英语四级听力练习集锦21

Passage One

　　When you turn on the radio, you hear an advertisement. When you watch television, you hear and see an advertisement. If you turn the pages of a newspaper or magazine, again you find an advertisement. If you walk down the street, you see one advertising¹ board after another. All day, every day, people who want to sell you something competent² to catch your attention. As a result, advertisements are almost everywhere. In the West, advertisements are the fuel that makes mass media work. The government does not give money to mass media such as TV stations, newspapers, magazines and radio stations. They are all owned privately³. So where does the money come from? From advertisements. Without advertisements, there would not be these private businesses.

　　Have you ever asked yourself what advertising is? Through the years, people have given different answers to the question. For some time it was felt that advertising was a means of “keeping your name before the public.” And some people thought that advertising was “truth well told.” Now more and more people describe it in this way： Advertising is the paid, nonpersonal, and usually persuasive⁴ description of goods, services and ideas through various media.

　　All advertisements try to make people believe that the product, idea, or service advertised can do well to them. Advertisements exist everywhere in our lives.

　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　26. What is the passage mainly about?

　　27. What’s the financial source of the privately owned mass media?

　　28. According to the passage, what is one of the features of advertisements?

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 competent   

adj.能干的，胜任的，有权能的，足够的

参考例句：

• He is not competent to the task of teaching English.他不能胜任英语教学工作。
• He did a competent job.他的工作做得相当出色。

3 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

4 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。