part of everybody’s life.
The average of sleep depends on each person necessities.
Sleeping eight hours a day is taken as a false value.
Lack of sleeping affects people’s everyday activities.
Sleeping hours depend on factors of health, stress or fatigue.
Personal reaction:
Every day activities and working hours became the centre of attention to most of the people. Moreover, the aim of reaching a high economic standard of life maintains people busier than previous years. Occupations and business take out all of their energy and health. So, in order to success people devote to their jobs and studies, more than fourteen hours a day. Actually, there are people who sleep only five to six hours per day reducing their resting time. However, they say that time is enough for them to get a good performance. Taking everything into account, I would say that sleeping is an essential activity that people need accomplish to survive; otherwise our body would start working improperly giving signs of a weak health.
A survey is suggesting that only a tiny minority of us are getting eight hours' sleep a night. But do we really need that much?
Vocabulary:
Injuction: An injunction is a court order, usually one telling someone not to do something. (LEGAL)
Nutshell: You can use in a nutshell to indicate that you are saying something in a very brief way, using few words.
Loll: If you loll somewhere, you sit or lie in a very relaxed position.
Drool: To drool over someone or something means to look at them with great pleasure, perhaps in an exaggerated or ridiculous way.
Disrupt: If someone or something disrupts an event, system, or process, they cause difficulties that prevent it from continuing or operating in a normal way.
Brood: If someone broods over something, they think about it a lot, seriously and often unhappily.
Main Ideas:
Sleep is an essential part of everybody’s life.
The average of sleep depends on each person necessities.
Sleeping eight hours a day is taken as a false value.
Lack of sleeping affects people’s everyday activities.
Sleeping hours depend on factors of health, stress or fatigue.
Personal reaction:
Every day activities and working hours became the centre of attention to most of the people. Moreover, the aim of reaching a high economic standard of life maintains people busier than previous years. Occupations and business take out all of their energy and health. So, in order to success people devote to their jobs and studies, more than fourteen hours a day. Actually, there are people who sleep only five to six hours per day reducing their resting time. However, they say that time is enough for them to get a good performance. Taking everything into account, I would say that sleeping is an essential activity that people need accomplish to survive; otherwise our body would start working improperly giving signs of a weak health.
miércoles 5 de septiembre de 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/monarchy/story/0,,2162941,00.html
Vocabulary:
Inquest:1.
a legal or judicial inquiry, usually before a jury, esp. an investigation made by a coroner into the cause of a death.
2.
the body of people appointed to hold such an inquiry, esp. a coroner's jury.
3.
the decision or finding based on such inquiry.
4.
an investigation or examination.
un·der·pass : a passage running underneath, esp. a passage for pedestrians or vehicles, or both, crossing under a railroad, road, etc.
re·mark To express briefly and casually as a comment.
To take notice of; observe. See Synonyms at see1.
head·ing
something that serves as a head, top, or front.
Embalm:To treat (a corpse) with preservatives in order to prevent decay.
Main Ideas:
The inquest jury examining the death of Diana will be taken to the scene of the fatal crash in Paris.
the jury will hear scene-setting evidence and be given maps and photos, before heading to Paris.
The inquest would then focus on the embalming of Diana's body, the post-mortem examination, events earlier in the day she died.
Personal Reaction:
privacy is a topic which frequently generates a great deal of heated debates with supporters who maintain that there is nothing wrong in providing people with information about people whilst opponents to this view claim that privacy is an inalienable right which every single person should nor be deprived of. taking into consideration one of the most shocked incidents in which a person came across death is simple unacceptable.
Vocabulary:
Inquest:1.
a legal or judicial inquiry, usually before a jury, esp. an investigation made by a coroner into the cause of a death.
2.
the body of people appointed to hold such an inquiry, esp. a coroner's jury.
3.
the decision or finding based on such inquiry.
4.
an investigation or examination.
un·der·pass : a passage running underneath, esp. a passage for pedestrians or vehicles, or both, crossing under a railroad, road, etc.
re·mark To express briefly and casually as a comment.
To take notice of; observe. See Synonyms at see1.
head·ing
something that serves as a head, top, or front.
Embalm:To treat (a corpse) with preservatives in order to prevent decay.
