[00:00.46]Lesson 26
[00:02.45]Wanted: a large biscuit tin
[00:11.15]Who won the prize for the biggest biscuit?
[00:15.29]No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements.
[00:19.62]Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste,
[00:23.32]we are no longer free to choose the things we want,
[00:26.61]for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us.
[00:30.96]In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product,
[00:35.11]advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses.
[00:43.15]Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing.
[00:48.96]An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong.
[00:55.87]These days, advertisers not only offer free samples,
[00:59.82]but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well.
[01:06.80]They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money.
[01:12.73]Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
[01:21.12]During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory.
[01:31.29]They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener.
[01:37.09]The response to this competition was tremendous.
[01:40.86]Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory.
[01:47.05]One lady brought biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds.
[01:53.41]A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car.
[02:00.71]All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed.
[02:04.30]The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize.
[02:12.33]But just before the competition closed,
[02:15.63]a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2, 400 pounds.
[02:24.44]It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1, 000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar,
[02:32.59]200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients.
[02:38.26]It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry.
[02:43.97]The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24, 000.
没有人能避免受广告的影响。尽管我们可以自夸自己的鉴赏力如何敏锐，但我们已经无法独立自主地选购自己所需的东西了。这是因为广告在我们身上施加着一种潜移默化的影响。做广告的人在力图劝说我们买下这种产品或那种产品之前，已经仔细地研究了人的本性，并把人的弱点进行了分类。
做广告的人们多年前就发现我们大家都喜欢免费得到东西。凡是用“免费”这个神奇的词开头的广告很少会失败的。目前，做广告的人不仅提供免费样品，而且还提供免费汽车，免费住房，免费周游世界。他们设计数以百计的竞赛，竞赛中有人可赢得巨额奖金。电台、电视使做广告的人可以用这种手段吸引成百万人的注意力。
有一次，在电台播放的节目里，一个生产饼干的公司请听众烘制饼干送到他们的工厂去。他们愿意以每磅10美元的价钱买下由听众烘制的最大的饼干。这次竞赛在听众中引起极其热烈的反响。不久，形状各异，大小不一的饼干陆续送到工厂。一位女士用手推车运来一个饼干，重达500磅左右。相隔不一会儿，一个男子也带来一个大饼干，那个饼干把汽车的行李箱挤得满满的。凡送来的饼干都仔细地称量。最重的一个达713磅，看来这个饼干获奖无疑了。但就在竞赛截止时间将到之际，一辆卡车驶进了工厂，运来了一个特大无比、重达2,400磅的饼干。它是由一个大学生烘制的，用去1,000多磅的面粉、800磅食糖、200磅动物脂肪及400磅其他各种原料。饼干份量太重了，用了一台起重机才把它从卡车上卸下。饼干公司不得不付出比他们预计多得多的钱，因为为买下那学生烘制的饼干他们支付了24,000美元。