Ultra-thin Barbie: girls potentially in danger
Two British universities claim Barbie could promote girls’ insecurity about their image. Barbie dolls, an icon for many young girls, may contribute to eating disorders in adolescence, according to a new research. These dolls, thinner than traditional shapes, make girls want to be unrealistically slim when they grow up.
This study is the first to identify body worries in such young children. It analyses the effects of images of several dolls on almost 200 primary school girls aged five to eight. The girls saw different images of dolls, including Barbie and Emme, a new doll whose body proportions represent a larger body shape; afterwards, the girls were asked to choose figures that represented: a) their real body shape, b) the body shape they ideally desired and c) their ideal body shape as an adult.
The study analysed the difference between the shape girls thought they had and the shape they wanted. The results showed that girls aged five to six were more dissatisfied with their shape and wanted more extreme thinness after seeing Barbie doll images than after seeing other pictures. For those aged six to seven, the negative effects were stronger.
These results are very important and show that children can be influenced at a very early age. The researchers say their findings suggest schools should educate their youngest children about the risks of being too worried about having an “ideally” thin body shape. “Such programmes need to make girls aware that the thin beauty ideal is unachievable and unhealthy”. In fact, less than one in 100,000 women has the body of the Barbie doll.
A COMPREHENSION (4 points)
ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS. (1 point per answer)
1 Why can Barbie dolls be a danger to young girls? Give two reasons.
2 How could this problem start being solved?
ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT. (0.5 points per answer)
3 A doll can be an archetype of the ideal figure for girls.
4 Barbie is slimmer than Emme.
5 Younger girls thought their shape coincided with the one they wanted.
6 Older children were the least affected by the Barbie images.
B * USE OF ENGLISH (3 points)
(0.25 points)
7 FIND IN THE TEXT THE WORD WHICH HAS THE FOLLOWING DEFINITION:
“the particular physical form or appearance of something” (NOUN).
(0.25 points)
8 GIVE A NOUN WITH THE SAME ROOT AS “choose” (VERB; LINE 7).
(0.25 points)
9 FIND IN THE TEXT ONE OPPOSITE FOR “similarity” (NOUN).
(0.25 points)
10 GIVE ONE SYNONYM FOR “desire” (VERB; LINE 7).
(0.5 points)
11 REWRITE THE SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED:
“When did you start playing with Barbies?” | “How long ...?”
12 (0.5 points)
TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO REPORTED SPEECH: “She told me: ‘I will lend you my doll next week’”.
13 (0.5 points)
JOIN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING AN APPROPRIATE LINKER (DO NOT USE AND OR BUT). MAKE CHANGES IF NECESSARY:
“I like to be slim. I also like eating a lot”.
14 (0.5 points)
COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONAL SENTENCE: “You wouldn’t be hungry now if ...”
C * PRODUCTION (3 points)
15 WRITE A COMPOSITION (80-100 WORDS). CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS. SPECIFY YOUR OPTION.
a) What do you think about eating disorders in adolescence?
b) The influence of the world of fashion on physical appearance.