Main Ideas:
The inquest jury examining the death of Diana will be taken to the scene of the fatal crash in Paris.
the jury will hear scene-setting evidence and be given maps and photos, before heading to Paris.
The inquest would then focus on the embalming of Diana's body, the post-mortem examination, events earlier in the day she died.
Personal Reaction:
privacy is a topic which frequently generates a great deal of heated debates with supporters who maintain that there is nothing wrong in providing people with information about people whilst opponents to this view claim that privacy is an inalienable right which every single person should nor be deprived of. taking into consideration one of the most shocked incidents in which a person came across death is simple unacceptable.
Abortion Under Siege in Latin America
Thursday, Aug. 09, 2007 By JEAN FRIEDMAN-RUDOVSKY/LA PAZ
The remarkable comeback by leftist political parties in Latin America in recent years has been accompanied by moves to roll back the region's abortion laws, widely considered some of the world's most restrictive. Mexico City's leftist-dominated legislature legalized first-trimester abortions earlier this year, while Chile's socialist President, Michele Bachelet, allows government-run hospitals to dispense the "morning-after" emergency contraception pill.
Elsewhere, however, it might seem as if a paradox was being played out: Instead of benefiting from the advance of the left, pro-choice advocates appear to be facing more setbacks. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, whose Sandinista Front was once an icon of the hemispheric left, backed a 2006 law that outlaws all abortions, even where a doctor would recommend the procedure to save a mother's life. In Venezuela — led by the self-styled commandante of "21st-century socialism," President Hugo Chavez — efforts to decriminalize abortion have stalled. And, perhaps as early as this fall, Bolivia's new constitution, which is being drafted largely by those aligned with Chavez's ally, President Evo Morales, may well proclaim "the right to life from the moment of conception," rendering all abortions illegal without exception. (Abortion in the case of rape or to save a mother's life has been legal in Bolivia since 1973.) Far from advancing abortion rights, "the goal right now," says Paul Bustillos, political director for Catholics For the Right to Choose (CDD) in Bolivia, "is just to maintain the status quo."
"Status quo" was hardly the promise of a political movement that has put the screws on multinational energy corporations, shifted billions of dollars to social projects for the poor and, especially in Chavez's case, hurled a stream of anti-imperialist epithets at the U.S. With firebrands like Chavez and Morales in power, some were hoping for a continental breakthrough on reproductive rights. Yet while positions on abortion rights have been a clear marker between left and right on the U.S. political spectrum, the situation is quite different in Latin America, where the left declines, for various national, cultural and religious reasons, to make "the revolution" pro-choice.
Bolivia is a case in point. As many as 80,000 abortions are performed each year in a country of less than 9 million people, giving it one of the world's highest abortion rates — but most abortions are clandestine, especially among poorer women who can't afford the $150 fee to undergo the safe, no-questions-asked abortions available through some medical facilities. Such underground procedures are the third leading cause of maternal mortality in the country. Yet there is no record of any doctors or patients involved being prosecuted. "I was all alone," says one Bolivian woman who paid about $50 for a back-alley abortion a few years ago. The abortionist "numbed that part of my body and then he did something to make it come out of me right there into the toilet."
Despite awareness of such horror stories, says Julieta Ojeda of the Bolivian feminist group Women Creating, "if you ask the average person in the street, they will probably say they are against" liberalizing abortion laws. Some abortion-rights activists attribute this to such factors as the moral influence of the Church, which has helped convince leftist parties such as Morales' Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) to trade away abortion rights proposals for concessions in areas such as economic reform. Others see it as another sign that the "new" Latin American left has not shed the macho attitudes of its forebears and their tendency to relegate women's issues to the sidelines.
But there are other factors behind the Latin American left's ambivalence on reproductive rights. One is a widespread tendency in the developing world to associate abortion rights, like gay rights, with an imperialist agenda of the industrialized world. That's especially true in countries such as Bolivia, whose indigenous majority suffered foreign cultural, political and economic bullying for five centuries before Morales, himself an Aymara Indian, was elected. Western feminism has had a condescending habit of treating Bolivia's indigenous cultures as backward, without trying to understand the nuances of their outlook on issues like abortion — a word that doesn't even exist in most of the country's Indian languages.
