Lesson 26

No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements.
没有人能避免受广告的影响
Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us.
尽管我们可能对自己的高雅品味感到自豪，但我们已无法独立自主地选择自己需要的东西了，因为广告正潜移默化地影响着我们。
In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses.
为了说服我们购买这样那样的产品，广告商深入研究了人性，并对我们所有的小弱点进行了分类。
Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing.
广告商多年前就发现，我们所有人都喜欢白嫖。
An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong.
一则以“免费”这个魔力词汇开头的广告很少会出错。
These days, advertisers not only offer free samples, but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well.
如今，广告商不仅提供免费样品，还提供免费汽车、免费住房，甚至还有环球旅行。
They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money.
他们设计了数百项竞赛，使我们能够赢取巨额奖金。
Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
无线电和电视已经使广告商能够以这种方式吸引数百万人的注意力。
During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory.
在一次广播节目中，一家饼干制造公司曾邀请听众烤饼干并寄送到他们的工厂。
They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener.
他们提议以每磅10美元的价格收购听众烘焙出的最大的饼干。
The response to this competition was tremendous.
对这次竞争的反应是巨大的。
Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory.
不久之后，各种形状和尺寸的饼干开始送达到工厂。
One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow.
一位女士推着独轮车送来了一块饼干。
It weighed nearly 500 pounds.
它重达接近500磅。
A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car.
过了一会儿，一个男人带着一块占据了他汽车整个行李箱的饼干走了过来。
All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed.
所有寄出的饼干都经过了仔细称重。
The largest was 713 pounds.
最大的那个重713磅。
It seemed certain that this would win the prize.
似乎可以肯定，这件作品将会获奖。
But just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2,400 pounds.
但就在比赛结束前，一辆载着一块重达2,400磅的巨型饼干的卡车送到了工厂。
It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1,000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients.
它是由一名大学生烘焙的，他使用了超过1,000磅面粉、800磅糖、200磅油脂和400磅各种其他配料。
It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry.
它是如此沉重，以至于不得不动用起重机将其从货车上卸下来。
The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24,000.
制造商们不得不支付比他们预期的更多的钱，因为他们以24,000美元的价格从那个学生那里购买了这块饼干。