北京地区(2000年6月10日) College English Test
Part I Reading Comprehension(40%)
Directions: There are four passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage 1
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:
Advertisement can be thought of "as the means of making known in order to buy or sell goods or services ". Advertisement aims to increase people' s awareness and arouse interest. It tries to inform and to persuade. The media are all used to spread the message. The press offers a fairly cheap method, and magazines are used to reach special sections of the market. The cinema and commercial radio are useful for local market. Television, although more expensive, can be very effective. Public notices are fairly cheap and more permanent in their power of attraction. Other ways of increasing consumer interest are through exhibitions and trade fairs as well as direct mail advertisement.
There can be no doubt that the growth in advertisement is one of the most striking features of the western world in this century. Many businesses such as those handling frozen foods, liquor, tobacco and medicines have been built up largely by advertisement.
We might ask whether the cost of advertisement is paid for by the producer or by the customer. Since advertisement forms part of the cost of production, which has to be covered by the selling price, it is clear that it is the customer who pays for advertisement. However, if large scale advertisement leads to increased demand, production costs are reduced, and the customer pays less.
It is difficult to measure exactly the influence of advertisement on sales. When the market is growing, advertisement helps to increase demand. When