单选题   The poor old consumer! We'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 derives 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 bylaws 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 dull wall or a newspaper full of the daily ration of calamities.
    We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets. Newspapers, commercial radio station and television companies could not survive without this source of revenue. The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper, or can enjoy so many broadcast programs 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' column 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!
单选题     We are different from the old consumers in that ______.
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】根据题干中的old consumers将本题出处定位于第1段第1句。 第1段第1句提到以前的顾客很可怜。后面通过与现在的顾客的对比解释了其原因：以前的顾客没有如今这么多的广告，因此要花更多钱购买商品。由此可见，如今的顾客与过去的顾客的不同之处就在于，如今我们有很多的广告从而可以买到便宜的商品。其他三项都与本题无关，予以排除。
单选题     What does advertising do with the products we already know about?
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】根据题干中的we already know about将本题出处定位于第1段倒数第二句。 第1段倒数第二句提到，广告向我们介绍新产品，或者提醒我们有哪些我们已经了解的产品仍在市面上销售。C是对文中remind us of the existence of ones的同义转述。其他三项在文中均未提及。
单选题     What do the railway bylaws most probably refer to?
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】根据题干中的railway bylaws将本题出处定位于第2段倒数第三句。 第2段倒数第二、三句都是在假设没有广告的情况，而railway bylaws与倒数第二句 提到的没有广告的报纸是并列，由此可见，bylaws最可能指的是火车站一些没有广告作用的信息，即冗长的铁路规则。A“铁路公司出版的报纸”也可能包含广告，故排除；C和D都与广告有关，因此也不符合题意。
单选题     What does the author mean by saying that 'advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets'?
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】根据题干中的advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets将本题出处定位于第3段第1句。 第3段第1句为本段的主题句，根据后文提到的“我们付很少的钱就能买到报纸，或者可以欣赏到那么多广播节目，完全是因为广告商出了钱”可推断，作者在这里是想说广告商替我们省了钱。其他三项都与pockets一词无关。
单选题     Which of the following statements is true about the 'agony' column?
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】根据题干中的'agony' column将本题出处定位于最后一段倒数第三句。 最后一段第1句为本段的主题句，后面提到的“生死嫁娶”栏目、“私事广告栏”、“答读者问专栏”都是对small ads(小广告)的举例，由此可见，'agony' column是小广告的一种。B是对'agony' column的字面理解；本段第2句提到，“小广告”为社会提供了非常有用的服务，而非只为家庭提供服务，故排除C；“生死嫁娶”栏目和“私事广告栏”、“答读者问专栏”都属于“小广告”的一种，它们之间没有包含关系，故排除D。