[B ] Parents today are willing to buy more for their kids because trends such as smaller family size, dual incomes and postponing children until later in life mean that families have more disposable income. As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids. Here are some of the strategies marketers employ to target kids:

　　Pester(糾纏)Power

　　[C ] Today’s kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. “Pester power” refers to children’s ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a powerful force it can be.

　　[D] According to the 2001 marketing industry book Kidfluence, pestering or nagging can be divided into two categories—“persistence” and “importance”. Persistence nagging (a plea, that is repeated over and over again) is not as effective as the more sophisticated “importance nagging”. This latter method appeals to parents’ desire to provide the best for their children, and plays on any guilt they may have about not having enough time for their kids.

　　The Marriage of Psychology and Marketing

　　[E] To effectively market to children, advertisers need to know what makes kids tick. With the help of well-paid researchers and psychologists, advertisers now have access to in-depth knowledge about children’s

　　developmental, emotional and social needs at different ages. Using research that analyzes children’s behaviour, fantasy lives, art work, even their dreams, companies are able to craft sophisticated marketing strategies to reach young people.

　　The issue of using child psychologists to help marketers target kids gained widespread public attention in 1999, when a group of U.S. mental health professionals issued a public letter to the American Psychological Association (APA) urging them to declare the practice unethical. The APA is currently studying the issue.

　　Building Brand Name Loyalty

　　[G] Canadian author Naomi Klein tracks the birth of “brand” marketing in her 2000 book No Logo. According to Klein, the mid-1980s saw the birth of a new kind of corporation—Nike, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, to name a few—which changed their primary corporate focus from producing products to creating an image for their brand name. By moving their manufacturing operations to countries with cheap labour, they freed up money to create their powerful marketing messages. It has been a tremendously profitable formula, and has led to the creation of some of the most wealthy and powerful multi-national corporations the world has seen.

　　[H] Marketers plant the seeds of brand recognition in very young children, in the hopes that the seeds will grow into lifetime relationships. According to the Center for a New American Dream, babies as young as six months of age can form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. Brand loyalties can be established as early as age two, and by the time children head off to school most can recognize hundreds of brand logos. While fast food, toy and clothing companies have been cultivating brand recognition in children for years, adult-oriented businesses such as banks and automakers are now getting in on the act.

　　Buzz or Street Marketing

　　[I] The challenge for marketers is to cut through the intense advertising clutter (雜亂)in young people’s lives. Many companies are using “buzz marketing” —a new twist on the tried-and-true “word of mouth” method. The idea is to find the coolest kids in a community and have them use or wear your product in order to create a buzz around it. Buzz, or “street marketing”, as it’s also called, can help a company to successfully connect with the elusive (難找的)teen market by using trendsetters to give them products “cool” status.

　　[J] Buzz marketing is particularly well-suited to the Internet, where young “Net promoters” use chat rooms and blogs to spread the word about music, clothes and other products among unsuspecting users.

　　Commercialization in Education

　　[ K] School used to be a place where children were protected from the advertising and consumer messages that permeated their world—but not anymore. Budget shortfalls (虧空，差額)are forcing school boards to allow corporations access to students in exchange for badly needed cash, computers and educational materials.

　　[L] Corporations realize the power of the school environment for promoting their name and products. A school setting delivers a captive youth audience and implies the endorsement of teachers and the educational system. Marketers are eagerly exploiting this medium in a number of ways, including: 1) sponsored educational materials; 2) supplying schools with technology in exchange for high company visibility; 3) advertising posted in classrooms, school buses, on computers in exchange for funds; 4) contests and incentive programs: for example, the Pizza Hut reading incentives program in which children receive certificates for free pizza if they achieve a monthly reading goal; 5) sponsoring school events.

　　The Internet

　　[M ] The Internet is an extremely desirable medium for marketers wanting to target children. It’s part of youth culture.

　　This generation of young people is growing up with the Internet as a daily and routine part of their lives. Kids are often online alone, without parental supervision. Unlike broadcasting media, which have codes regarding advertising to kids, the Internet is unregulated. Sophisticated technologies make it easy to collect information from young people for marketing research, and to target individual children with personalized advertising.

　　Marketing Adult Entertainment to Kids

　　[N] Children are often aware of and want to see entertainment meant for older audiences because it is actively marketed to them. In a report released in 2000, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed how the movie, music and video games industries routinely market violent entertainment to young children.

