媒体与广告经常出现在雅思 Writing Task 2 中。题目可能问：社交媒体上的新闻是否可信，广告是否有害于儿童，是否应该限制广告，以及媒体怎样影响人们的观点和习惯。Speaking Part 3 中，考官可能问你从哪里获取新闻，以及为什么人们很容易被说服购买不需要的东西。
这个话题的陷阱，就是 advertising。中文一个“广告”，在英语中至少涉及三种表达。Advertising 指广告活动和整个行业，不可数，因此 advertisings 是错误形式。一则广告或横幅广告是 an advert、an ad 或 an advertisement。电视或广播广告则是 a commercial。学习者常写 advertisings 或 an advertising，结果每一段都重复同一个错误。News 也有类似问题：它以 -s 结尾，看起来像复数，但英语要说 the news is。
下面介绍三个子话题中的 26 个搭配、常见误用，以及 LetsWords 对造句进行反馈的示例。其他考试话题见雅思话题词汇指南。
媒体与广告：词汇和搭配
新闻与新闻业
| 表达 | 含义 | 例句 |
|---|---|---|
| the mass media | 面向大量受众的报纸、电视、广播和网站 | The mass media shape what many people consider important. |
| news coverage | 对某事的新闻报道，包括报道量和方式 | The election received wide news coverage, but most of it focused on scandals. |
| hit the headlines | 成为重要新闻 | A local story can hit the headlines within hours if it is widely shared. |
| a reliable source | 值得信赖的信息来源 | Students should learn to tell a reliable source from an anonymous blog. |
| biased reporting | 不公正地偏向某一方的报道 | Biased reporting can make readers distrust even accurate news. |
| investigative journalism | 揭露隐蔽事实的调查报道 | Investigative journalism often exposes corruption that officials want to hide. |
| freedom of the press | 媒体不受控制地进行报道的权利 | Freedom of the press is a key safeguard against the abuse of power. |
| invade sb’s privacy | 侵犯某人的私生活 | Photographers who follow celebrities’ children invade their privacy. |
| misinformation | 错误或不准确的信息 | Misinformation often spreads faster than any later correction. |
媒体的影响
| 表达 | 含义 | 例句 |
|---|---|---|
| have an influence on | 对……产生影响 | Television still has a strong influence on how older people vote. |
| shape public opinion | 塑造公众的看法 | Newspapers no longer shape public opinion as they once did. |
| raise awareness of | 提高人们对某个问题的认识 | Documentaries can raise awareness of problems that politicians ignore. |
| a role model | 人们希望效仿的榜样 | Celebrities become role models for teenagers whether they like it or not. |
| be exposed to | 经常接触到某物 | Children are exposed to advertising in almost every app they use. |
| keep up with the news | 持续了解时事新闻 | Many young people keep up with the news through social media rather than newspapers. |
| go viral | 在网上迅速传播 | A short video can go viral overnight and reach millions of viewers. |
广告
| 表达 | 含义 | 例句 |
|---|---|---|
| an advertising campaign | 有计划的一系列广告活动 | A clever advertising campaign can turn an ordinary product into a must-have. |
| a target audience | 产品或信息面向的目标人群 | Every advert is designed with a specific target audience in mind. |
| promote a product | 宣传产品以增加销量 | Influencers are paid to promote products to their followers. |
| brand loyalty | 持续购买同一品牌的习惯 | Adverts for teenagers are designed to build brand loyalty that lasts for years. |
| misleading claims | 给人错误印象的宣传说法 | Misleading claims about health benefits should be banned. |
| persuade sb to buy | 说服某人购买 | Adverts persuade people to buy things they do not need. |
| sponsored content | 由品牌付费制作或发布的内容 | Sponsored content is often hard to distinguish from an honest review. |
| impulse buying | 没有事先计划的冲动购物 | One-click payments and constant adverts encourage impulse buying. |
| consumer culture | 以购买商品为中心的生活文化 | Constant advertising feeds a consumer culture in which people define themselves by what they own. |
| word of mouth | 人与人之间口头传播的推荐 | Small cafés often grow through word of mouth rather than paid advertising. |
常见错误
Advertisings on TV make children want unhealthy food.
Advertising on TV makes children want unhealthy food. / TV commercials make children want unhealthy food.
Advertising 不可数，搭配单数动词。需要数具体广告时，用 adverts、ads；电视或广播广告可以用 commercials。
The news are often exaggerated to attract viewers.
The news is often exaggerated to attract viewers.
