2024年专四阅读练习：广告

2024-04-24 16:48:32来源：网络

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　　Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this iswhy they’re always coming in for criticism. Theircritics seem to resent them because they have aflair for self-promotion and because they have somuch money to throw around. ‘It’s iniquitous,’ theysay, ‘that this entirely unproductive industry (if wecan call it that) should absorb millions of poundseach year. It only goes to show how much profit the big companies are making. Why don’t theystop 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 createmass markets for products. It is precisely because of the heavy advertising that consumergoods are so cheap. But we get the wrong idea if we think the only purpose of advertising is tosell goods. Another equally important function is to inform. A great deal of the knowledge wehave about household goods derives largely from the advertisements we read. Advertisementsintroduce 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 obtaindetails regarding performance, price, etc., from an advertisement.

　　Lots of people pretend that they never read advertisements, but this claim may beseriously doubted. It is hardly possible not to read advertisements these days. And what funthey often are, too! Just think what a railway station or a newspaper would be like withoutadvertisements. Would you enjoy gazing at a blank wall or reading railway byelaws whilewaiting for a train? Would you like to read only closely printed columns of news in your dailypaper? A cheerful, witty advertisement makes such a difference to a drab wall or anewspaper 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 sourceof revenue. The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper, or can enjoy so many broadcastprogrammes is due entirely to the money spent by advertisers. Just think what a newspaperwould cost if we had to pay its full price!

　　Another thing we mustn’t forget is the ‘small ads.’ which are in virtually every newspaperand magazine. What a tremendously useful service they perform for the community! Justabout 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 offerssuch 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.