Texto Selectividad. Why thin doesn't sell

Why thin doesn’t sell

They have been banned from the catwalk, blamed for devastating women’s self-esteem and suspected of suffering eating disorders. Now ultra-thin models face another accusation: that they’re not good at their job. New research has found that instead of being admired by women, excessively thin models are regarded as less truthful and appealing than “ordinary” women. ‘The advertising and fashion industries are reluctant to use larger models because they say that thinness sells’, said Dr Helga Dittmar, of the University of Sussex. ‘But our research has shown that thin models are less effective in selling products than average-size models’. Dittmar asked 800 women to rank the effectiveness of adverts featuring slim models. She expected women to find thin models more convincing and persuasive. ‘Instead, there was a strong message that models were evaluated more positively when they had a normal size’, she said.

These findings come after the controversy which erupted when Madrid said models at Pasarela Cibeles must have a weight in line with United Nations health guidelines. Dittmar said: ‘Only a small percentage of women can ever hope to have the bodies shown in most advertising. There are fears that images of ultra-thin models can have a number of significant consequences, including negative self-perception, depression and disordered eating. The conclusion is that thin models have a negative effect on the self-esteem of women, and this affects the effectiveness of the advertising message. ‘Compared with ultra-thin models, those who appear in ads with an average, healthy body size were viewed as more credible’.


Questions and possible answers:

1. Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.

a) The belief that thin models are more effective was proved. FALSE.

"But our research has shown that thin models are less effective in selling products than average-size models"

b) An advertisement doesn’t succeed if women don’t feel confident about it. TRUE .

"thin models have a negative effect on the self-esteem of women, and this affects the effectiveness of the advertising message"

2. In your own words and based on the ideas on the text, answer the following questions.

a) Why are ultra-thin models “not good at their job”?

Ultra-thin models are not good at their job because ordinary women don't feel identified with them and so the advertising message does't get to them.

b) What negative effects do thin models have on women?

Women can suffer from depression or eating disorders.

3. Find the words in the text that mean.

a) accused (paragraph 1) - blamed.
b) confront (paragraph 1)- face.
c) unwilling (paragraph 1)- reluctant.
d) slender (paragraph 1)- slim.

4. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given.

a. The fashion and advertising industries know that women are more effective at / in selling products than men.

b. The new spring season’s clothes were being shown (show) on the catwalk when suddenly one of the models fell (fall) down.

c. The new laws against advertising (advertise) tobacco are considered (consider) to have gone too far.

Complete the sentence. Do not change the meaning of the sentence given.

d. They have just sold him the ring. → He …… has just been sold the ring.

5. Write about 100 to 150 words on the following topic.

- Do you think our society is influenced by the models that appear on TV or in magazines?

Texto Selectividad. How racist is Britain?

How racist is Britain?

In Britain, social and ethnic division is a plain fact. Ethnic minority populations concentrate in particular neighbourhoods. Although mixed-race marriages are on the rise, they still comprise only 2% of all marriages. For the most part, people mix and marry with people mainly of their own cultural background, as determined by a combination of country, family origin or religion. Britain is a patchwork of almost hermetically sealed sub-worlds, in which class as much as race is a crucial factor. We all like to feel that we are open-minded people who can be friends with anyone, and we can also probably find a few examples of friends who do not match our demographic profile to prove our lack of insularity. But if we are honest, the vast majority live, work and socialise overwhelmingly with people of a similar social type. And the opportunities to mix are limited because many areas remain deeply inhospitable to aliens.

Besides, well-intentioned promotion of multiculturalism can actually exacerbate the paranoid feeling of Britishness being under threat. When people are informed by local and national governments that they ought to embrace minority cultures more than they do, they feel they are being told that their own way of life simply isn’t good enough. This is all clearly bad news for optimistic multiculturalists, and some will think that it suggests a negative view of human nature. On this view, the best we can hope for is little tension between communities by means of mutual tolerance. But toleration implies putting up with something you don’t much like, not embracing difference.

Questions and (possible) answers:

1. Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.

a) In Britain people usually mix with people of similar backgrounds. TRUE.

"For the most part, people mix and marry with people mainly of their own cultural background", or "the vast majority live, work and socialise overwhelmingly with people of a similar social type"

b) Britons do not think that other cultures are a menace to their way of living. FALSE.

"well-intentioned promotion of multiculturalism can actually exacerbate the paranoid feeling of Britishness being under threat".

2. In your own words and based on the ideas on the text, answer the following questions.

a) Which facts indicate that Britain is socially and ethnically split?

