“Image is everything.” An entire industry has been built upon the assumption that image is everything, but when it comes down to it, an appealing image is not enough. If there is no substance（事实）behind the image, the product, service or person will fail eventually.

First of all, one should consider how important image is in the selling of products and services. Advertising agencies have raised the art of creating an image to a state of near perfection. Public concept of that product or service is certainly managed by the images created by the advertising agencies．But if the product or service does not live up to the image that was created, the customer will be very dissatisfied and possibly ask for their money back. For example, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm had spent decades building up an image of trustworthiness. But the recent scandal (丑闻) showed that behind that image, it cheated in business practices. Despite the previous positive image, the firm is being accused of criminal actions and it will probably not survive as a business unit. Although the image had been nearly perfect, the reality behind the image has led to the downfall of the world famous accounting firm.

Similarly, personal advisers can build up a public image for politicians and movie stars. Putting out positive news releases, making sure that only the best photographs are published, and ensuring that the person is seen in all the right places can build up a very positive image in the view of the general commons. But once again, history is filled with examples of both politicians and movie stars that fell from grace like the story of the Hollywood actor giving in to the pressures of fame and fortune. With people, just as with products and services, image is certainly important, but without positive substance behind the image, failure is close.

To summarize, it is clear that an appealing image is extremely important to success, whether that image is related to selling a product or service or to the “selling” of a person. But image is only half of the equation. What lies behind that image is every bit as important as the image itself —— the person or product must deliver on that image or there is little chance for long-term success.

小题1:The downfall of the Arthour Andersen accounting firm is due to ___________.

A．its dishonesty in business

B．its previous images

C．its bad management

D．its poor service小题2:Why did some famous people fall from grace?

A．Their images were not well built up.

B．They failed to live up to their images.

C．They felt much pressure from the public.

D．They paid little attention to fame and fortune.小题3:The structure of the passage is ___________.

A: Argument   P: Point   C: Conclusion

小题4:The author tries to argue that ___________.

A．image creates everything

B．image is the key to success.

C．truth is unlikely ever to be equaled

D．truth and image are equally important