　　[O ] The FTC studied 44 films rated “Restricted”, and discovered that 80 per cent were targeted to children under 17. Marketing plans included TV commercials run during hours when young viewers were most likely to be watching. The FTC report also highlighted the fact that toys based on characters from mature entertainment are often marketed to young children. Mature rated video games are advertised in youth magazines; and toys based on “Restricted” movies and M-rated video games are marketed to children as young as four.

　　六級(jí)長篇閱讀專項(xiàng)練習(xí)選項(xiàng)：

　　46. Guilt can affect parents" spending decisions because they don’t have enough time for their kids.

　　47. The Center for a New American Dream pointed out that brand loyalties could be formed as early as age two.

　　48. School boards allow corporations to access to students because they need money and educational materials badly.

　　49. The FTC report highlighted the fact that toys based on characters from mature entertainment are often marketed to young children.

　　50. For this generation of young people, the Internet is a daily and routine part of their lives.

　　51. According to Kidfluence, “persistence nagging” is less effective than the more sophisticated “importance nagging”.

　　52. According to a report released by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the movie, music and video games industries usually market violent entertainment to young children.

　　53. Buzz marketing is well-suited to the Internet because the interactive environment can spread messages effectively.

　　54. A group of U.S. mental health professionals think that it is unethical to use child psychologists to help marketers target kids.

　　55. According to the Pizza Hut reading incentives program, children will receive certificates for free pizza if they achieve a monthly reading goal.

　　六級(jí)長篇閱讀專項(xiàng)練習(xí)答案：

　　46. [B]題干意為，內(nèi)疚感會(huì)影響父母做出消費(fèi)決定，因?yàn)樗麄儧]有足夠的時(shí)間陪孩子。注意抓住題干中的關(guān)鍵詞guilt和parents’ spending decisions。文章段落中，論及內(nèi)疚感和影響父母購買決定的內(nèi)容在[B]段出現(xiàn)，該 段第二句提到，內(nèi)疚感能夠影響父母做出的消費(fèi)決定，忙碌的父母希望用購買的東西來彌補(bǔ)自己沒有足夠 的時(shí)間陪孩子。由此可知，題干對(duì)原文進(jìn)行了同義改寫，故答案為[B]。題干中的affect與原文中的play a role in對(duì)應(yīng)。

　　47. [H]。題干意為，新美國夢(mèng)中心指出，孩子早在兩歲的時(shí)候就可以形成品牌忠誠度。注意抓住題干中的關(guān)鍵詞 the Center for a New American Dream, brand loyalties 和 age two。文章段落中，提到新美國夢(mèng)中心的內(nèi)容在[H] 段出現(xiàn)，該段第三句提到，根據(jù)新美國夢(mèng)中心所說，早在兩歲的時(shí)候就可以建立品牌忠誠度，而等到開始上 學(xué)的時(shí)候，大多數(shù)孩子都可以認(rèn)識(shí)幾百個(gè)品牌標(biāo)識(shí)。由此可知，題干是對(duì)原文的同義轉(zhuǎn)述，故答案為[H]。

　　48. [K]。題干意為，教育委員會(huì)允許企業(yè)接近學(xué)生是因?yàn)樗麄兗毙栀Y金和教學(xué)材料。注意抓住題干中的關(guān)鍵 詞school boards。文章段落中，提到教育委員會(huì)的內(nèi)容在[K]段出現(xiàn)，該段第二句中提到，預(yù)算虧空迫使教 育委員會(huì)允許企業(yè)進(jìn)入校園，以此換取學(xué)校急需的資金、計(jì)算機(jī)和教學(xué)材料。題干對(duì)原文內(nèi)容做了概述， 故答案為[K]。

　　49. [O]。題干意為，聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)的報(bào)告強(qiáng)調(diào)了一個(gè)事實(shí)，即以成人娛樂中各個(gè)角色為原型的玩具經(jīng)常被 推銷給年幼的孩子。注意抓住題干中的關(guān)鍵詞FTC report和highlighted the fact。文章段落中，提到聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易 委員會(huì)(FTC)有[N]和[0]兩段，但結(jié)合題干中的highlighted the fact可知相關(guān)內(nèi)容在[0]段，該段第三句提 到，聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)的報(bào)告還強(qiáng)調(diào)了 一個(gè)事實(shí)，即基于成人娛樂中角色的玩具經(jīng)常被推銷給年幼的孩子， 題干與原文意思一致，故答案為[0]。

