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Dialogue: Are
you
a"Brand
slave"?
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A
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Freeway-on-line EFL resource from Linguapress.com ©
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Dialogue: Are
you
a"Brand
slave"?
|
©
Linguapress.com 2001
This
text is a free resource for classroom use and private study only.
Reproduction in any other form - notably printed reproduction in
books or periodicals - is prohibited without the prior agreement of the
copyright holder.
Designer
brands, such as Nike, Gap or even Virgin, are a major aspect of modern
life. Often the brands are global names. But why do some people think that
brands are important, while others could not care
less about them?
Linguapress
asked a group of British teenagers for their opinions about the importance
of designer brands.
MIKE:
Yes, I think that
brands are quite important. When I buy
clothes, I tend to go for good brands, like Nike or Gap,
'cos you know they're good quality.
TESSA:
Well I think that's stupid, I really do. The only time I ever buy Nike
or things like that is in the sales, when they're going cheap.
Otherwise, designer brands are a complete rip-off as far
as I'm concerned. I can't afford to pay twice as much as
I need to, just to have Nike or CK. It's a total waste of money!
MIKE:
But it isn't, is it?
I mean, you know you're getting good quality if you buy a well-known brand.
TESSA:
Maybe, but that doesn't mean the opposite's true,
does it?I mean, when you
buy a Nike baseball cap or something, you're really paying about ten quid
just
to wear the logo! You can get perfectly good quality for half the price
without wasting your money on designer stuff, can't
you?
MIKE:
Sometimes, yeah; but you can't be sure, can
you? I mean, if you buy a pair of Nike trainers, you know you've
got a good pair of shoes, and everyone else knows it too.
TESSA:
Do they? I think that's just silly! Frankly, I don't go round looking
to see what shoes
people have got on; and I certainly wouldn't judge a person by their
clothes.
SARAH:
It's
not a matter of judging people by their clothes. But I think, like,
you feel better if you know you've got good clothes on.
Not necessarily things like Gap, but anything with a reasonably good label..
I mean, lots of people wouldn't
be seen dead wearing stuff from Littlewoods or Marks &
Sparks — it's just so un-cool.
MIKE:
Yeah, it's all about image,
isn't it?
TESSA:
Exactly, you've hit
the nail on the head,haven't
you? It's just image. I mean, you buy designer brands just because
of the image. Not for any real reason at all. Just image, or imagination.
You imagine people think more of you 'cos you're wearing
Armani jeans or something like that.
MIKE:
Well they do. That's why people wear them, isn't
it? I mean, when you go anywhere, people judge you by what they
can see, don't they? If you're wearing crap clothes, no one's
going to think much of you at all!
TOM:
I think you're missing the point there, Mike; after all it's not a question
of choosing between designer clothes and crappy clothes,
it's a matter of choosing between good expensive clothes with a posh
label, and cheaper good clothes without one. You can perfectly well wear
good clothes that don't have some fancy name. I mean, look
at me?
Are you going to look down on me, 'cos there aren't any trendy
labels on any of my gear?
SARAH:
No, not really, but if you had on a Calvin Klein sweatshirt or something,
I might think you were cooler.
TOM:
Oh that's really gross!
TESSA:
I call it juvenile.
SARAH:
But it isn't! Like Tom said, people do judge you by what they see, and
if they see you're wearing good clothes, they'll be more likely to get
a good impression of you.
TOM:
But the things I'm wearing are perfectly good, aren't
they?
SARAH:
They're O.K?..
TOM:
They're perfectly good, and good quality too. I can't see what makes Mike's
sweatshirt any better than mine, just 'cos it's got GAP written on
it. Besides, half ofdesigner
branded stuff is made using sweatshoplabour
in Asia. You know there's kids often
years old workingin factories
in places like Indonesia, making cheap designer stuff for famous brands.
There was a documentary on TV the other day?.
TESSA:
Yes, like, you buy a pair of super trainers for £75 here, and the
people who actually made them were being paid 50p an hour or something.
Your posh expensive trainers really cost about £2 to make. It's no
wonder that companies like Nike can afford all their expensive
advertising, no wonder their bosses are millionaires.
SARAH:
Yeah, maybe, but it's the same for everything, isn't
it? It isn't just companies like Nike that are exploiting people
in poor countries,is
it? They're all doing it. I mean look at your shoes, Tom. Where
were they made?
TOM:
I haven't a clue.
SARAH:
No, so how do you know they weren't made using slave labour too? You don't, do
you?
TOM:
No: but even so, two wrongs
don't make a right. And it doesn't make any difference to the fact
that most designer brands use sweatshop labour in Asia, does
it?
MIKE:
Frankly, I don't see what I can do about it, since you can't go round asking where
everything you buy was made?.
It's just not practical. And wherever they're made, I still like wearing
good clothes. I don't feel good in crap outfits
SARAH:
Nor me neither.
WORDS:
Brand:
designer name - can't
afford to:
don't have enough money for -'cos:
because - could not care less: are not at all
interested -crap,
crappy:
poor quality - factory:
industrial building - fancy:
posh - gear:
clothes, equipment - go
for:
prefer - go
round looking:
spend time looking - gross:
bad, awful - it's
not a matter of:
it's not a question of -
Littlewoods & Marks & Sparks:
Littlewoods and Marks & Spencer, two famous British clothes shops - look
down on:
have a poor opionon of - no
wonder that:
not surprising that - posh:
high class - quid:
pounds - rip-off:
extorsion (French: arnaque) - sales:
when shops sell articles cheaper than usual - stuff:
things -
sweatshoplabour:
people working in very bad intensive conditions - they'll
be more likely to:
they will more probably - think
more of:
have a better impression of - trendy:
fashionable, popular.
Note:
pay particular attention to the phrases and expressions highlighted
in blue.
1) Tag
questions. Note
the use of tag questions in this dialogue. Tag questions are a very common
feature of conversational English. Now add the appropriate tags that might
have followed the following sentences used in the dialogue.
1.You
know they're good quality.
2.It's
just a waste of money!
3.Well
they do
4.You
can perfectly well wear good clothes that don't have some fancy
name.
5.People
do judge you by what they see,
6.There
was a documentary on TV the other day?.
7.They're
all doing it.
2)
Explain the following expressions:
You've
hit the nail on the head.
People
wouldn't be seen dead....
Two
wrongs don't make a right.
You're
missing the point there....
3)
Creative Writing:
Explain,
in about 200 words, why you like or do not like buying designer clothes.
©
Linguapress.com 2001
This
text is a free resource for classroom use and private study only.
Reproduction in any other form - notably printed reproduction in
books or periodicals - is prohibited without the prior agreement of the
copyright holder.
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