Abortion, in fact, is referred to in indigenous Bolivia as "bad birth." The procedure is, indeed, performed in rural communities, normally with herbal formulas; but it's frowned upon because it's believed to create imbalances in nature. Women who do abort, for example, are ritually cleansed afterward. As a result, there is little enthusiasm in the indigenous communities for legally sanctifying abortion with a raised fist and a NOW button.
But pro-choice advocates such as the CDD's Bustillos hope that indigenous leaders and other pro-Morales forces in Bolivia will agree that the latest anti-abortion proposal goes too far. "Once delegates [to the Constitutional Assembly] realize the implications of the 'conception' clause, like outlawing abortions even if a 12-year-old is raped," says Bustillos, "they'll come around," as Colombia's high court did last year when it decriminalized abortion in such cases. The stakes are high — over 400 women die each year from botched abortions in Bolivia, and there is concern that the number will rise if the conception clause passes. Still, unless pro-choice advocates come up with fresher, more culturally aware tactics for their work in Latin America, "coming around" will simply mean standing in place.
Vocabulary:
If you describe someone, their ideals, or their activities as leftist, you mean that they support the ideas of socialism or communism.
Something that is restrictive prevents people from doing what they want to do, or from moving freely.
If someone dispenses something that they own or control, they give or provide it to a number of people. (FORMAL)
You describe a situation as a paradox when it involves two or more facts or qualities which seem to contradict each other.
A setback is an event that delays your progress or reverses some of the progress that you have made.
A siege is a military or police operation in which soldiers or police surround a place in order to force the people there to come out or give up control of the place.
If you describe someone as a firebrand, especially someone who is very active in politics, you mean that they are always trying to make people take strong action.
If you botch something that you are doing, you do it badly or clumsily. (INFORMAL)
Main ideas:
The leftist political parties in Latin moves to roll back the region's abortion laws, widely considered some of the worlds most restrictive.
Personal Reaction:
Abortion is one of the most difficult issues to discuss, since it involves the life of a person who has not chosen to come to live, the baby; and a person who has had chance to live and is the responsible of an unborn person’s life. The fact of being pregnant would mean one of the most beautiful moments in a woman life. However, there are women who prefer not to have the baby for different circumstances, depriving the baby the opportunity of living.
Thursday, Aug. 09, 2007 By JEAN FRIEDMAN-RUDOVSKY/LA PAZ
The remarkable comeback by leftist political parties in Latin America in recent years has been accompanied by moves to roll back the region's abortion laws, widely considered some of the world's most restrictive. Mexico City's leftist-dominated legislature legalized first-trimester abortions earlier this year, while Chile's socialist President, Michele Bachelet, allows government-run hospitals to dispense the "morning-after" emergency contraception pill.
Elsewhere, however, it might seem as if a paradox was being played out: Instead of benefiting from the advance of the left, pro-choice advocates appear to be facing more setbacks. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, whose Sandinista Front was once an icon of the hemispheric left, backed a 2006 law that outlaws all abortions, even where a doctor would recommend the procedure to save a mother's life. In Venezuela — led by the self-styled commandante of "21st-century socialism," President Hugo Chavez — efforts to decriminalize abortion have stalled. And, perhaps as early as this fall, Bolivia's new constitution, which is being drafted largely by those aligned with Chavez's ally, President Evo Morales, may well proclaim "the right to life from the moment of conception," rendering all abortions illegal without exception. (Abortion in the case of rape or to save a mother's life has been legal in Bolivia since 1973.) Far from advancing abortion rights, "the goal right now," says Paul Bustillos, political director for Catholics For the Right to Choose (CDD) in Bolivia, "is just to maintain the status quo."
"Status quo" was hardly the promise of a political movement that has put the screws on multinational energy corporations, shifted billions of dollars to social projects for the poor and, especially in Chavez's case, hurled a stream of anti-imperialist epithets at the U.S. With firebrands like Chavez and Morales in power, some were hoping for a continental breakthrough on reproductive rights. Yet while positions on abortion rights have been a clear marker between left and right on the U.S. political spectrum, the situation is quite different in Latin America, where the left declines, for various national, cultural and religious reasons, to make "the revolution" pro-choice.
