TPO14托福阅读Passage1Children and Advertising文本+题目原文+答案解析

Children and Advertising

Young children are trusting of commercial advertisements in the media, and advertisers have sometimes been accused of taking advantage of this trusting outlook. The Independent Television Commission, regulator of television advertising in the United Kingdom, has criticized advertisers for "misleadingness'—creating a wrong impression either intentionally or unintentionally—in an effort to control advertisers' use of techniques that make it difficult for children to judge the true size, action, performance, or construction of a toy.

General concern about misleading tactics that advertisers employ is centered on the use of exaggeration. Consumer protection groups and parents believe that children are largely ill-equipped to recognize such techniques and that often exaggeration is used at the expense of product information. Claims such as "the best” or “better than" can be subjective and misleading; even adults may be unsure as to their meaning. They represent the advertiser's opinions about the qualities of their products or brand and, as a consequence, are difficult to verify. Advertisers sometimes offset or counterbalance an exaggerated claim with a disclaimer—a qualification or condition on the claim. For example, the claim that breakfast cereal has a health benefit may be accompanied by the disclaimer "when part of a nutritionally balanced breakfast.” However, research has shown that children often have difficulty understanding disclaimers: children may interpret the phrase “when part of a nutritionally balanced breakfast" to mean that the cereal is required as a necessary part of a balanced breakfast. The author George Comstock suggested that less than a quarter of children between the ages of six and eight years old understood standard disclaimers used in many toy advertisements and that disclaimers are more readily comprehended when presented in both audio and visual formats. Nevertheless, disclaimers are mainly presented in audio format only.

Fantasy is one of the more common techniques in advertising that could possibly mislead a young audience. Child-oriented advertisements are more likely to include magic and fantasy than advertisements aimed at adults. In a content analysis of Canadian television, the author Stephen Kline observed that nearly all commercials for character toys featured fantasy play. Children have strong imaginations and the use of fantasy brings their ideas to life, but children may not be adept enough to realize that what they are viewing is unreal. Fantasy situations and settings are frequently used to attract children's attention, particularly in food advertising. Advertisements for breakfast cereals have, for many years, been found to be especially fond of fantasy techniques, with almost nine out of ten including such content. Generally, there is uncertainty as to whether very young children can distinguish between fantasy and reality in advertising. Certainly, rational appeals in advertising aimed at children are limited, as most advertisements use emotional and indirect appeals to psychological states or associations.

The use of celebrities such as singers and movie stars is common in advertising. The intention is for the positively perceived attributes of the celebrity to be transferred to the advertised product and for the two to become automatically linked in the audience's mind. In children's advertising, the celebrities are often animated figures from popular cartoons In the recent past, the role of celebrities in advertising to children has often been conflated with the concept of host selling. Host selling involves blending advertisements with regular programming in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish one from the other. Host selling occurs, for example, when children's show about a cartoon lion contains an ad in which the same lion promotes a breakfast cereal. The psychologist Dale Kunkel showed that the practice of host selling reduced children's ability to distinguish between advertising and program material. It was also found that older children responded more positively to products in host selling advertisements.

Regarding the appearance of celebrities in advertisements that do not involve host selling, the evidence is mixed. Researcher Charles Atkin found that children believe that the characters used to advertise breakfast cereals are knowledgeable about cereals, and children accept such characters as credible sources of nutritional information. This finding was even more marked for heavy viewers of television. In addition, children feel validated in their choice of a product when a celebrity endorses that product. A study of children in Hong Kong, however, found that the presence of celebrities in advertisements could negatively affect the children’s perceptions of a product if the children did not like the celebrity in question.

■Fantasy is one of the more common techniques in advertising that could possibly mislead a young audience.■Child-oriented advertisements are more likely to include magic and fantasy than advertisements aimed at adults. ■In a content analysis of Canadian television, the author Stephen Kline observed that nearly all commercials for character toys featured fantasy play. ■Children have strong imaginations and the use of fantasy brings their ideas to life, but children may not be adept enough to realize that what they are viewing is unreal. Fantasy situations and settings are frequently used to attract children's attention, particularly in food advertising. Advertisements for breakfast cereals have, for many years, been found to be especially fond of fantasy techniques, with almost nine out of ten including such content. Generally, there is uncertainty as to whether very young children can distinguish between fantasy and reality in advertising. Certainly, rational appeals in advertising aimed at children are limited, as most advertisements use emotional and indirect appeals to psychological states or associations.

TPO13 托福阅读Passage2 Children and Advertising 题目

Question 1 of 14: Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as being a difficult judgment for children to make about advertised toys?

