Question

No one knows for sure when advertising first started. It is possible that it grew out of the discovery that some people did certain kinds of work better than others did them. That led to the concept of specialization, which means that people would specialize, or focus, on doing one specific job.

Let’s take a man we’ll call Mr. Fielder, for example. He did everything connected with farming. He planted seeds, tended the fields, and harvested and sold his crops. At the same time, he did many other jobs on the farm. However, he didn’t make the bricks for his house, cut his trees into boards, make the plows (犁), or any of other hundreds of things a farm needs. Instead, he got them from people who specialized in doing each of those things. Suppose there was another man we shall call Mr. Plowright. Using what he knew about farming and working with iron, Mr. Plowright invented a plow that made farming easier. Mr. Plowright did not really like farming himself and wanted to specialize in making really good plows. Perhaps, he thought, other farmers will trade what they grow for one of my plows.

How did Mr. Plowright let people know what he was doing? Why, he advertised, of course. First he opened a shop and then he put up a sign outside the shop to attract customers. That sign may have been no more than a plow carved into a piece of wood and a simple arrow pointing to the shop door. It was probably all the information people needed to find Mr. Plowright and his really good plows.

Many historians believe that the first outdoor signs were used about five thousand years ago. Even before most people could read, they understood such signs. Shopkeepers would carve into stone, clay, or wood symbols for the products they had for sale.

A medium, in advertising talk, is the way you communicate your message. You might say that the first medium used in advertising was signs with symbols. The second medium was audio, or sound, although that term is not used exactly in the way we use it today. Originally, just the human voice and maybe some kind of simple instrument, such as a bell, were used to get people’s attention.

A crier, in the historical sense, is not someone who weeps easily. It is someone, probably a man, with a voice loud enough to be heard over the other noises of a city. In ancient Egypt, shopkeepers might hire such a person to spread the news about their products. Often this earliest form of advertising involved a newly arrived ship loaded with goods. Perhaps the crier described the goods, explained where they came from, and praised their quality. His job was, in other words, not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today’s world.

1.What probably led to the start of advertisement?

A. The discovery of iron.

B. The development of farming techniques.

C. The specialization of labor.

D. The appearance of new jobs.

2.The writer makes up the two stories of Mr. Fielder and Mr. Plowright in order to __________.

A. explain the origin of advertising

B. predict the future of advertising

C. provide suggestions for advertising

D. expose problems in advertising

3.In ancient Egypt, a crier was probably someone who __________.

A. functioned like today’s TV or radio commercial

B. owned a ship

C. had the loudest voice

D. ran a shop selling goods to farmers

4.The last two paragraphs are mainly about __________.

A. the basic design of advertising

B. the early forms of advertising

C. the benefits of advertising

D. the history of advertising

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.A

3.A

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：文章主要講的是廣告的起源。沒有人確切地知道廣告是什么時(shí)候開始出現(xiàn)的。廣告可能起源于工作分工的出現(xiàn)。許多歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為最早的戶外廣告出現(xiàn)在五千年之前。以前的廣告形式主要是標(biāo)志牌和聲音等。

1.That led to the concept of specialization, which means that people would specialize, or focus, on doing one specific job”可知，廣告是伴隨著行業(yè)分工的出現(xiàn)而產(chǎn)生的，故選C。

2.Let’s take a man we’ll call Mr. Fielder, for example. ...Suppose there was another man we shall call Mr. Plowright.”可知，Mr. Fielder喜歡種莊稼，而Mr. Plowright喜歡發(fā)明種田的工具，于是就出現(xiàn)了工作上的分工，根據(jù)第一段最后“which means that people would specialize, or focus, on doing one specific job”可知，作者是舉例說明廣告的起源，故選A。

3.Originally, just the human voice and maybe some kind of simple instrument, such as a bell, were used to get people’s attention.”可知，最初，人們使用聲音、鈴聲等來吸引他人的注意力；根據(jù)最后一段“A crier...is someone, probably a man, with a voice loud enough to be heard over the other noises of a city. ...In ancient Egypt, shopkeepers might hire such a person to spread the news about their products.”可知，crier指的是聲音很大的人，在古埃及，店主雇傭這樣的人來宣傳他們的新產(chǎn)品；根據(jù)最后一句“His job was, in other words, not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today’s world.”可知，他們的工作與現(xiàn)在的商業(yè)廣告類似，故選A。

4.the first medium used in advertising was signs with symbols. The second medium was audio, or sound...A crier,...It is someone, probably a man, with a voice loud enough to...In ancient Egypt, shopkeepers might hire such a person...Often this earliest form of advertising”可知，最后兩段講的是以前的廣告形式，故選B。

考點(diǎn)：歷史類短文閱讀