单选题 Until recently, women in advertisements wore one of three things—an apron, a glamorous dress or a frown. Although that is now changing, many women still feel angry enough to deface offending advertisements with stickers protesting, "This ad degrades women." Why does this sort of advertising exist? How can advertisers and ad agencies produce, sometimes after months of research, advertising that offends the consumer?
The Advertising Standards Authority (the body which deals with complaints about print media) is carrying out research into how women feel about the way they are portrayed in advertisements. Its conclusions are likely to be what the advertising industry already knows: although women are often irritated by the way they are seen in ads, few feel strongly enough to complain.
Women are not the only victims of poor and boring stereotypes--in many TV commercials men are seen either as useless, childish fools who are unable to perform the simplest household tasks, or as inconsiderate boors, permanently on the lookout for an escape to the pub. But it is women who seem to bear the brunt of the industry"s apparent inability to put people into an authentic present-day context.
Yet according to Emma Bennett, executive creative director of a London advertising agency, women are not infuriated by stereotypes and sexist advertising. "It tends to wash over them; they are not militant or angry-they just find it annoying or tiresome. They reluctantly accept outdated stereotypes, but heave a sigh of relief when an advertisement really gets it right." She says that it is not advertising"s use of the housewife role that bothers women, but the way in which it is handled. "Researchers have often asked the wrong questions. The most important thing is the advertisement"s tone of voice. Women hate being patronized, flattered or given desperately down-to-earth common sense advice."
In the end, the responsibility for good advertising must be shared between the advertiser, the advertising agency and the consumer. Advertising does not set trends but it reflects them. It is up to the consumer to tell advertisers where they fail, and until people on the receiving end take the business seriously and make their feelings known, the process of change will remain laboriously slow.
单选题 What do women usually do with advertisements that offend them?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 第1段第2句描述了女性对使她们感到不快的广告的态度:angry,但仅此而已,原文没有提到她们是否会诉诸法律(A),或罢买相关产品(C),也没有提到她们会感到ashamed(D),因此,本题应选B。
单选题 The advertisers don"t give up producing offending advertisements mainly because ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 虽然第2段最后一句中的few feel strongly enough to complain与A同义,故A为本题答案。同一句表明广告商知道消费者会感到irritated,因此,B不正确;原文没有提及广告商“害不害怕”被投诉。因此,C不正确;D中的“消费者不把广告当真”与文意相悖。
单选题 In advertisements, men are usually stereotyped as ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 第3段第1句谈到男性在广告中被模式化,是以家庭生活为背景的,因此,与“商业“有关的A和D可先排除。再根据该句中的useless,unable...,inconsiderate等贬义词可以知道男性通常被定型为比较负面的形象,因此,本题应选B。
单选题 According to Emma Bennett, the researchers should be more concerned about ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的Emma Bennett定位到第4段。该段倒数第2句表明她认为研究人员最关注的应该是the advertisement"s tone of voice,即广告商的态度,结合上下文,此处的态度应指对女性的态度,因此,本题应选C。
单选题 According to the author, the most crucial factor in the improvement of the advertisements is ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 最后一段最后一句中的It"s up to...和until...都强调了消费者对广告业的重要影响,而且消费者是使到广告业发生改变的最重要的因索,可见,本题应选D。