Advantages of Ads

点评：

本文第一段引述对广告的批评意见，"after all, it's the consumer who pays..."，似乎要论述广告的缺点。然而第二段却以"The poor old consumers!"话锋一转。通过重复"consumer"一词，起到承上启下之效。第二段介绍了广告的"informative function"。第三段的首句从语义上承接上文，进而介绍广告带来的乐趣。第四、五段的首句"We must not forget, either that"和"Another thing we mustn't forget is ..."均为承上启下的过渡句，进而介绍广告对人们生活所起的作用。

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(if 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 all, it's the consumer who pays..."

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 derivers 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.

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 bye-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 a newspaper full of the daily ration of calamities.

We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positivecontribution 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 programmes is due entirely to the money spent by advertisers. Just think what a newspaper would cost if we had to pay its full price!

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!

背景介绍：

在我们的生活中，各种形式的广告随处可见。而据了解广告费用惊人，这不免使人们疑惑，巨额资金用于做广告而不能创造出任何价值，这不啻为一种浪费。然而本文作者却从另一个角度阐述广告的优越性。

参考译文：

广告的益处

广告人往往喜欢夸张，或许这就是他们总是招人非议的原因吧。他们的批判者们对他们似乎有些愤愤之情，因为他们有自我推销的才华，也因为他们挥金如土。"真是作孽呀！"那些人感叹："一个完全不创造价值的产业（如果还能把它称作产业的话）每年竟要花费数百万英镑。这只能表示，那些大公司赚的钱多到什么程度。他们为何不停止做广告以降低商品的价格呢？毕竟，要付钱的是消费者。"

可怜的消费者！若非有广告为商品开辟了大规模的市场，他们要付出的钱还多着呢！恰恰是由于大量的广告宣传才使得消费品如此便宜。但是，如果我们认为广告的唯一目的就是推销商品的话，那就大错特错了。广告的另一个同等重要的功能就是提供信息。我们所拥有的关于家用商品的知识大都来自于我们所读到的广告。广告为我们介绍新产品，或者提醒我们那些我们熟悉的老品牌的存在。假设你想买一台洗衣机，极有可能，你是从广告上了解其性能、价格等详细情况的。

许多人佯言他们从不读广告，但是，认真地想一想，这种声称十分值得怀疑。如今要做到不读广告几乎是不可能的。况且，广告为我们带来多少乐趣呀！想想看，若没有广告，火车站或者报纸将变成什么样呢？当你等候列车的时候，只能直愣愣地对着一面白墙，或者只能阅读铁路运输细则，你会喜欢吗？你难道又会满足于阅读排满一条一条新闻的日报吗？一则令人愉快、妙趣横生的广告会给一面单调乏味的墙或一张登满各种灾难的报纸平添多少变化呀！

同时，我们也不要忘了，广告为我们节省了许多费用。如果没有广告受益，报纸、商业广播何电视公司都将无法维持下去。我们花如此少的钱便能买来每天的报纸，收听到许多广播节目，这完全得益于广告商花了钱。想想吧，若要我们自己来支付报纸的全部费用，那得花多少钱啊！

还有一件事我们也不能忘，那就是"小广告"。几乎所有的报纸、杂志商都能见到那种广告。它们为公众提供了多么便捷的服务啊！几乎所有的事情都可以通过这些栏目实现。例如，你可以找工作，买卖房子，以及在过去被称为"婚丧喜庆"的栏目里刊登出生、婚嫁以及讣告等消息。不过，最有趣的还是私人事务栏目。报纸上任何其他栏目都不如这个栏目能令人愉悦或给人以洞察人性的敏锐视角。它是现存广告的最好广告。
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