1. It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable price, thereby establishing a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labour, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television licence would need to be doubled, and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 per cent more.
____________________. Apart from the fact that twenty-seven acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for mercifully the public has the good sense not to buy the inferior article more than once. If you see an article consistently advertised, it is the surest proof I know that the article does what is claimed for it, and that it represents good value.
[A] If its message were confined merely to information - and that in itself would be difficult if not impossible to achieve, for even a detail such as the choice of the colour of a shirt is subtly persuasive - advertising would be so boring that no one would pay any attention.
[B] And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a guarantee of reasonable value in the products and services you buy.

【答案】[B]。空格前后的内容都是在说广告给社会带来的好处，可见两段属于顺接关系，空格处的语气大致可以推断是对广告的肯定。[B]中的"guarantee"肯定也是广告的好处所在，而且"reasonable value"和下文的"good value"是同义表达，因此推断此项应为正确答案；而[A]中的"merely"、"boring"显然是消极的词汇，与上下文的语境不符。
2. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they encounter new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.
____________________. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow. Do we perceive ourselves as quick and curious? If so, then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we're shy and indecisive? Then our sense of timidity can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and not to take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think we're slow to adapt to change or that we're not smart enough to cope with a new challenge? Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.
[A] In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to confront the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may "fail" at first.
[B] By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way.

【答案】[A]。空格前指出在过程中遇到障碍时所持的态度和所具有的情感，段尾的几个"new"对解题很关键；空格后表达了作者的人生态度：勇敢、敢于冒险，空格处也应该是这种态度才能前后一致。[A]中的"willingness"、"accept the possibility that they may "fail" at first"显然与下文相稳合；[B]是对成长过程的理解，没有涉及到人生态度。因此[A]为答案。
3. Tight-lipped elders used to say, "It's not what you want in this world, but what you get."
____________________.
You can make a mental blueprint of a desire as you would make a blueprint of a house, and each of us is continually making these blueprints in the general routine of everyday living. If we intend to have friends to dinner, we plan the menu, make a shopping list, decide which food to cook first, and such planning is an essential for any type of meal to be served.
[A] Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things.
[B] When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have
something tangible to sell.

【答案】[A]。先看已给出部分，第一段引用一长辈的话来说明需要与得到之间的关系，第三段用具体实例来强调制定计划的重要性。再看两备选答案：[A]从心理学的角度来进一步说明需要与得到之间的关系，显然应是第一段的继续，而且与第二段衔接也很自然；[B]中有"blueprint"这个词，而在第三段中也出现了此词，因此具有很强的迷惑性，此时一定要注意时态，"have prepared"是完成时而后面的第三段是一般现在时，从这一角度考虑就应将此排除，而且，此选项中的"sell"一词，与上下文都无关，因此选[A]。