A. How big the toys are

B. How much the toys cost

C. What the toys can do

D. How the toys are made

Question 2 of 14: The word “verify” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. establish the truth of

B. approve of

C. understand

D. criticize

Question 3 of 14: In paragraph 2, what is one reason that claims such as “the best” or “better than” can be misleading?

A. They represent the opinions of adults, which are often different from those of children.

B. They generally involve comparisons among only a small group of products.

C. They reflect the attitudes of consumer protection groups rather than those of actual consumers.

D. They reflect the advertiser's viewpoint about the product.

Question 4 of 14: Cereal advertisements that include the statement “when part of a nutritionally balanced breakfast" are trying to suggest that

A. the cereal is a desirable part of a healthful, balanced breakfast

B. the cereal contains equal amounts of all nutrients

C. cereal is a healthier breakfast than other foods are

D. the cereal is the most nutritious part of the breakfast meal

Question 5 of 14:  According to paragraph 2, all of the following are true of disclaimers made in advertisements EXCEPT:

A. They are qualifications or conditions put on a claim.

B. They may be used to balance exaggerations.

C. They are usually presented in both audio and visual formats.

D. They are often difficult for children to understand.

Question 6 of 14: The word "adept” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. responsible

B. skillful

C. patient

D. curious

Question 7 of 14: Paragraph 3 indicates that there is uncertainty about which of the following issues involving children and fantasy in advertising?

A. Whether children can tell if what they are seeing in an advertisement is real or fantasy

B. Whether children can differentiate fantasy techniques from other techniques used in advertising

C. Whether children realize how commonly fantasy techniques are used in advertising aimed at them

D. Whether children are attracted to advertisements that lack fantasy

Question 8 of 14: Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Rational appeals in advertising are certainly limited by children's emotional immaturity and the indirect nature of their associations.

B. Indirect appeals to children's psychological states or associations can limit the effectiveness of rational appeals in advertising.

C. Rational appeals play a much smaller role in advertisements for children that emotional appeals and psychological associations do.

D. Rational appeals in advertising aimed at children should certainly be limited until the children are emotionally and psychologically ready.

Question 9 of 14: The word "attributes" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. Evaluations

B. Attitudes

C. Actions

D. Characteristics

Question 10 of 14: In paragraph 4, why does the author mention a show about a cartoon lion in which an advertisement appears featuring the same lion character?

A. To help explain what is meant by the term "host selling” and why it can be misleading to children

B. To explain why the role of celebrities in advertising aimed at children has often been confused with host selling

C. To compare the effectiveness of using animated figures with the effectiveness of using celebrities in advertisements aimed at children

D. To indicate how Kunkel first became interested in studying the effects of host selling on children

Question 11 of 14: The word "credible” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. helpful

B. believable

C. valuable

D. familiar

Question 12 of 14:  According to paragraph 5, what did a study of children in Hong Kong show about the use of celebrities in advertisements aimed at children?

A. It is most effective with children who watch a lot of television.

B. It has little effect if the celebrities are not familiar to most children.

C. It is more effective in marketing cereals and food products than in marketing other kinds of products.

D. It can have a negative effect if the celebrities are not popular with children.

Question 13 of 14: Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square to add the sentence to the passage.

Another aspect of advertising that may especially influence children is fantasy.

A. Fantasy is one of the more common techniques in advertising that could possibly mislead a young audience.

B. Child-oriented advertisements are more likely to include magic and fantasy than advertisements aimed at adults. 

C. In a content analysis of Canadian television, the author Stephen Kline observed that nearly all commercials for character toys featured fantasy play. 

D. Children have strong imaginations and the use of fantasy brings their ideas to life, but children may not be adept enough to realize that what they are viewing is unreal.

Question 14 of 14:  Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

In a content analysis of Canadian television, the author Stephen Kline observed that nearly all commercials for character toys featured fantasy play.

Answer Choices

A. Children may not be able to interpret exaggerated claims made by advertisers or understand the disclaimers used to offset claims.

B. Although the use of celebrities is not necessarily effective in advertisements aimed at children, there is evidence that host selling can positively affect their views of a product.

C. Studies show that misleading tactics are used most often in commercials for breakfast cereals, with toy commercials using such tactics only slightly less frequently.

D. The use of fantasy is especially common in advertisements for children, but children may not be able to distinguish fantasy from reality.

E. Very young children are particularly influenced by host selling, while slightly older children are more readily misled by seemingly rational claims such as 'the best."

F. Advertisements can be misleading to children when the advertisements use audio and visual formats that are especially appealing to children.

