IELTS Speaking Part 3: Advertising and Consumer Culture

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

我们刚才聊了购物。现在把话题拓宽一些。

How has advertising changed in recent years?

近年来广告发生了怎样的变化？

Oh, dramatically! It's become almost invisible.

哦，变化巨大！它几乎变得隐形了。

Invisible? What do you mean by that?

隐形？您指的是什么？

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

嗯，现在已经不只是广告牌和电视广告了。

Influencers weave products seamlessly into their everyday content.

网红把产品天衣无缝地融入日常内容中。

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

有一半的时候，你甚至没意识到自己正在被推销！

Is that necessarily a bad thing?

这一定是坏事吗？

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

嗯，我认为从道德上讲，往好了说也是灰色地带。

Children in particular struggle to tell ads from entertainment.

尤其是儿童，很难分辨广告和娱乐内容。

That makes them extremely susceptible to manipulation.

这使他们极易受到操纵。

Should advertising aimed at children be banned outright?

针对儿童的广告应该被彻底禁止吗？

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

呃，全面禁止可能有些过于强硬……

but stricter regulation is long overdue.

但更严格的监管早就该出台了。

Some Scandinavian countries already restrict it quite heavily.

一些斯堪的纳维亚国家已经对此做了相当严格的限制。

Interesting. And has that worked, do you think?

有意思。那您觉得这样做有效吗？

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

说实话，我不确定这方面的证据是否足以定论。

Kids still watch plenty of foreign content online.

孩子们仍然在网上看大量国外内容。

That's a fair and honest answer.

这是个公允而坦诚的回答。

Does advertising fuel excessive consumerism?

广告会助长过度的消费主义吗？

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

哦，毫无疑问！这不正是它的全部目的吗？

It manufactures desires we never knew we had.

它制造出我们从不知道自己拥有的欲望。

Then it sells us the cure for that dissatisfaction.

然后再把治疗这种不满的良药卖给我们。

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

这是一种相当愤世嫉俗的看法，不是吗？

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

哈，我认罪！我刚买了一双根本不需要的运动鞋。

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

谢谢。考试到此结束。

Thank you! That was actually rather fun.

谢谢！其实挺有意思的。