英語四級(jí)閱讀練習(xí)附答案-165 廣告

　　Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this is why they’re always coming in for criticism. Their critics seem to resent them because they have a flair for self-promotion and because they have so much money to throw around. ‘It’s iniquitous,’ they say, ‘that this entirely unproductive industry (if we can call it that) should absorb millions of pounds each year. It only goes to show how much profit the big companies are making. Why don’t they stop advertising and reduce the price of their goods? After all, it’s the consumer who pays…’

 

　　The poor old consumer! He’d have to pay a great deal more if advertising didn’t create mass markets for products. It is precisely because of the heavy advertising that consumer goods are so cheap. But we get the wrong idea if we think the only purpose of advertising is to sell goods. Another equally important function is to inform. A great deal of the knowledge we have about household goods derives largely from the advertisements we read. Advertisements introduce us to new products or remind us of the existence of ones we already know about. Supposing you wanted to buy a washing machine, it is more than likely you would obtain details regarding performance, price, etc., from an advertisement.

　　Lots of people pretend that they never read advertisements, but this claim may be seriously doubted. It is hardly possible not to read advertisements these days. And what fun they often are, too! Just think what a railway station or a newspaper would be like without advertisements. Would you enjoy gazing at a blank wall or reading railway byelaws while waiting for a train? Would you like to read only closely printed columns of news in your daily paper? A cheerful, witty advertisement makes such a difference to a drab wall or a newspaper full of the daily ration of calamities.

　　We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets. Newspapers, commercial radio and television companies could not subsist without this source of revenue. The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper, or can enjoy so many broadcast programmes is due entirely to the money spent by advertisers. Just think what a newspaper would cost if we had to pay its full price!

　　Another thing we mustn’t forget is the ‘small ads.’ which are in virtually every newspaper and magazine. What a tremendously useful service they perform for the community! Just about anything can be accomplished through these columns. For instance, you can find a job, buy or sell a house, announce a birth, marriage or death in what used to be called the ‘hatch, match and dispatch’ column but by far the most fascinating section is the personal or ‘agony’ column. No other item in a newspaper provides such entertaining reading or offers such a deep insight into human nature. It’s the best advertisement for advertising there is!

　　1. What is main idea of this passage?

　　A. Advertisement.

　　B. The benefits of advertisement.

　　C. Advertisers perform a useful service to communities.

　　D. The costs of advertisement.

　　2. The attitude of the author toward advertisers is______.

　　A. appreciative.

　　B. trustworthy.

　　C. critical.

　　D. dissatisfactory.

　　3. Why do the critics criticize advertisers?

　　A. Because advertisers often brag.

　　B. Because critics think advertisement is a “waste of money”.

　　C. Because customers are encouraged to buy more than necessary.

　　D. Because customers pay more.

　　4. Which of the following is Not True?

　　A. Advertisement makes contribution to our pockets and we may know everything.

　　B. We can buy what we want.

　　C. Good quality products don’t need to be advertised.

　　D. Advertisement makes our life colorful.

　　5. The passage is______.

　　A. Narration.

　　B. Description.

　　C. Criticism.

　　D. Argumentation.

　　Vocabulary

　　1. come in for ( sth. ) 是某事物的對(duì)象，吸引(某事物)，獲得

　　2. flair 天資，天分

　　3. iniquitous 極邪惡的，極不公正的

　　4. drab 單調(diào)的，乏味的

　　5. subsist 活下去，生存下去，維持下去

　　6. hatch 孵化(指生孩子)

　　7. match 匹配，婚姻

　　8. dispatch 派遣，發(fā)送

　　9. agony 極大痛苦，煎熬

　　10. agony column (報(bào)刊中關(guān)于個(gè)人疑難問題征詢意見的)讀者來信專欄

　　答案詳解：

　　1. C. 廣告對(duì)社會(huì)的服務(wù)很有用。作者從三方面來敘述廣告作用：第二段點(diǎn)出如果廣告不為產(chǎn)品開辟?gòu)V大的市場(chǎng)，我們就得付出很多錢，正是因?yàn)榇罅康膹V告費(fèi)用，消費(fèi)者的商品才會(huì)那么便宜。廣告除銷售商品外，其重要的功能在通知/告訴信息，有關(guān)家用商品的許多只是來自廣告，還有新產(chǎn)品的介紹。

　　第三段講了美化環(huán)境功能。如果火車站的墻上和報(bào)上沒有廣告，那會(huì)怎么樣。一幅悅?cè)诵哪?，機(jī)智的廣告將改變一切。

　　第四段講了它為我們省錢：別忘了廣告對(duì)我們口袋作出積極的貢獻(xiàn)。報(bào)紙、電臺(tái)、電視臺(tái)公司沒有這筆收入很難生存。我們的報(bào)紙，我們付給很少，或者說，我們能享受那么多的節(jié)目完全是因?yàn)閺V告商花的錢。如果要我們付報(bào)紙的全價(jià)，那我們要花多少錢!

　　最后一段講了各種專欄的功能。人們可以在這些欄目找工作、買賣房子、宣布婚喪嫁娶信息。這些都圍著一個(gè)中心：廣告對(duì)社會(huì)服務(wù)的有用性。

　　A. 廣告。太籠統(tǒng)。B. 廣告之優(yōu)點(diǎn)。文章不是講優(yōu)點(diǎn)，而是講服務(wù)于社會(huì)的功能。D. 廣告費(fèi)用。

　　2. A. 欣賞/贊賞。從上述注釋也可推知是A項(xiàng)。最重要的，作者提出種種功能，是為了反駁第一段內(nèi)提到的論點(diǎn)：完全是非生產(chǎn)企業(yè)每年吸收幾百萬鎊，這說明這些大公司利潤(rùn)有多高。最重要的是消費(fèi)者付的廣告費(fèi)等。反駁更說明了A項(xiàng)對(duì)。

　　B. 值得信任。 C. 批評(píng)。 D. 不滿意。

　　3. A. 因?yàn)閺V告商常常愛吹，。見難句譯注1。

　　B. 因?yàn)榕u(píng)者認(rèn)為廣告浪費(fèi)錢。 C. 因?yàn)閺V告促使消費(fèi)者購(gòu)買不必要的東西。 D. 因?yàn)橄M(fèi)者支付更多。

　　4. C. 優(yōu)質(zhì)產(chǎn)品不需要廣告。一切產(chǎn)品都需要廣告，新產(chǎn)品、老產(chǎn)品都需要。

　　A. 廣告對(duì)我們的口袋作出貢獻(xiàn)。 B. 我們可以買到我們所需的。 D. 廣告使我們生活豐富多彩。這三條都提到也是真實(shí)的。

　　5. C. 文章一開始就提到對(duì)廣告的批評(píng)，然后作者以對(duì)比的手法說明其功能。

　　A. 敘事。B. 描寫。 D. 議論。