TEXT C Every year
television stations receive hundreds of complaints about the loudness of
advertisements. However, federal rules forbid the practice of making ads louder
than the programming. In addition, television stations always operate at the
highest sound level allowed for reasons of efficiency. According to one NBC
executive, no difference exists in the peak sound level of ads and programming.
Given this information, why do commercials sound so loud
The sensation of sound involves a variety of factors in addition to its
peak level. Advertisers are skilful at creating the impression of loudness
through their expert use of such factors. One major contributor to the perceived
loudness of commercials is that much less variation in sound level occurs during
a commercial. In regular programming the intensity of sound varies over a large
range. However, sound levels in commercials tend to stay at or near peak
levels. Other" tricks of the trade" are also used.
Because low-frequency sounds can mask higher frequency sounds, advertisers
filter out any noises that may drown out the primary message. In addition, the
human voice has more auditory (听觉的) impact in the middle frequency ranges.
Advertisers electronically vary voice sounds so that they stay within such a
frequency band. Another approach is to write the script so that lots of
consonants (辅音) are used, because people are more aware of consonants than vowel
(元音) sounds. Finally, advertisers try to begin commercials with sounds that are
highly different from those of the programming within which the commercial is
buried. Because people become adapted to the type of sounds coming from
programming, a dramatic change in sound quality draws viewer attention. For
example, notice how many commercials begin with a cheerful song of some
type. The attention-getting property of commercials can be seen
by observing one-to two-year-old children who happen to be playing around a
television set. They may totally ignore the programming. However, when a
commercial comes on, their attention is immediately drawn to it because of its
dramatic sound quality. In the passage, the author is trying to tell us______.
A.how TV ads vary vocal sounds to attract attention B.how the loudness of TV ads is overcome C.how advertisers control the sound properties of TV ads D.how the attention-getting properties of sounds are made use of in TV ads