Speaking
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 575.
The hard sell
UNIT 4
Collision over Delhi
On the 12th of November in 1996 Saudi Arabian B747 was en route from New Delhi, India to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and collided in mid-air with Kazakhstan Il-76 en route from Kazakhstan to New Delhi. All 349 people on both aircraft were killed.
The investigators revealed that it was Kazakhstan pilots' fault. ( due to lack of English) Pilots were relying on their radio operator on communication with ATC . The radio operator asked controller about position of the Saudi airplane. Controller replied “traffic is 8 o'clock now, FL 140”. Pilots with their poor level of English ignored this communication and heard the last phrase “FL 140” understood as clearance for their descent. In some minutes both aircraft impacted.
1) Look at the company logos. Can you identify the companies? What products do they sell?
2)
1 Think of some consumer products you have bought recently, such as an item of clothing, a CD, electrical equipment, etc. Which of the factors in the list below influenced your choice? Can you add any other factors to the list?
- brand name
- brand loyalty (you had bought the same brand before)
- a friend's recommendation
- pressure from your peer group
- advertising
- price
- accompanying special offers or gifts
2 Compare and discuss your answers with other students.
3 What are the advantages and disadvantages of advertising for:
a) the consumer?
b) the manufacturer or producer?
4 What do you consider makes a good advertisement?
3) Work with a partner. Together choose one of the following prompt cards and discuss the topic, using the three suggestions to help you. Make notes of your ideas.
| What do you feel makes a good advertisement? · concept · medium · approach |
| How far do you agree that TV advertisements are better than the actual programmes? · originality and creativity · words and music · settings and locations |
4) You are going to read a newspaper article about the way people perceive advertisers and advertisements.
1 Read the article and decide whether the writer's attitude towards advertisements is generally positive or negative.
2 Now answer the questions below, which focus on the main ideas in the article.
1 How does the writer describe advertisers?
Underline the four adjectives he uses in the first paragraph. Are these positive or negative words?
What evidence does he give for his attitude?
2 What constraints do advertisers have to take into account when making advertisements?
3 What does the writer say about the difference between television programmes and good advertisements?
| I've worked in the business, on and off, for more than a decade, and have consistently found advertising workers to be more scrupulous, meticulous, exacting and professional than in any other area of broadcasting. While TV stations nowadays are increasingly embracing the stack-‘em-high-and-sell-‘em-cheap philosophy, the better advertising agencies are still creating commercials constructed with an attention to detail, a level of craftsmanship and per-frame budget rarely encountered outside a Hollywood studio. More astonishingly, the people who create these gems are simultaneously performing incredible feats of balance behind the scenes. They have to make an ad that's safe enough to pass the ultra0strict regulations of the Advertising Standards Authority (unlike programme-makers, they can't use nudity, swearing or violence to attract attention), yet stimulating and witty enough to captivate viewers. Also, it has to be distinctive, it has to satisfy the client (who usually just wants the product name repeated as often as possible), and it has to fit into exactly twenty-nine seconds of airtime. As the digital age begins to fragment the televisual monolith into hundreds of tiny stations, the communality of viewing is vanishing beyond recall. But, because they are shown right across the spectrum of channels, commercials are proving to be the one exception to that rule. That's why, although the question ‘Did you see that programme about….?' Will increasingly be met with blank stares a witty and original ad will still be watched and remembered by everyone. |
5) Look back at the prompt card you chose in Exercise 3. Using your notes and any additional ideas from the article, prepare a two-minute talk with your partner. Then present your talk to the rest of the class.
6) In Paper 5, Part 2 you will be given one or more pictures and asked to complete a task with your partner. You will not have to describe the picture or pictures in detail.
1 Work in pairs. Look at the pictures below. Choose two of them. Discuss why the people might be shopping in those places and the ways in which shopping patterns are changing generally.
2 Compare your ideas with other pairs.
3 Complete the following task.
| You have been asked to advise a marketing company which is promoting products aimed at people of your own age. Using all the pictures to help you, discuss ways in which patterns of shopping are changing and which trends in shopping are most relevant to people of your generation. |
7) Discuss the following questions.
1 How important are possessions to you?
2 What are your favourite possessions, and why?
3 Do you think that people generally are too materialistic?
4 Can you think of any evidence to support the idea that we would all be better off without money and material possessions?
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