Bolivia is a case in point. As many as 80,000 abortions are performed each year in a country of less than 9 million people, giving it one of the world's highest abortion rates — but most abortions are clandestine, especially among poorer women who can't afford the $150 fee to undergo the safe, no-questions-asked abortions available through some medical facilities. Such underground procedures are the third leading cause of maternal mortality in the country. Yet there is no record of any doctors or patients involved being prosecuted. "I was all alone," says one Bolivian woman who paid about $50 for a back-alley abortion a few years ago. The abortionist "numbed that part of my body and then he did something to make it come out of me right there into the toilet."
Despite awareness of such horror stories, says Julieta Ojeda of the Bolivian feminist group Women Creating, "if you ask the average person in the street, they will probably say they are against" liberalizing abortion laws. Some abortion-rights activists attribute this to such factors as the moral influence of the Church, which has helped convince leftist parties such as Morales' Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) to trade away abortion rights proposals for concessions in areas such as economic reform. Others see it as another sign that the "new" Latin American left has not shed the macho attitudes of its forebears and their tendency to relegate women's issues to the sidelines.
But there are other factors behind the Latin American left's ambivalence on reproductive rights. One is a widespread tendency in the developing world to associate abortion rights, like gay rights, with an imperialist agenda of the industrialized world. That's especially true in countries such as Bolivia, whose indigenous majority suffered foreign cultural, political and economic bullying for five centuries before Morales, himself an Aymara Indian, was elected. Western feminism has had a condescending habit of treating Bolivia's indigenous cultures as backward, without trying to understand the nuances of their outlook on issues like abortion — a word that doesn't even exist in most of the country's Indian languages.
Abortion, in fact, is referred to in indigenous Bolivia as "bad birth." The procedure is, indeed, performed in rural communities, normally with herbal formulas; but it's frowned upon because it's believed to create imbalances in nature. Women who do abort, for example, are ritually cleansed afterward. As a result, there is little enthusiasm in the indigenous communities for legally sanctifying abortion with a raised fist and a NOW button.
But pro-choice advocates such as the CDD's Bustillos hope that indigenous leaders and other pro-Morales forces in Bolivia will agree that the latest anti-abortion proposal goes too far. "Once delegates [to the Constitutional Assembly] realize the implications of the 'conception' clause, like outlawing abortions even if a 12-year-old is raped," says Bustillos, "they'll come around," as Colombia's high court did last year when it decriminalized abortion in such cases. The stakes are high — over 400 women die each year from botched abortions in Bolivia, and there is concern that the number will rise if the conception clause passes. Still, unless pro-choice advocates come up with fresher, more culturally aware tactics for their work in Latin America, "coming around" will simply mean standing in place.
Vocabulary:
If you describe someone, their ideals, or their activities as leftist, you mean that they support the ideas of socialism or communism.
Something that is restrictive prevents people from doing what they want to do, or from moving freely.
If someone dispenses something that they own or control, they give or provide it to a number of people. (FORMAL)
You describe a situation as a paradox when it involves two or more facts or qualities which seem to contradict each other.
A setback is an event that delays your progress or reverses some of the progress that you have made.
A siege is a military or police operation in which soldiers or police surround a place in order to force the people there to come out or give up control of the place.
If you describe someone as a firebrand, especially someone who is very active in politics, you mean that they are always trying to make people take strong action.
If you botch something that you are doing, you do it badly or clumsily. (INFORMAL)
Main ideas:
The leftist political parties in Latin moves to roll back the region's abortion laws, widely considered some of the worlds most restrictive.
Personal Reaction:
Abortion is one of the most difficult issues to discuss, since it involves the life of a person who has not chosen to come to live, the baby; and a person who has had chance to live and is the responsible of an unborn person’s life. The fact of being pregnant would mean one of the most beautiful moments in a woman life. However, there are women who prefer not to have the baby for different circumstances, depriving the baby the opportunity of living.
