Passage 4

　　The appeal of advertising to buying motives canhave both negative and positive effects. Consumersmay be convinced to buy a product of poor qualityor high price because of an advertisement. Forexample some advertisers have appealed to people’sdesire for better fuel economy for their cars byadvertising automotive products that improve gasoline mileage. Some of the products work. Others are worthless and a waste of consumers’ money.

　　Sometimes advertising is intentionally misleading. A few years ago a brand of bread wasoffered to dieters (节食者)with the message that there were fewer calories (卡路里)in everyslice. It turned out that the bread was not dietetic (适合于节食的). But there were the samenumber of calories in every loaf.

　　On the positive side, emotional appeals may respond to a consumer's real concerns. Considerfire insurance. Fire insurance may be sold by appealing to fear of loss. But fear of loss is thereal reason for fire insurance. The security of knowing that property is protected byinsurance makes the purchase of fire insurance a worthwhile investment for most people ifconsumers consider the quality of the insurance plans as well as the message in the ads，they will benefit from the advertising.

　　Each consumer must evaluate her or his own situation. Are the benefits of the productimportant enough to justify buying it? Advertising is intended to appeal to consumers，but itdoes not force them to buy the product. Consumers still control the final buying decision.

　　The passage is mainly about?

　　A. ways to protect the interests of the consumer

　　B. how to make a wise buying decision

　　C. the function of advertisements in promoting sales

　　D. the positive and negative aspects of advertising

　　【讲解答案】

　　主旨题。文章第一句“The appeal of advertising tobuying motives can have both negative and positiveeffects.”鸚告诉读者广专爲有积极、消极两方面的影响，两且整篇文章都在诨明这一观点? 因此选D。