　　50. [M]。題干意為，對(duì)于這一代年輕人來說，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)是他們?nèi)粘Ｉ畹囊徊糠帧Ｗ⒁庾プ☆}干中的關(guān)鍵詞this generation of young people和Internet。文章段落中，提到這一代年輕人和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)關(guān)系的內(nèi)容在[M]段，該段 第三句提到，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)伴隨著這一代年輕人長大，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)是他們?nèi)粘Ｉ畹囊徊糠帧Ｓ纱丝芍}干是對(duì)原 文內(nèi)容的同義轉(zhuǎn)述，故答案為[M]。

　　51. [D]。題干意為，根據(jù)《兒童影響力》這本書所說，“堅(jiān)持糾纏”不如更圓滑的“重要性糾纏”有效。注意抓住題 干中的關(guān)鍵詞!persistence nagging, effective和importance nagging。文章段落中，提到《兒童影響 力》這本書是在[D]段，該段第二句提到，“堅(jiān)持糾纏”就是一再地懇求)不如更圓滑的“重要性糾纏”有效。 由此可知，題干是對(duì)原文的同義轉(zhuǎn)述，故答案為[D]。題干中的less effective than與原文中的not as effective as對(duì)應(yīng)。

　　52. [N]。題干意為，依據(jù)美國聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)的一份報(bào)告，電影、音樂和電子游戲業(yè)經(jīng)常向年幼的兒童推銷暴 力娛樂。注意抓住題干中的關(guān)鍵詞a report released by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission和movie, music and video games industries。文章段落中，提到美國聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)的報(bào)告和電影等行業(yè)的內(nèi)容在[N]段，該段第 二句中提到，美國聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)2000年發(fā)表的一份報(bào)告中披露了電影、音樂和電子游戲業(yè)是如何習(xí)慣性 地向年幼的兒童推銷暴力娛樂的，由此可知，題干對(duì)原文內(nèi)容進(jìn)行了同義改寫，故答案為[N]。

　　53. [J]。題干意為，口碑營銷很適合互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，因?yàn)槠浠?dòng)的環(huán)境可以讓信息有效傳播。注意抓住題干中的關(guān)鍵 詞buzz marketing和well-suited to the Internet。文章段落中，論及口碑營銷和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)關(guān)系的內(nèi)容在[J ]段出 現(xiàn)，該段提到，口碑營銷很適合互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，網(wǎng)上的年輕“網(wǎng)絡(luò)推銷員”利用聊天室和博客在毫無戒備心的用戶 中傳播有關(guān)音樂、服飾和其他產(chǎn)品的信息。由此可知，題干對(duì)原文進(jìn)行了同義轉(zhuǎn)述，故答案為[J]。

　　54. [F]。題干意為，一個(gè)美國心理健康專家小組認(rèn)為，利用兒童心理專家來幫助市場營銷人員定位兒童需求 是不道德的。注意抓住題干中的關(guān)鍵詞U.S. mental health professionals，unethical和psychologists。文章段落 中，提到美國心理健康專家小組的內(nèi)容在[F]段出現(xiàn)，該段第一句提到，一個(gè)美國心理健康專家小組發(fā)表 了一封給美國心理學(xué)會(huì)(APA)的公開信，要求他們宣布那種讓兒童心理學(xué)家?guī)椭袌鰻I銷人員定位兒童 需求的做法是不道德的。題干與原文相符，故答案為[F]。

　　55. [L]。題干意為，根據(jù)必勝客的讀書獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)計(jì)劃，完成每月閱讀目標(biāo)的孩子可以獲得免費(fèi)比薩券。注意抓住題 干中的關(guān)鍵詞Pizza Hut和monthly reading goal。文章段落中，提到必勝客及免費(fèi)比薩的內(nèi)容出現(xiàn)在[L]段，該段列舉的第四點(diǎn)內(nèi)容中提到，必勝客的讀書獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)計(jì)劃即完成每月閱讀目標(biāo)的兒童可以獲得免費(fèi)比薩券。 由此可知，題干是對(duì)原文內(nèi)容的同義轉(zhuǎn)述，故答案為[L]。