Topic 52: Advertising encourages customers to buy in quantity not in quality. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Living in the information age, people are bombarded with substantial daily doses of advertising in multiple media. The argument that advertising, with its overwhelming power, leads to consumers' impulsive purchase has been accepted by more and more people. Consumers are encouraged by advertisements to purchase products in quantity without paying heed to quality. This allegation is flawed, as far as I am concerned.

The first tact to note is that despite the strength of advertising, viewers remain as decision makers. They gather information from advertisements based on their own interest. While some people focus on quality, others are concerned with price. Likewise, advertisements stress different aspects of a product, either quality or price, which is determined by contexts. Consumers are now desensitised to the information delivered by commercials and become increasingly cautious. Quality i_s. in most cases, a primary concern to them. Even those most loyal users of advertising are now concentrated on product quality, believing that neither pricing nor advertising is an effective facilitator of sales and consumers' satisfaction with quality is the key to repeat purchases.

Price is perhaps an inducement used by marketers to trigger sales, but other elements, such as product package, functions, after-sales service and warrantee, appear to gain in importance. Advertising informs people of more choices, allowing them to make a buying decision according to their needs and favour a product for different reasons, either quality or price cuts. Needless to say, people have become more circumspect than ever before and more prone to the interaction of other factors, such as the advice of their friends, past experience, current knowledge and physiological state.

It is also necessary to draw a line between the concept of marketing and that of advertising. Advertising alone is not able to contribute high sales and the link between advertising and product usage is in fact not clear. In its broadest sense, advertising is merely a means of generating demand in society by offering specific information on a product or service in a persuasive format. It is similar to sales promotion, package sales, low-pricing strategy and other marketing techniques. Advertising simply conveys the message relating to price, rather than creating this message.

The facts outlined above, when taken together, are in favour of a view that consumers take in the information delivered by an advertisement differently, and they are influenced by a variety of factors and driven by forces in a decision making process. Quality is of concern to them in most cases, instead of price.

1. dose = quantity = amount

2. allegation = claim

3. flawed = faulty = blemished

4. stress = emphasise=underline = underscore = accentuate

5. desensitised to = indifferent to= uninterested in

6. concentrate on = focus on = be conscious of = be immersed in

7. inducement = stimulus

8. circumspect = cautious = prudent = careful

9. interaction = interplay

Topic 53: Some industrialised countries have serious environmental problems. The damage to the environment is an inevitable result when a country tends to improve the standard of living. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

A question central to today's environmental debate is how economic development and environmental protection interrelate. Some people maintain that no economic target can be attained without some sacrifice made to the environment. As far as I know, there are a couple of complementary components, if operated properly.

For businesses, large or small, taking environmental consequences seriously can impel them to improve their production lines, make optimal use of materials and resources and increase the profit margin. For instance, the adoption of environmentally friendly equipment can reduce waste, minimise pollution, and decelerate the depreciation rate of machinery. Meanwhile, it can reduce businesses’ expenditure in compliance with environmental standards. The third merit is boosting loyalty of employees, who have an appreciation for the safety and comfort of their working environment.

By adhering to environmental standards, industries will also make a favourable impression on their clients, build up word of mouth reputation and trigger sales. Some large industries in the past, when asked to take actions to make their production less environment-damaging, were worried about the proportional rise in operational costs. Their attitudes are now subject to modification, as the expense of improving equipment is temporary, and can be paid off by forthcoming profits. Customers are keen on products made from an environmentally conscious business in a belief that its products are free of pollutants.

When businesses have become more profitable, more money will be available for revamping the environment. Probing the core of environment-related issues, one can observe that people are more likely to consider the possibility of incorporating environmentally friendly practices when enough funds have been raised and alternative livelihoods have been explored. Illegal logging, for example, centralises in underdeveloped countries every year, where people are unable to find jobs. In comparison, economically-developed countries show more willingness to invest in forest conservation, as their industries rely less on natural resources and have become service-oriented.

To summarise, economic development and environmental protection are not inimical, but complementary. They are inextricably intertwined, and can be promoted simultaneously.

1. interrelate = correlate = interconnect

2. complementary = paired

3. operate = manipulate = manoeuvre

4. impel = compel = urge = drive

5. decelerate = slow

6. compliance = observance

7. loyalty = allegiance = faithfulness

8. reputation = fame

9. modification = transformation = change = alternation

10. pay off = recompense = reimburse

11. forthcoming = imminent = impending "approaching

12. revamp = mend = repair = restore

13. probe = look into investigate

14. centralise = concentrate

15. in comparison = by comparison = by contrast

16. inimical = contradictory = at odds = conflicting

17. intertwine = interlink = interweave = interconnect

Topic 54: Environmental problems are serious in many countries. It means that the only possible way to protect the environment is at an international level. To what extent do you agree or disagree on this hypothesis?

Globally, environmental degradation has been recognised as one of the main challenges that people have to overcome in the 21st century. The rapid deterioration of environment is believed to impose a severe threat on people's survival in the years ahead, if not solved effectively. In addressing this issue, countries worldwide should join forces and make a concerted effort, instead of working individually for inconsistent targets.

The first point to support international cooperation is that the impact of an environmental problem can be on the global scale. Common knowledge is that people live in a global environment and share natural resources and survive on the same biosphere. The interdependencies of ecosystems and the transport of pollutants are the main characteristics of the world. For instance, a stream or lake in a country can be affected by pesticides released from neighbouring croplands, lawns and gardens and by pollutants emitted thousands of miles away. Likewise, the depiction of a natural resource (such as deforestation) in one nation can have environmental and economic ramifications in many other countries.

Another benefit obtained from international cooperation is facilitating the exchange of goods, technology, know-how and capital. It is crucial to hammering out the best and quickest solution to the problem. Environmental problems are mainly found in underdeveloped countries, where industrial or agricultural developments are placed ahead of environmental protection. With a clear intent to restore the damaged environment, those countries have difficulties in making headway, in the absence of facilities or technologies. They need the support from the global community, especially those industrialised countries that have achieved remarkable progress in this field. By sharing experience in environmental management, countries can tackle problems with greater efficiency and at lower costs.

To summarise, cooperation between countries is inevitable in this global campaign, not only because the ecosystem is a unified mechanism but also because international engagement can make optimal use of financial and human resources. By collaborating with each other, countries are able to protect the global environment with using the least amount of resources.

1. threat = danger risk

2. in the years ahead = in the years to come

3. on the global scale = at the international level

4. interdependency = interaction = interplay = mutual dependence

5. release = emit = discharge = dump = dispose

6. ramification = consequence = result

7. hammer out = arrive at = work out

8. underdeveloped countries = developing countries = countries in a backward state

9. intent = intention = purpose = aim

10. restore = repair = revamp

11. make headway = make progress

12. in the absence of = lacking = without