Some people say that advertising encourages us to buy things that we really do not need. Others say that advertisements tell us about new products that may improve our lives. Which viewpoint do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
The whole point of advertising is to encourage us to buy things we don't need. Advertisers are in the business of making money of themselves and their clients. If they manage to sell us something that's good for us too, that's fine. But their primary goal is profit.
广告的全部目的是鼓励我们购买那些我们不需要的东西。广告商的业务是为自己和客户赚钱。如果他们能把对我们也有好处的东西卖给我们，那就没问题了。但他们的首要目标是利润。
It begins when we're children. Saturday morning children's television is full of commercials. Over and over again, children see images of toys and games. They see other children who are having the time of their lives. They watch these children and get the message that if they want to have that much fun, they need to buy those things. Thus, at a very early age, we're introduced to two ideas: that we want to be like everyone else, and we want to have what everyone else has.
当我们还是孩子时，利润就开始了。星期六早晨的儿童电视上充斥着广告。一次又一次，孩子们看到玩具和游戏的图像。他们看到其他孩子正在享受他们的生活。他们看着这些孩子，得到的信息是，如果他们想有那么多乐趣，他们需要购买这些东西。因此，在很小的时候，我们'；重新引入了两个理念：我们想和其他人一样，我们想拥有其他人所拥有的一切。
This continues throughout our lives. We spend a lot of our money trying to keep up with our neighbors. We buy the latest model cars, have all the latest gadgets in our homes, and live a lifestyle beyond our budgets. Advertising encourages us to define ourselves by what we own rather than by who we are. It encourages a competition of false values and shallow measurements of what matters in our lives.
这一理念贯穿于我们的一生。我们花了很多钱试图跟上邻居的步伐。我们买最新款的汽车，家里有最新的小玩意，过着超出预算的生活方式。广告鼓励我们用自己的东西而不是我们是谁来定义自己。它鼓励一场虚假价值观的竞争，并鼓励对我们生活中重要的东西进行肤浅的衡量。
Advertising can be damaging. However, it is also one of the ways in which our economy keeps growing. People need to buy products in order for other people to have jobs manufacturing, transporting and selling those products. Advertising also keeps us informed about new products that may actually help us in some way. For these reasons, you could say advertising is a necessary evil.
广告可能会造成损害。然而，这也是我国经济持续增长的方式之一。人们需要购买产品，才能让其他人有制造、运输和销售这些产品的工作。广告也让我们了解新产品，这些新产品可能在某种程度上对我们有帮助。基于这些原因，你可以说广告是一种必要的罪恶