Hooked on McDonald's at Age 3
Monday, Aug. 06, 2007 By ALICE PARK
The lure of McDonald's golden arches may take hold at a startlingly early age, according to the latest study on the effects of branding on young children published in the August issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Principio del formulario
Researchers at Stanford University found that children as young as three years old responded to the fast food chain's familiar logo and packaging, saying that they preferred the taste of food coming out of McDonald's bags to the taste of the same food items emerging from plain paper bags. The scientists asked 63 children between the ages of three and five to participate in more than 104 taste tests with some of McDonald's most popular items — including a hamburger, French fries and chicken nuggets. On average, 48% of the kids said they preferred the taste of the McDonald's labeled hamburger, compared with 37% who preferred the unmarked burger; 59% liked the McDonald's branded chicken nuggets compared with 18% for the unbranded nuggets, and 77% said the French fries in the bag stamped with the McDonald's arches and a smile tasted better than the fries from a plain white bag.
Parents and child advocacy groups have long maintained that advertising targeted to children can be harmful, since young minds are not able to distinguish truth from advertising. By age two, say the Stanford researchers, children can already form beliefs about brands, and advertising during children's television programming, or through other media accessed by youngsters, further solidifies their ability to distinguish brand names, logos and packaging. Not surprisingly, in the Stanford study, kids with more access to television in their homes, and those who owned more toys from McDonald's were more likely to say the branded foods were tastier.
"Children under the age of seven or eight really do not have the ability to understand the persuasive intent of advertising and marketing," says Dr. Thomas Robinson, an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and lead author of the study, "so the justification for marketing, which is to inform a consumer, doesn't really hold for them, because they can't understand that advertising is biased."
In a written statement responding to the study, McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker said that the fast food chain "is only advertising Happy Meals with white meat McNuggets, fresh apple slices and lowfat milk," and that the company's recent promotion linked to the popular animated movie Shrek was McDonald's "biggest-ever promotion of fruits, vegetables, and milk — another indication of our progressive approach to responsible marketing."
While commendable, says Robinson, it's hardly enough. He argues that there should be no advertising at all aimed at children under the age of eight, even if it could be harnessed to teach kids about healthy eating habits. In fact, Robinson's own study hinted at such a possibility — two of the five items the kids tasted were healthy, baby carrots and milk — and the children still liked the taste of these items more when they were presented in McDonald's packaging than when they were offered in unmarked containers. But, says Robinson, "If healthful foods still represent the minority of choices available, then [McDonald's] will continue to promote the consumption of the junk foods that kids have been eating."
Dr. Victor Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, says "using advertising in a positive way just doesn't sit right with me. It's Orwellian. To put it bluntly, advertising to children under the age of seven or eight is electronic child abuse. I think we ought to leave kids who are under seven or eight out of all advertising."
In response to the growing obesity problem in the U.S., companies including McDonald's, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kellogg, and Kraft created the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative last year to self-regulate the $10 billion worth of food and beverage messages they aim at young children each year. The initiative pledges to promote healthy lifestyles for youngsters by giving them healthier food and drink choices. It's a good start, says Robinson. "So far we have seen baby steps toward improving menus," he says, "but it remains to be seen whether these companies will follow through on their promises. If the fast-food industry were to start including more healthful foods in their menus, so that the majority of the foods were healthful, then they could have a very important effect on improving the diets of children," says Robinson. And on proving that there might be such a thing as truth in advertising.
Vocabulary:
To lure someone means to trick them into a particular place or to trick them into doing something that they should not do.
An arched bridge has arches as part of its structure.
A nugget is a small lump of something, especially gold.
Someone's advocacy of a particular action or plan is their act of recommending it publicly. (FORMAL)
Junk is old and used goods that have little value and that you do not want any more.
If you are blunt, you say exactly what you think without trying to be polite.
When someone makes a pledge, they make a serious promise that they will do something.
Main Ideas:
Researchers found that children as young as three years old responded to the fast food chain's familiar logo and packaging.
Young minds are not able to distinguish truth from advertising.
Children can already form beliefs about brands, and advertising during children's television programming.
Personal Reaction:
While I was reading this article, I thought about my little nieces who are always asking for expensive things that are published on channels intended for young children. It’s terrific how the advertisements may influence on people, especially kids. The advertisements of junk food should be banned since children are influenced by colorful packed and the different gifts that they offer in order to persuade children. However, I strongly believe that parents should be aware of this since they are the responsible of their children’s health.