虽然 news 以 -s 结尾，它仍是不可数名词，搭配单数动词。一条新闻是 a piece of news 或 a news story，不是 a news。
I read about it in the Internet and then saw the same story in TV.
I read about it on the internet and then saw the same story on TV.
广播电视渠道与互联网通常用 on：on the internet、on TV、on the radio、on social media。纸质出版物则用 in：in the newspaper、in a magazine。
Advertising affects on children’s eating habits.
Advertising affects children’s eating habits. / Advertising has an effect on children’s eating habits.
动词 affect 直接接宾语，不加介词。On 用在名词结构中：an effect on、an influence on、an impact on。
LetsWords 如何解释这些错误
看表格时，每个词都很熟悉。真正动笔时，错误才会出现。下面是 LetsWords 中一道练习的过程。
假设你正在复习 persuade sb to buy。LetsWords 用母语提示给出含义，你回想英文表达，再写一句关于广告的话：
Adverts persuade children buy sweets and make them to want more and more.
LetsWords 的反馈指出两处正好相反的错误：
- persuade children buy → persuade children to buy：在 persuade 后面，第二个动词需要带 to；
- make them to want → make them want：make 表示“使、迫使”时，这个结构正好相反，不加 to。
Adverts persuade children to buy sweets and make them want more and more.
几天后，这个表达会再次出现在复习中，你需要换一个情境使用它，例如在 Speaking 中回答有关网红和社交媒体广告的问题。这样，词表中的搭配才会逐渐变成能凭记忆想起、并准确使用的表达。
注册时选择 IELTS 目标和水平，LetsWords 就会为你安排相应练习。付费前可以先体验反馈。
在 Writing Task 2 中使用这些搭配
一道考试风格的题目：
Social media influencers often recommend products to their followers. Some people think this kind of advertising should be controlled as strictly as television commercials. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
示例段落：
Advertising by influencers should be subject to the same rules as television commercials, because its target audience is younger and less critical. A teenager who watches a favourite blogger promote a product rarely realises that the recommendation is paid for, especially when sponsored content looks exactly like an honest review. As a result, followers are exposed to advertising they cannot recognise, and misleading claims about diet pills or skincare go unchallenged. Clear labelling would not ban influencer marketing; it would simply allow viewers to judge what they see. If a brand can persuade young people to buy something through a trusted personality, it should at least be open about the deal.
这个段落为什么有效？开头表明立场，并立即说明理由：受众更年轻，也更容易相信推荐。随后是一条因果链：隐藏的广告让观众难以识别，因此误导性说法得不到质疑。明确标注广告的建议，回应了“这是否意味着全面禁止”的反对意见。加粗搭配准确地标明每一个环节，段落也就不需要用含糊的词语凑篇幅。
在 Speaking 中使用
一道 Part 3 问题：Do you think people trust the news less than they used to?
I’d say yes, and partly it’s because there’s simply too much of it. When you keep up with the news on social media, you see the same story told in five different ways, and it’s hard to tell which is a reliable source. Biased reporting isn’t new, of course, but now anyone can publish anything, so people have become more suspicious. And honestly, that’s not entirely a bad thing.
口语回答中，话题词汇可以与 I’d say、of course、honestly 等表达一起使用，让回答自然，而没有背稿的感觉。
免费练习
- audience：观看、阅读或收听内容的人；
- magazine：每周或每月出版的杂志；
- persuade vs convince：让某人采取行动，还是让某人相信；
- affect vs effect：动词与名词的区别；
- have an impact：后面搭配哪个介词；
- raise awareness：引起对某个问题的关注；
- take advantage of：利用机会。
从词表走向实际运用
读懂 news 要搭配单数动词很容易；谈论新闻时能够准确写出来，则需要练习。可以通过 LetsWords 把词表变成实际运用：选择适合水平的 IELTS 词集，再把本页的搭配加入词集，例如 a reliable source 或 misleading claims。你根据含义回想表达，用它写一个句子；LetsWords 指出错误，用母语解释修改方法，并建议更准确的说法，间隔重复则安排表达再次出现，让用法逐渐熟练。之后再把词汇用于完整文章：IELTS Writing 专区提供媒体与广告话题的 Task 2 题目，涉及面向儿童的广告、社交媒体新闻和错误信息；每篇完整回答都会得到围绕四项评分标准的详细反馈。注册时回答几个关于目标和水平的问题，LetsWords 就会安排练习；付费前可以体验反馈。更多话题见雅思话题词汇指南。