Nowadays, there is a large amount of advertising aimed at children. Some people think they have negative effects on children and should be banned. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

　　Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

　　Write at least 250 words.

　　话题分析

　　这个题目不新鲜，但请注意后置定语aimed at children，如强硬套入各位思维模式中常用的广告的利弊等素材势必会导致失分。

　　素材来源

　　请各位把ads, advertising, adverts以及(young) children, aimed/targeted和ban, forbid等词作为关键词在google搜索，即可看到很多类似的新闻、论文和网络讨论等。这也是雅思写作进行素材追踪和挑选的第一步。比如我用的搜索词组就是“should ads targeted at children be banned”，有兴趣大家可以试试。至于素材或文献来源的实用性、规范性和是否有价值，起码在雅思写作中不用太过纠结。这是各位同学出国后(我假设考雅思的同学是都要出国读书的，尤其是A类考生)，各位的老师或者图书馆管理员要跟大家交代的事情。

　　范文

　　Introduction (背景句 + 转述题目 + 个人倾向)

　　Recent studies have found that the effectiveness of advertising increases when the ads are shown in between or around programmes aimed at children, or when children perceive (vt. 感知) an advertisement to be made for them as, for example, with toys or breakfast cereals (谷类早餐). For me, most of adverting targeted at children must be banned.

　　Body paragraph 1 (反对理由1)

　　Food-related advertisements can exert significant and measurable effects on children’s cognitions (n. 认知能力), emotions, and behaviours, encouraging unhealthy or risky consumption, as advertising tricks are not easily detected by children. An example is that promotional materials (宣传资料) that highlighted a healthy kid’s meal came with a toy increased its choice share, but only when the unhealthy alternative meal did not include a toy. Deceptive(adj. 有欺骗性的) adverts draw illusions (编织假象) for children and tempt (vt.引诱) them to consume junk food with high calories and sugars while intentionally ignoring a fact that taking many sugary foods is directly linked to children gaining weight and eventually causes obesity (n. 肥胖症). Therefore, urgent action is required to stop these junk food and drink ads targeted at children as a part of efforts to stem (vt. 阻止) today’s children’s overweight crisis.

　　Body paragraph 2 (反对理由2)

　　Furthermore, by allowing advertisers to target at children, commercials help to produce young “consumers,” not young “citizens” – children morefixated (adj. 念念不忘的) on purchasing the latest flashing, beeping, plastic gadget (做工精巧活灵活现的小玩意儿) than using their imagination. Almost all children depend on their parents for money and accordingly, advertising makes heavy use of "pester power (儿童消费力)", as it tends to be more efficient than targeting parents directly. Yet, a civilised society should require advertisers to sell to parents, not to children. When children are learning about the cost of material things and about managing small quantities of money, they should be free to do so without the pressures put on them by advertising. If children are continuously being instilled (vt. 灌输) with the concept of “consumerism (n. 用户至上主义)” by advertisers, they are more likely to define themselves more by what they buy than by what they can contribute to society.

　　Body paragraph 3 (让步 + 反驳)

　　However, some argue that young children have more of an understanding of advertising now; they simply are not taken in by advertising. Just as adults get irritated (被激怒) by constant breaks disturbing their favourite television show, so do children. Children’s understanding of advertising changes, as once they reach the age of seven or eight they have arudimentary (adj. 基本的;初步的) understanding of adverts – they are aware that the adverts are different from their programme, but they do not necessarily understand that someone is trying to sell them something. Additionally, even once children have developed this sense in relation to advertisements, they are still subliminally (adv. 下意识的) influenced by them as anyone would be.

　　Conclusion (总结主要观点 + 个人建议)

　　In conclusion, an immediate end to deceptive and unhealthy advertising aimed at children of primary school age and younger should beimplemented (vt. 实施). Children should be free to channel their energies into forming friendships, discovering their talents and unleashing (vt. 释放) their imaginations; things that cost little to nothing, but have immeasurable value.

　　(477 words)

　　常识解析

　　flashing, beeping, plastic gadget: 三个词分别为“闪闪发光的”、“嘟嘟作响的”和“塑料做的小玩意”，引申为“做工精巧活灵活现的小玩意儿”以表对孩童有莫大吸引力的产品。

　　pester power：儿童消费力，即儿童让父母为其购买商品的能力，具体为受到市场营销信息影响的儿童非理性让其父母为其购买中意商品或服务的倾向。

　　consumerism：太长不想解释…自己查去…但文章中使用的目的是折射其主要观点之“其主要原则是追求体面的消费，渴求无节制的物质享受和消遣，并把这些当作生活的目的和人生的价值。”