新视野三版 读写 B2 U5 Text A
Spend or save — The student's dilemma
1 Do you feel as confud and manipulated as I do with this question, "Should
I spend or should I save?" I think that the messages we get from our
什么是散打environment em to defy common n and contradict each other. The
government tel s us to spend or we'l never get out of the recession. At the
same time, they tel us that unless we save more, our country is
建筑节能检测in grave danger.Banks offer higher interest rates so we increa
savings. Then the same banks nd us credit card offers so we can spend
more.
2 Here's another familiar example: If we don't pay our credit card bil on time,
we get demanding, nasty emails from the credit card company saying
something like: "Your failure to pay is unacceptable. Pay immediately or you'l
be in trouble!" Then, as soon as we pay, we get a fol ow-up email in a
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charming tone tel ing us how valuable a customer we are and encouraging us
to resume spending. Which depiction is correct: a failing consumer in trouble
or a valued customer? The gap between the two messages is enormous.
3 实木家具怎么保养The paradox is that every day we get two ts of messages at odds with
each other. One is the "permissive" perspective, "Buy, spend, get it now. You
need this!" The other we could cal an "upright" message, which urges us,
"Work hard and save. Suspend your desires. Avoid luxuries. Control
your appetite for more than you truly need." This message comes to us from
many sources: from school, from parents, even from political figures referring
to "traditional values". Hard work, family loyalty, and the capacity to postpone
desires are core American values that have made our country great.
*4 But the opposite message, advertising's permissive message, is
inescapable. Though sometimes disguid, the messages are everywhere we
look: on TV, in movies on printed media and road signs, in stores, and on
bus, trains and subways.Advertiments invade our daily lives. We are
constantly surrounded by the message to spend, spend, spend. Someone
recently said, "The only time you can escape advertising is when you're in your
bed asleep!"
5 It's been calculated that by the age of 18, the average American wil have
en 600,000 ads; by the age of 40, the total is almost one mil ion. Each迟疑
advertiment is doing its utmost to influence our diver buying decisions,
from the breakfast cereal we eat to which crui line we wil u for our
vacation. There is no shortage of ideas and things to buy! Now, of cour, we
don't remember exactly what the products were, but the esntial message
is cemented into our consciousness, "It's good to satisfy your desires. You
should have what you want. You derve the best. So, you should buy it —
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now!" A famous advertiment said it perfectly, "I love me. I'm a good friend to
mylf. I do what makes me feel good. I derive pleasure from nice things and
feel nourished by them. I ud to put things off. Not anymore. Today I'l buy
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new ski equipment, look at new compact cars, and buy that camera I've
always wanted. I live my dreams today, not tomorrow."
久一
6
What
happens
as
we
take
in
the
contradictory
