Directions: You are going to read a list of headings and a text
about the functions of advertisment. Choose the most suitable heading from the
list A-F for each numbered paragraph (4145). There is one extra beading which
you do not need to use. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.
[A] Advertisements add interests to life [B] Advertisements help to save
money [C] Criticisms on advertisers [D] Usefulness of small
advertisements [E] True aesthetic value of advertisement [F] Informing:
the chief function of advertising 41______
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 ( ff 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 ail, it’s the consumer
who pay..." 42______ 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.
43______ 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 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 newspaper full of the daily ration of
calamities. 44______ 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 programs is due entirely to the money spent by advertisers. Just
think what a newspaper would cost if we had to pay its full price !
45______ 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" columns; 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 !