Monday, Aug. 06, 2007 By ALICE PARK
The lure of McDonald's golden arches may take hold at a startlingly early age, according to the latest study on the effects of branding on young children published in the August issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Principio del formulario
Researchers at Stanford University found that children as young as three years old responded to the fast food chain's familiar logo and packaging, saying that they preferred the taste of food coming out of McDonald's bags to the taste of the same food items emerging from plain paper bags. The scientists asked 63 children between the ages of three and five to participate in more than 104 taste tests with some of McDonald's most popular items — including a hamburger, French fries and chicken nuggets. On average, 48% of the kids said they preferred the taste of the McDonald's labeled hamburger, compared with 37% who preferred the unmarked burger; 59% liked the McDonald's branded chicken nuggets compared with 18% for the unbranded nuggets, and 77% said the French fries in the bag stamped with the McDonald's arches and a smile tasted better than the fries from a plain white bag.
Parents and child advocacy groups have long maintained that advertising targeted to children can be harmful, since young minds are not able to distinguish truth from advertising. By age two, say the Stanford researchers, children can already form beliefs about brands, and advertising during children's television programming, or through other media accessed by youngsters, further solidifies their ability to distinguish brand names, logos and packaging. Not surprisingly, in the Stanford study, kids with more access to television in their homes, and those who owned more toys from McDonald's were more likely to say the branded foods were tastier.
"Children under the age of seven or eight really do not have the ability to understand the persuasive intent of advertising and marketing," says Dr. Thomas Robinson, an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and lead author of the study, "so the justification for marketing, which is to inform a consumer, doesn't really hold for them, because they can't understand that advertising is biased."
In a written statement responding to the study, McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker said that the fast food chain "is only advertising Happy Meals with white meat McNuggets, fresh apple slices and lowfat milk," and that the company's recent promotion linked to the popular animated movie Shrek was McDonald's "biggest-ever promotion of fruits, vegetables, and milk — another indication of our progressive approach to responsible marketing."
While commendable, says Robinson, it's hardly enough. He argues that there should be no advertising at all aimed at children under the age of eight, even if it could be harnessed to teach kids about healthy eating habits. In fact, Robinson's own study hinted at such a possibility — two of the five items the kids tasted were healthy, baby carrots and milk — and the children still liked the taste of these items more when they were presented in McDonald's packaging than when they were offered in unmarked containers. But, says Robinson, "If healthful foods still represent the minority of choices available, then [McDonald's] will continue to promote the consumption of the junk foods that kids have been eating."
Dr. Victor Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, says "using advertising in a positive way just doesn't sit right with me. It's Orwellian. To put it bluntly, advertising to children under the age of seven or eight is electronic child abuse. I think we ought to leave kids who are under seven or eight out of all advertising."
In response to the growing obesity problem in the U.S., companies including McDonald's, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kellogg, and Kraft created the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative last year to self-regulate the $10 billion worth of food and beverage messages they aim at young children each year. The initiative pledges to promote healthy lifestyles for youngsters by giving them healthier food and drink choices. It's a good start, says Robinson. "So far we have seen baby steps toward improving menus," he says, "but it remains to be seen whether these companies will follow through on their promises. If the fast-food industry were to start including more healthful foods in their menus, so that the majority of the foods were healthful, then they could have a very important effect on improving the diets of children," says Robinson. And on proving that there might be such a thing as truth in advertising.
Vocabulary:
To lure someone means to trick them into a particular place or to trick them into doing something that they should not do.
An arched bridge has arches as part of its structure.
A nugget is a small lump of something, especially gold.
Someone's advocacy of a particular action or plan is their act of recommending it publicly. (FORMAL)
Junk is old and used goods that have little value and that you do not want any more.
If you are blunt, you say exactly what you think without trying to be polite.
When someone makes a pledge, they make a serious promise that they will do something.
Main Ideas:
Researchers found that children as young as three years old responded to the fast food chain's familiar logo and packaging.
Young minds are not able to distinguish truth from advertising.
Children can already form beliefs about brands, and advertising during children's television programming.
Personal Reaction:
While I was reading this article, I thought about my little nieces who are always asking for expensive things that are published on channels intended for young children. It’s terrific how the advertisements may influence on people, especially kids. The advertisements of junk food should be banned since children are influenced by colorful packed and the different gifts that they offer in order to persuade children. However, I strongly believe that parents should be aware of this since they are the responsible of their children’s health.
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)
