Question

【题目】You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater．You listen to their conversation：

“I can't believe it－Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find．Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome．”

They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater．It's nice and the price is right．You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish．They must know．So, you buy it．You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency．They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes．

Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating．If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too．This is the secret of undercover marketing．Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it．

Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising．This is particularly true of the MTV generation－consumers between the age of 18 and 34．It's a golden group．They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads．

So advertising agencies hire young actors to “perform” in bars and other places where young adults go．Some people might call this practice misleading, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative．“Look at traditional advertising．Its effectiveness is decreasing．”It is true, because everyone knows an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something．However, you don't know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance．

【1】The two attractive young women were talking so as to ________．

A. get the sweater at a lower price

B. be heard by people around

C. be admired by other shoppers

D. decide on buying the sweater

【2】Lorenzo Bertolla is ________．

A. a very popular male singer

B. an advertising agency

C. a clothing company in Rome

D. the brand name of clothes

【3】What can we infer from the passage?

A. Traditional advertising will soon disappear in the market．

B. The MTV generation tends to be more easily influenced by all kinds of ads．

C. That traditional advertising is too direct may lead to its decreasing effectiveness．

D. Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government．

【4】Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Two Attractive Shoppers

B. Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters

C. Undercover Marketing

D. Ways of Advertising

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】D

【3】C

【4】C

【解析】本文是说明文。你可曾因为别人的评论而买下某种商品？你可能想不到那些谈论者其实是商家请的“托”。

【1】由第3段可知，她们其实是商家请的广告职员，目的就是通过大声讨论商品吸引顾客对其商品的关注和兴趣，故选B。

【2】由第1段中的looking at a sweater及第3段最后的Lorenzo Bertolla clothes可知，这是一个服装品牌。

【3】根据第5段的1、2句排除B项；D项说法在文中无事实依据，也过于武断，故排除。又根据最后一段的内容可断C项正确。

【4】文章主要讲述了商家雇请广告员工来吸引顾客的新的广告模式－undercover marketing，即秘密营销。