Q2e Reading and Writing 3 Unit 4 Test B

Name: ______________________________________ Date: _____________

Reading and Writing

The Changing World of Advertising

Section I
Advertising equals awareness. The more we are exposed to information about a product or service, the more
aware we are that it exists. We are told how to buy it and where to buy it, and we feel comfortable knowing that
should we need that product or service, we are fully informed about how to go about getting or using it. This is the
basis of advertising, or at least it was.

Section II
Somewhere along the line, advertising has become less about the sharing of useful information about a product,
and more about the presentation of products as necessity. The messages have changed from “if you would like this
product, here’s how to get it”, to “you need this product, get it from here now”. This new forceful approach has
changed the principles of advertising, and this is affecting how consumers think about products on the market. But
how do advertising companies achieve this and why is it a successful way of marketing a product?

Section III
Advertisers now play on the personal values of the consumer. Take a typical life insurance ad. “Have you got life
insurance? No? Well, what are your family and loved ones going to do if the worst happens?” These kinds of
question are so familiar to us, as consumers, because we are bombarded with them daily. The ad taps into our
family values and our love for our family using it as leverage to sell products. Not only that, but it draws our
attention away from the actual purchasing of the product and on to the direct emotional implications that buying
(or not buying it) would have. This manipulation is at work in advertising all over the world these days. Why is this
the case? Because it works!

Section IV
These adverts have a specific effect on consumers, and our attitude changes to one of “someone is telling me I
need this product, maybe I do!” Consumers faced with these kinds of emotional advertising messages consider the
products or services on a more serious level. Trains of thought like “I really should buy life insurance because I
want to protect my family” are common these days, and all it takes is for a company to angle their advertising
tactics to target our emotions.

Section V
Advertising targets us in all areas of our lives, whether it’s the new clothes that we can’t be happy without, the
five-week business course that we can’t be successful without, or the make-up that we are so deserving of (and
can’t be beautiful enough without). It’s actually the same principles that pull us in time and again.

Section VI
Whether this is ethical or not is a discussion all of its own. The truth is that as long as advertising companies know
how to appeal to our emotions and present their products as necessary to our happiness and well-being, we the
consumers will buy them. But will this always be the case? Is the day near when we look at these products and
think “do I really need this?” Who knows? Until then though, this emotional-appeal advertising is set to continue.

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 Q2e Reading and Writing 3 Unit 4 Test B

Name: ______________________________________ Date: _____________

Choose the best answer.

1. The writer says that advertising used to be about

A. presenting what was available.
B. asking consumers what they wanted.
C. making people aware of how to use something.
D. telling people how a product is useful to them.

2. What does Section II say about advertising?

A. It is no longer informative.
B. It is not really necessary.
C. It has a new agenda.
D. It is no longer customer-friendly.

3. What does the phrase “the advert taps into our family values” in Section III mean?
A. It targets our feelings for our families.
B. It questions how we feel about our families.
C. It tries to find out about our families.
D. It exploits the love our family has for us.

4. By appealing to our emotions, adverts can make us

A. feel guilty about something we haven’t done.
B. focus on something other than spending money.
C. change our minds about our family.
D. decide to take a risk that we shouldn’t take.

5. The strength of advertising companies lies in

A. making people afraid.
B. presenting facts about products.
C. making people think carefully.
D. knowing how emotions work.

6. The ethical implications of advertising

A. are not discussed in this article.
B. are too complicated to write about.
C. are generally unimportant.
D. shouldn’t be discussed.

© Oxford University Press. Permission to edit and reproduce for instructional use. 2
 Q2e Reading and Writing 3 Unit 4 Test B

Name: ______________________________________ Date: _____________

Complete the notes below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the reading
passage for each answer.

7. Advertising has taken on a new ____________________ in recent years which has impacted
consumers.
8. All consumers have ____________________ which advertisers appeal to and target.

9. Advertising companies use the ____________________ no matter what the product to make
us think that we need them in our lives.

10. People will always buy products if they think they are essential to their
____________________.

Read the compound sentence. Choose the correct reason for using the underlined
coordinating conjunction.

11. I like reading the stories in the magazine, but it has too many ads.
A. related ideas
B. contrasting ideas
C. a result
D. a choice

Complete the sentences with the correct word from the word bank:
or and but so

12. I enjoy watching television, ____________________ I hate seeing commercials.

13.You can shop for appliances online, ____________________ you can go to a store.

14.Companies advertise during sporting events on television, ____________________ they

put up ads at sports stadiums.

15. He was tired, ____________________ he turned off the TV and went to bed.

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