There are two main facts which indicate that Britain is socially and ethnically divided. First of all, people usually live in areas where they will mainly meet people of their own race or social class. Secondly, although there are marriages among different races, they are not very common.

b) Why are chances of socialising small in Britain?

Chances of socialising are small in Britain because there are many neighbourhoods for just one race or social class.

3. Find the words in the text that mean.

a) increasing (paragraph 1) - on the rise.
b) blocked (paragraph 1) - sealed (limited accepted).
c) furthermore (paragraph 2) - besides.
d) opinion (paragraph 2) - view.

4. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given.

a. A racist is a person who treats other people as inferior due / owing to their race.

b. If only Helen had not fallen (not fall) in love with that black! She should have ignored him!

c. There was a feeling among some black people that the level of racism was declining / had declined / had been declining (decline).

Complete the sentence.

d. Racism isn’t one of the priorities for this Government, is it?

5. Write about 100 to 150 words on the following topic.

- Are minority cultures a danger to our society? Do they have to adapt to our culture or do we have to adapt ourselves to these minority cultures?

Nothing to do?

You have nothing to do? You can read these articles from the Guardian:

- The first one is about racism in England.

- The second one is about skinny models.

See you!!!!

sometimes I feel like this in class

This is me.

Tomorrow's exam

Sorry, but I can't tell you much about this exam. But, don't forget to study:

1. RELATIVE CLAUSES, especially those with a preposition.
2. PASSIVE VOICE. There is one of those sentences "It is said/thought..."
3. REPORTED SPEECH. Two sentences with ACCEPT as the reporting verb.
4. Want Someone to Do Something. (I told you in class)
5. real, smoke, excel, experiment. Can you imagine what you will have to do with these words?
6. PREPOSITIONS. This is just an example: In the story, the frog turns ………… a prince.
7. Sentences to use nevertheless, since,...
8. As soon as, had better, causative have,....
9. And never forget: a to infinitive after an adjective.

Good luck!

Yes, we want to

Para todos aquellos alumnos preocupados por el buen uso de la lengua inglesa, aquí tenéis esta explicación.

La Comunidad de Madrid está promocionando los colegios bilingües, para ello quieren imitar la campaña de Obama, la famosa YES, WE CAN. No son los primeros en hacerlo, me parece que una agencia de viajes utilizó YES, WEEKEND. No seré yo quien cuestione la enseñanza bilingüe, sería tirar piedras contra mi propio tejado, pero sí que me gustaría comentar que, desde luego, no es la panacea que nos quieren vender.

Sin embargo la campaña de la Comunidad de Madrid tiene un error gramatical. A la pregunta DO YOU WANT BILINGUAL TEACHING?, o algo por el estilo, la respuesta que tantos niños repiten a coro en el anuncio no sería ese YES, WE WANT, sino un YES, WE DO. Para enfatizar el SÍ, podrían haber dicho YES, WE DO WANT, o, en todo caso YES, WE WANT TO.

La pregunta de Obama sería algo así como CAN WE DO IT?, y la respuesta sí sería el famoso YES, WE CAN. Pero, recordad que el verbo CAN es un MODAL VERB, y por lo tanto hace las negativas e interrogativas como el verbo TO BE. El verbo WANT no es modal, y necesita el auxiliar DO para negativas e interrogativas.

Don't forget it.

This is the 1º Bachillerato exam

This is the exam. Now you know what you have to study:

1.- Complete the sentences with the words or phrases below. (0’9)
- I wrote a cheque because I didn’t have any ………………….. on me.

2.- Complete the sentences with a suitable preposition. (0’6)
- Jane and Harry seem to get …………………… very well.

4.- Complete the passage with the correctr form of USED TO, BE USED TO or GET USED TO. (0’8)

5.- Write the Present or Past Participles of the following verbs: (0’6)
RELAX

6.- Complete these IRREGULAR VERBS: (1’1)

8.- Join each pair of sentences using a defining or non-defining relative clause.

9.- Write the verb in brackets of these CONDITIONAL sentences in the correct tense: (0’8)

10.- Change these sentences into REPORTED SPEECH. (0’8)

11.- Turn into PASSIVE ( just ONE!) the following sentences: (1)

12.- Turn into TWO PASSIVE sentences: (0’8)

13.- Complete the passage with the MODALS and MODAL PERFECTS below. (0’8)

had to should could might not have must have would have should have shouldn’t

GOOD LUCK!