Wanted: a large biscuit tin
原文
Lesson 26
Wanted: a large biscuit tin
Who won the prize for the biggest biscuit?
No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements.
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.
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.
Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing.
An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong.
These days, advertisers not only offer free samples,
but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well.
They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money.
Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory.
They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener.
The response to this competition was tremendous.
Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory.
One lady brought biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds.
A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car.
All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed.
The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize.
But just before the competition closed,
a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2, 400 pounds.
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.
It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry.
The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24, 000.
译文
第26课
征购：一个大号的饼干盒
谁赢得了“最大饼干”奖呢？
没有人能够完全不受广告的影响。
尽管我们常常为自己的品味感到自豪，
但实际上我们已不再能够自由选择自己真正想要的东西，
因为广告对我们产生了潜移默化的影响。
为了说服我们购买某种产品，
广告商们深入研究了人类的心理，并分类整理了我们所有的小弱点。
多年前，广告商们就发现：我们都喜欢免费获得东西。
任何以“免费”这个词开头的广告几乎都不会失败。
如今，广告商们不仅提供免费样品，……
还有免费的汽车、免费的房子，以及免费的环球旅行机会。
他们设计了数百种比赛，让我们有机会赢得巨额奖金。
广播和电视使得广告商能够以这种方式吸引数百万人的注意力。
在一次广播节目中，一家饼干制造商邀请听众们烤制饼干并寄到他们的工厂。
他们提出愿意以每磅10美元的价格购买听众们烤制的最大尺寸的饼干。
这次比赛的反响非常热烈（或：这次比赛的响应非常强烈）。
不久之后，各种形状和大小的饼干开始运送到工厂里。
一位女士用手推车运来一块饼干，它重达近500磅。
过了一会儿，一个男人走了过来，他带来的饼干占据了他汽车整个后备箱的空间。
所有被寄出的饼干都经过了仔细的称重。
最大的那个重达713磅；看起来它肯定会赢得这个奖项。
但在比赛即将结束之前，
一辆卡车将一块重量高达2,400磅的巨型饼干送到了工厂。
这块饼干是由一名大学生烤制的；他用了超过1000磅的面粉和800磅的糖。
200磅的脂肪，以及400磅的其他各种成分。
它太重了，必须使用起重机才能将其从卡车上卸下来。
制造商们不得不支付比预期更多的钱，因为他们以24,000美元的价格从那位学生手中买下了这块饼干。