More and more people want to buy famous brands with clothes, cars and other items. What are the reasons behind this? Do you think it is a positive or negative development?

 

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

 

 

解析&审题

 

本周雅思考试作文题目是2013年11月30日的原题重现。最近的雅思考试作文，2013-2015年的原题复现率比较高，请各位烤鸭重点复习这几年的真题。

 

喜欢衣服，汽车和其他产品，这已经成为越来越多人的习惯。那么，到底是什么原因让人们如此喜欢呢？我们当然也可以从物质、心理和社会三个层面来加以考察。

 

 

• 物质方面，知名品牌的质量一般说来更好，更值得信赖；

• 心理方面，知名品牌能给人带来自我满足感；

• 社会方面，使用知名品牌容易获得别人的信任。

至于这种趋势是好还是坏，大家可以根据自己的理解进行选择论述。比如，我们可以认为这是一种坏的趋势：

 

首先，追求会让我们花掉更多钱，而这些钱完全可以用来更好地保护我们的身体或者投资教育；

其次，追求会让我们变成心理扭曲的消费者；

再次，如果人人都看重品牌，那么这个社会就会变得很势利，买不起产品的人难以得到社会的尊重，从而让社会变得不公正。

 

 

老师笔记

 

01

 

Is a famous brand a matter of identity or vanity? There are reasons to explain why more and more people want to buy brand names. However, to my mind, this trend is a negative development.

 

是身份问题还是虚荣心问题？我们有理由解释为什么越来越多的人想买。然而，在我看来，这个趋势是不利的。

 

解析

（1） 本段直接进入话题，同时明确给出自己的观点。

（2） identity 身份

（3） vanity 虚荣

（4） to my mind 在我看来

 

02

 

Although people who are not vanity-conscious generally buy off-brands for price benefits, many consumers buy brand names for a variety of reasons: quality confidence, social acceptance, and customer loyalty. Firstly, recognized brand names usually have shown a consistency in product quality that has contributed to the evolution of the brand, and for this reason consumers rely on prior experiences or public word-of-mouth when selecting famous brands of clothes, cars and other items. Secondly, people have a desire to fit in, whether at work or in social circles, and so people want to buy famous brands as they believe that the brands will contribute to greater social acceptance. Thirdly, consumers develop loyalty to particular brands that provide a consistent, high-quality experience, and that loyalty is essentially an emotional attachment to a brand.

 

虽然没有虚荣心的人通常为了价格利益而购买非品牌，但许多消费者购买品牌，原因有很多：质量自信、社会接受和顾客忠诚度。首先，公认的通常表现出产品质量的一致性，而这一致性促成了品牌的形成，因此消费者依靠以前的经验或者口碑来选择服装、汽车和其他商品。其次，无论是在工作场合，还是在社会圈子，人们都渴望融入，所以人们想买，因为他们相信，品牌将有助于更好地被社会接受。第三，消费者对那些提供一贯高质量体验的特定品牌有忠诚度，而这份忠诚度本质上是一种对品牌的情感依恋。

 

解析

（1） 本段论述人们购买的三个理由：质量、社会接受和品牌忠诚度。

（2） off-brands 过季的品牌

（3） a variety of 多种多样的

（4） loyalty 忠诚

（5） consistency 一致性

（6） evolution 进化

（7） prior 先前的

（8） social acceptance 社会接受度

 

 

 

03

 

Although buying famous names is necessary for some special purposes, I believe it is generally a negative development. We all know that the product with a famous name is usually a lot more expensive than its less knowncounterpart, which means we have to pay much more for it. Besides, the strong desire for famous brands may turn us into irrational consumers andprompt us to try all, even illegal, means to buy them. Finally, if everybody in the society worships the famous brands, then the world may become an unjust place to live in because people will develop a biased contempt to those who cannot afford these brands.

 

虽然为了某些特殊目的购买是必要的，但我认为这个趋势从总体上看是负面的。我们都知道产品比其不知名的同类产品通常要昂贵得多，这意味着我们得为此付出更多的代价。此外，对的强烈渴望可能会使我们变成非理性的消费者，促使我们去尝试所有的，甚至是非法的，手段来买下它们。最后，如果社会上的每个人都崇拜，那么世界就可能成为一个不公平的地方，因为人们会对那些买不起的人产生偏见。

 

解析

（1）本段讨论为什么热衷品牌是负面的：付出更多金钱，非理性消费，导致不公平的社会。

（2）counterpart 对等的人或物

（3）irrational 不理性的

（4）prompt 促使

（5）worship 崇拜

（6）biased 有偏见的

（7）contempt 轻视；看不起

 

04

 

In conclusion, though more and more people prefer famous brands for one reason or another, personally I do not think much of this trend. The crazefor famous brands, in my view, is harmful to both individuals and the societyas a whole.

 

总之，虽然越来越多的人因为某种原因而更喜欢，但我个人并不很看好这一趋势。在我看来，对的狂热对个人和整个社会都是有害的。

 

解析

（1）本段是结论，明确提出自己的观点。

（2）craze 疯狂

（3）as a whole 作为整体地

 

 

 

 

 

7分范文

Is a famous brand a matter of identity or vanity? There are reasons to explain why more and more people want to buy brand names. However, to my mind, this trend is a negative development.

 

Although people who are not vanity-conscious generally buy off-brands for price benefits, many consumers buy brand names for a variety of reasons: quality confidence, social acceptance, and customer loyalty. Firstly, recognized brand names usually have shown a consistency in product quality that has contributed to the evolution of the brand, and for this reason consumers rely on prior experiences or public word-of-mouth when selecting famous brands of clothes, cars and other items. Secondly, people have a desire to fit in, whether at work or in social circles, and so people want to buy famous brands as they believe that the brands will contribute to greater social acceptance. Thirdly, consumers develop loyalty to particular brands that provide a consistent, high-quality experience, and that loyalty is essentially an emotional attachment to a brand.

 

Although buying famous names is necessary for some special purposes, I believe it is generally a negative development. We all know that the product with a famous name is usually a lot more expensive than its less known counterpart, which means we have to pay much more for it. Besides, the strong desire for famous brands may turn us into irrational consumers and prompt us to try all, even illegal, means to buy them. Finally, if everybody in the society worships the famous brands, then the world may become an unjust place to live in because people will develop a biased contempt to those who cannot afford these brands.

 

In conclusion, though more and more people prefer famous brands for one reason or another, personally I do not think much of this trend. The craze for famous brands, in my view, is harmful to both individuals and the society as a whole.

(318 words)