All ear

2009-04-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

A squirrel(松鼠.n) rests on a tree in the Siberian town of Khanty-Mansiysk.

Do new anti-smoking ads go too far?

2009-04-03T03:19:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

By Michael Inbar
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 9:43 a.m. ET April 2, 2009
Television anti-smoking ads(廣告.n) have gotten increasingly graphic, even gruesome(可怕的.adj), in the past seven years, but a new ad rolled out by the New York City Department of Health goes for the heartstrings even while detractors say it hits below the belt.
In the ad, a little boy is shown standing alone in a train station while separated(分散.v) from his mother. His look of puzzlement(迷惑.n) turns into abject(可憐的,adj) fear as tears roll(淚水順著臉頰流下來) down his face. A voice-over(旁白.n) then says, “This is how your child feels after losing you for a minute. Just imagine if they lost you for life.”
While the public service ad seeks to hit parental smokers where they live — with their children — questions are being raised about whether the ad goes too far in having a little boy, who some fear may not be acting, sob(啜泣.v) before the camera in an effort to get smokers off tobacco. But speaking to Matt Lauer live on TODAY Thursday, advertising agency owner and CNBC personality Donny Deutsch clapped his hands on seeing the ad and said, “Bravo.”(好極了.interj)
“A great ad is a one-on-one sales pitch(推銷.n) ,” Deutsch told Lauer. “Say you smoke. If I said to you, ‘Matt, stop smoking, it’s going to hurt your lungs(肺.n) .’ But if I say, ‘Hey, Matt, you’ve got kids, how about if your boy’s team won a Little League game without his dad?’, that’s going to get to you.”
The controversial ad is part of a one-two punch New York City officials hope to deliver to hit a target goal of having 20,000 smokers kick the habit. Along with the ad, adapted by the NYC Health Department from one originally produced in Australia, a new 62-cents-a-pack federal tax has now pushed the price of cigarettes in the Big Apple upward of $10 a pack, hitting smokers squarely in the pocketbook(=wallet).
Is he really crying?
The crying-boy ad has sparked(火花.v) lively debate(辯論.n) . On a New York Times Web site forum(討論區.n) , many hailed the ad and even called for an eventual, outright(無保留地.adj) banning of smoking. But the ad found nearly as many detractors. One wrote, “This ad campaign(運動.n) is not about tugging at the heartstrings, it’s about manipulating(利用.v) the viewer’s emotions.”
Another called the ad “atrocious(殘暴的.adj) , offensive(討厭的.adj) and irresponsible.” Still another called into question the use of the crying child, writing, “Those emotions looked too real to be considered just acting.”(“太真”的演技)
On TODAY, Lauer questioned Deutsch on how the child was brought to cry after losing his mommy in the ad: “This kid can’t be more than 4. Isn’t it fair to assume they actually put the kid in a situation like that, and people are angry about that?”
Deutsch, chairman of Deutsch Inc., told Lauer he had no direct knowledge on how the child actor was made to cry, but he firmly believes(堅信.adv+v) the ends justify the means in the war against smoking.
“Kids are very good actors,” Deutsch said. “Maybe sometimes they make a kid cry, but if it saves 20,000 lives for five seconds of crying(但如果因為5秒鐘的哭就挽救了20,000個生命), I’ll take it.”
A similar ad airing in Britain was deemed(被視為.v) so scary for children it only airs after 7:30 p.m., but Deutsch noted the New York City ad is actually tame in comparison.
Full article: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30008941/

Heartstrings [N] to make someone feel a lot of love or sympathy
Detractors [N] someone who publicly criticizes someone or something(誹謗者)
hit below the belt 暗箭傷人

Michelle Obama works her magic abroad

2009-04-02T02:04:00.001-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

April 1: First lady Michelle Obama made her debut on the world stage Wednesday, and based on her warm reception in London, she has as many admirers overseas as her husband does. NBC's Dawna Friesen reports.
(170 words)

First lady 美國第一夫人 [N]
debut 首次露面[n]
the world stage 世界舞台 [N]
reception 歡迎會 [N]
she has as many admirers overseas as her husband 她的海外崇拜者多得像她丈夫一樣多

2toenglish

All ear

Do new anti-smoking ads go too far?

Michelle Obama works her magic abroad