IELTS Speaking Part 3: Advertising and Consumer Culture

We've been talking about shopping. Let's broaden that out.

我們剛才聊了購物。現在把話題拓寬一些。

How has advertising changed in recent years?

近年來廣告有什麼樣的變化？

Oh, dramatically! It's become almost invisible.

喔，變化非常大！它幾乎變得隱形了。

Invisible? What do you mean by that?

隱形？您指的是什麼？

Well, it's no longer just billboards and TV commercials.

嗯，現在已經不只是看板和電視廣告了。

Influencers weave products seamlessly into their everyday content.

網紅把產品毫無痕跡地融入日常內容中。

Half the time, you don't even realise you're being sold to!

有一半的時候，你甚至沒發現自己正被推銷！

Is that necessarily a bad thing?

這一定是壞事嗎？

Hmm, I'd say it's ethically murky, at best.

嗯，我認為從道德上來說，往好處想也只是灰色地帶。

Children in particular struggle to tell ads from entertainment.

尤其是兒童，很難分辨廣告和娛樂內容。

That makes them extremely susceptible to manipulation.

這使他們極容易受到操弄。

Should advertising aimed at children be banned outright?

針對兒童的廣告應該被徹底禁止嗎？

Um, a total ban might be rather heavy-handed...

呃，全面禁止可能有些過於強硬……

but stricter regulation is long overdue.

但更嚴格的規範早就該實施了。

Some Scandinavian countries already restrict it quite heavily.

一些斯堪地那維亞國家已經對此做了相當嚴格的限制。

Interesting. And has that worked, do you think?

有意思。那您覺得這樣做有效嗎？

Honestly, I'm not sure the evidence is conclusive.

老實說，我不確定證據是否足以下定論。

Kids still watch plenty of foreign content online.

孩子們仍然在網路上看大量國外內容。

That's a fair and honest answer.

這是個公允而坦誠的回答。

Does advertising fuel excessive consumerism?

廣告會助長過度的消費主義嗎？

Oh, undeniably! That's its whole purpose, isn't it?

喔，毫無疑問！這不正是它的全部目的嗎？

It manufactures desires we never knew we had.

它製造出我們從不知道自己擁有的慾望。

Then it sells us the cure for that dissatisfaction.

然後再把治療這種不滿的解藥賣給我們。

That's a rather cynical view, isn't it?

這是一種相當憤世嫉俗的看法，不是嗎？

Ha, guilty as charged! I've just bought trainers I don't need.

哈，我認罪！我剛買了一雙根本不需要的運動鞋。

Thank you. That's the end of the test.

謝謝。測驗到此結束。

Thank you! That was actually rather fun.

謝謝！其實滿有趣的。