TPO14托福阅读Passage1Children and Advertising真题解析

Question 1 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：看到本段第二句，也就是最后一句的后半句，说到控制广告商的一些让孩子难以作出判断的手段计谋，包括判断size（A选项how big）， action， performance（C选项what the toys can do）or construction of a toy（D选项how the toys are made）。综上所述，选择B选项。

Question 2 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：verify“核实，证明”，所以A的establish the truth正确。原句说广告商的一些声明，比如“the best”或者“better than”都带有主观性而且会误导人，甚至成年人也会不确定其含义，但是这样的声明却代表了广告商对他们自己的产品或者品牌质量的看法，结果就是难以怎么样其真实性。只有A选项的意思代入最合适。

Question 3 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：跟上一题定位非常紧密，为什么说“最优”或者“优于……”这样的说法会产生误导呢？因为说过这样的说法反应了广告商对自己产品或者品牌的opinions，opinions和选项中的viewpoint属于同义表达，因此选择D选项。

Question 4 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：根据题干定位回归到段落的第五六两句话，说到广告商有时候会着补一下说得很夸张的广告语，用免责声明加个限制和条件修饰什么的，然后举例了“when part of a nutritionally balanced breakfast”这个例子，其实目的是为了说谷类食品是健康均衡早餐的一部分。

Question 5 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：定位词是disclaimer，回归段落的第五句，Advertisers sometimes offset or counterbalance an exaggerated claim with a disclaimer—a qualification or condition on the claim. A选项和B选项对应这一句的信息；前面的第四句They represent the advertiser's opinions about the qualities of their products or brand and, as a consequence, are difficult to verify 对应D选项，综上所述，选择C。

Question 6 of 14

正确答案：B

解析： adept“熟练的，老练的”，所以答案B的skillful正确。原句说孩子的想象力很强，对幻想的运用会让他们把一些想法代入真实的生活中，但他们不够怎么样来分辨出所看到的东西是假的；D“好奇的”明显相反，因为前文说孩子想象力强，所以应该好奇；至于A“负责任的”和C“耐心的”原文都没有相关线索，所以是不够“熟练的”，答案是B。

Question 7 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：以uncertainty做关键词定位至倒数第二句，“Generally, there is uncertainty as to whether very young children can distinguish between fantasy and reality in advertising.”通常我们不确定小孩子能不能分清在广告中什么是幻想的东西什么是现实，所以综上所述，A选项为正确答案。

Question 8 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：高亮句的意思是：针对儿童的理性宣传的广告吸引是有限的，因为大部分广告都是通过情感上的间接吸引直接对心理状态产生影响或者造成联想。是因果关系的句子，也就是说rational appeals 的广告相对于irrational ones 更少一些，他们能发挥的正面作用更少，因为emotional（irrational）产生的psychological associations 影响更大，所以只能是C选项。

Question 9 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：attribute“特色，特征；属性，特点”，所以答案D正确。原句说生产商希望名人所拥有的正面什么能够延伸到产品当中，使人们自然地将名人和产品联系到一起，猜测是正面形象或者正面性格特征，所以答案是D。

Question 10 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：a show about a cartoon lion 是定位信息的关键点，回归原文这两句“Host selling involves blending advertisements with regular programming in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish one from the other. Host selling occurs, for example, when a children's show about a cartoon lion contains an ad in which the same lion promotes a breakfast cereal.”又出现了for example这样的例子，所以一定是为了印证这个例子之前的那个观点，就是解释了host selling的概念。

Question 11 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：credible“可信的”，想想credit card“信用卡”，所以cred跟“信”有关，所以答案是believable。原句提到研究者发现孩子们认为做麦片广告的那个人通常应该更了解麦片，并且把他们作为什么样的信息来源。前面都说了孩子认为那些人更了解麦片，也就是信任他们，所以believable正确。

Question 12 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：根据题干定位原文“In addition, children feel validated…”到最后段落结束，说的是孩子们通常会觉得有认同感，当他们选择一款名人认可的产品的时候；在Hong Kong做的研究更加表明，如果孩子们不喜欢一个受争议的名人的时候，当这个名人出现在广告中，会负面影响孩子们对这个广告宣传的产品的感受。也就是D选项。

Question 13 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：注意插入句的another aspect of advertising，证明插入句的前文已经提及了广告宣传的一个方面；然后说影响的这个方面是fantasy，那证明插入句的后文提及了fantasy部分相关的信息；综上所述，只有A选项符合。

Question 14 of 14

正确答案：ABD

解析：children选项对应原文第二段内容，正确；although选项对应原文最后两段内容，正确；the use选项对应原文第三段内容，正确。

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