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 bye laws 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 program mes 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‘a(chǎn)gony’ 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(wèn)題征詢(xún)意見(jiàn)的)讀者來(lái)信專(zhuān)欄

　　1. Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this is why they’re always coming in for criticism.

　　【參考譯文】廣告商總是雄心勃勃(想得很大)，也許這就是為什么他們老挨批評(píng)。

　　2. Their critics seem to resent them because they have a flair for self-promotion.

　　【參考譯文】他們的批評(píng)者似乎對(duì)他們很氣憤，因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)谧晕姨Ц?標(biāo)榜上很有天分。

　　3. No other item in a newspaper provides such entertaining reading or offer such deep insight into human nature.

　　【參考譯文】報(bào)紙任何其他欄目都難以提供如此有趣的文章，或提供對(duì)人性的內(nèi)涵如此深刻的洞察。

　　4. It’s the best advertisement for advertising there is.

　　【參考譯文】。

　　寫(xiě)作方法與文章大意

　　文章以因果、對(duì)比的手法寫(xiě)出有沒(méi)有廣告的后果及廣告的真正作用。文章首先指出廣告商遭批評(píng)的原因：廣告商夸大和人們認(rèn)為廣告浪費(fèi)錢(qián)財(cái)、商品價(jià)格就搞;然后作者以有無(wú)廣告的后果突出其功能，沒(méi)有廣告，商品價(jià)更高，生活單調(diào)、乏味。有了廣告，商品價(jià)低，生活豐富多彩，人們獲取各種信息。