Advertiserstendtothinkbigandperhapsthisiswhythey'realwayscominginforcriticism. Theircriticsseemtoresentthembecausetheyhaveaflairforself-promotionandbecausetheyhavesomuchmoneytothrowaround."It'siniquitous,"theysay,"thatthisentirelyunproductiveindustry(ifwecancallitthat)shouldabsorbmillionsofpoundseachyear.Itonlygoestoshowhowmuchprofitthebigcompaniesaremaking.Whydon'ttheystopadvertisingandreducethepriceoftheirgoods?Afterall,it'stheconsumerwhopays..." Thepooroldconsumer!He'dhavetopayagreatdealmoreifadvertisingdidn'tcreatemassmarketsforproducts.Itispreciselybecauseoftheheavyadvertisingthatconsumergoodsaresocheap.Butwegetthewrongideaifwethinktheonlypurposeofadvertisingistosellgoods.Anotherequallyimportantfunctionistoinform.Agreatdealoftheknowledgewehaveabouthouseholdgoodsderiveslargelyfromtheadvertisementsweread. Advertisementsintroduceustonewproductsorremindusoftheexistenceofoneswealreadyknowabout.Supposingyouwantedtobuyawashingmachine,itismorethanlikelyyouwouldobtaindetailsregardingperformance,price,etc,fromanadvertisement. Lotsofpeoplepretendthattheyneverreadadvertisements,butthisclaimmaybeseriouslydoubted.Itishardlypossiblenottoreadadvertisementsthesedays.Andwhatfuntheyoftenare,too!Justthinkwhatarailwaystationoranewspaperwouldbelikewithoutadvertisements.Wouldyouenjoygazingatablankwallorreadingrailwayby-lawswhilewaitingforatrain?Wouldyouliketoreadonlycloselyprintedcolumnsofnewsinyourdailypaper?Acheerful,wittyadvertisementmakessuchadifferencetoadrabwalloranewspaperfullofthedailyrationofcalamities.Wemustnotforget,either,thatadvertisingmakesapositivecontributiontoour pockets.Newspapers,commercialradioandtelevisioncompaniescouldnotsubsistwithoutthissourceofrevenue.Thefactthatwepaysolittleforourdailypaper,orcanenjoysomanybroadcastprogrammesisdueentirelytothemoneyspentbyadvertisers.Justthinkwhatanewspaperwouldcostifwehadtopayitsfullprice! Anotherthingwemustn'tforgetisthe"smallads."whichareinvirtuallyeverynewspaperandmagazine.Whatatremendouslyusefulservicetheyperformforthecommunity!Justaboutanythingcanbeaccomplishedthroughthesecolumns.Forinstance,youcanfindajob,buyorsellahouse,announceabirth,marriageordeathinwhatusedtobecalledthe"hatch,matchanddispatch"columnbutbyfarthemostfascinatingsectionisthepersonalor"agony"column.Nootheriteminanewspaperprovidessuchentertainingreadingorofferssuchadeepinsightintohumannature.It'sthebestadvertisementforadvertisingthereis! Whatisthemainideaofthispassage?
A.Advertisement. B.The benefits of advertisement. C.Advertisers perform a useful service to communities. D.The costs of advertisement.正确答案C