Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. curb
    • ex. The health department’s goal is to curb diseases caused by unhealthy food.
  2. obesity
    • ex. Eating too much junk food can lead to obesity.
  3. jokingly
    • ex. She jokingly told her sister that she had seen a mermaid at the beach.
  4. publicity
    • ex. The company used social media ads to increase its product's publicity.
  5. a killjoy
    • ex. He's such a killjoy. He never wants to join any of our fun activities.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Comedian Ed Gamble has been told to change his poster on subway stations. The poster for the show, “Hot Diggity Dog,” showed a half-eaten hot dog on a plate with mustard and ketchup. Gamble had to change his poster because it broke the transit agency’s rule against showing junk food in ads. He then replaced the hot dog with a cucumber, and the poster was approved.

Gamble, who has diabetes, said that he could understand why the ad rules exist: to help curb obesity in children. Gamble jokingly said that his new poster is more harmful because it promotes the idea that cucumbers taste good with ketchup and mustard. His poster even gathered more publicity because of this issue.

Since 2019, Transport for London (TFL) has not allowed ads for foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt from the city’s train and bus stations. It also has not allowed ads that promote unhealthy or unrealistic body shapes. TFL said that it is always happy to help people follow the policy. However, Britain’s newspapers have criticized the policy. The Sun even described TFL leaders as “killjoys.”

 This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

TFL’s Ad Policy

  • TFL’s policy doesn’t allow ads for foods that are high in fat, sugar, and salt from the city’s train and bus stations. What do you think of this policy (ex. it is too much, it is a good policy)? Discuss.
  • TFL also doesn’t allow ads that promote unhealthy or unrealistic body shapes. How do you think this policy will help people (ex. it will encourage people to focus on healthy habits)? Discuss.
  • Britain’s newspapers criticized the policy and The Sun described TFL leaders as “killjoys.” Why do you think they did so? Discuss.

Avoiding Junk Foods

  • Do you believe that avoiding junk foods is important to stay healthy? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, do a lot of people in your country consume junk food? Why do you say so? Discuss.
  • How can you avoid junk food (ex. by cooking my own meals, by buying healthy snacks)? Discuss.