★★☆Trending Today: Barbie Reimagined
2016年02月02日 ★★☆, American Life & Culture, As It Is, News Articles, VOA.
*Teachers will divide the article into 2-3 paragraphs to help you understand and check the pronunciation of the difficult words.
Vocabulary
*Read the words carefully.
- curvy /ˈkɚvi/ (adj.)
- petite /pəˈtiːt/ (adj.)
- range /ˈreɪnʤ/ (v.)
- stoked /ˈstoʊkt/ (adj.)
- fictitious /fɪkˈtɪʃəs/ (adj.)
- What do you think of the new Barbie dolls?
- Are you concerned about your physical looks? Why?
- If there is anything that you would like to change in your body, What is it? Why?
a term used to describe the shape of a woman’s body, a smooth, rounded line
having a small and thin body — usually used to describe a woman or girl
a group or collection of different things or people that are usually similar in some way
very excited
not true or real
Article
Trending Today: Barbie Reimagined
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(1) This is What’s Trending Today.
(2) The Barbie doll has been a part of American culture for more than 50 years. Tall, blond and blue-eyed, the doll became a symbol of the “all-American girl.”
(3) But in recent years, critics targeted the doll.
(4) Social commentators said Barbie was not a good representation of what women do or should look like.
(5) The toy company that makes Barbie made some changes over the years. For example, it widened Barbie’s waist in more realistic proportion to the rest of her body.
(6) But that apparently was not enough for consumers or critics.
(7) So on Thursday, the manufacturer announced three new Barbie body types. Time magazine reported the story.
Exclusive: What Barbie’s new shape says about American beauty https://t.co/BZfpe4xHPa pic.twitter.com/OhXSrwtDmM
— TIME.com (@TIME) January 28, 2016
(8) Mattel describes the new dolls as tall, petite and curvy.
(9) The dolls will also represent different ethnicities, with a range of skin colors and hair styles.
We proudly add three new body types to our line. Meet the new dolls. https://t.co/JDeqzI59nX #TheDollEvolves pic.twitter.com/IJVcVhfPkL
— Barbie (@Barbie) January 28, 2016
(10) Lots of people commented about the news on Twitter and Facebook.
(11) Some people were excited to see the changes
(12) Geek Girl Diva tweeted, “The curves are cool. I’m way more stoked about the hair color.”
The curves are cool. I’m way more stoked about the hair color. Kudos, @Mattel & @Barbie, y’did good. pic.twitter.com/j5k1EuvPmi
— Geek Girl Diva (@geekgirldiva) January 28, 2016
(13) Another Twitterer, Maura Brannigan, posted: “Welcome to the 21st Century, Barbie.”
Welcome to the 21st century, Barbie. ‘BOUT DAMN TIME. https://t.co/Zh7N35cxuu
— Maura Brannigan (@maura_brannigan) January 28, 2016
(14) But others were not as excited about the news. They say people should not get so worked up about a toy.
(15) Facebook user Michon Martin posted: “I never saw anything negative about her body or standards … she’s a fictitious piece of plastic.”
(16) And that’s What’s Trending Today.
Discussion
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Tags: culture, current events, Entertainment, lifestyle, people