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 the 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 advertising?

A．The discovery of iron.

B．The specialization of labor.

C．The appearance of new jobs.

D．The development of farming techniques.

2.To advertise his plows, Mr. Plowright ________.

A．praised his plows in public

B．placed a sign outside the shop

C．hung an arrow pointing to the shop

D．showed his products to the customers

3.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．expose problems in advertising

D．provide suggestions for advertising

4.In ancient Egypt, a crier was probably someone who ________.

A．owned a ship

B．had the loudest voice

C．ran a shop selling goods to farmers

D．functioned like today's TV or radio commercial

5.The last two paragraphs are mainly about ________.

A．the history of advertising

B．the benefits of advertising

C．the early forms of advertising

D．the basic design of advertising

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.A

4.D

5.C

【解析】什么是广告，广告的目的是什么？它最早是怎么开始的呢？让我们读文章去了解一下吧。

1.答案：B 细节理解题。从文章第一段“No one knows for sure...did certain kinds of work better than others did them.”可知劳动专业化促使广告的产生，故答案为B项。

2.2】答案：B 细节理解题。从文章第四段中的“then he put up a sign outside the shop to attract customers”可知，Mr.Plowright放了一块指示牌在外面以吸引顾客，所以选B项。

3.3】答案：A 推理判断题。从第五段中的“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.”可知，作者举这两个例子是为了简述广告的起源，所以答案选A项。

4.4】答案：D 推理判断题。从全文最后一段中的“His job was，in other words，not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today's world.”可知，古代埃及的crier如同现代社会电视和广播中的商业广告，所以答案选D项。

5.5】答案：C 段落大意题。从最后两段中的“A medium，in advertising talk，is the way you communicate your message.”和“A crier，in the historical sense，is not someone who weeps easily.”可知，最后两段主要讨论了早期商业广告的形式，所以选C项。

疑难词汇解读

1．concept n．概念；观念

At the time，I thought that the whole concept of cloning was immoral.那时，我认为所有关于克隆的想法都是不道德的。

2．originally adv.本来，原来

The store was originally quite small.这家店原来非常小。

长难句子分析

That led to the concept of specialization，which means that people would specialize，or focus，on doing one specific job.

分析：本句为复合句。主句是That led to the concept of specialization，定语从句为which means that people would specialize，or focus，on doing one specific job。同时定语从句中又包含宾语从句that people would specialize，or focus，on doing one specific job。

句意：那就导致了专业化这个概念的产生，这意味着人们会专门研究或者说关注某个特定的工作。