阅读理解。
You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater. You
listen to their conversation:
"I can't believe it-a Lorenzo Bertolla! They are almost impossible to find. Isn't it beautiful? And it's a lot
cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome."
They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater. It's nice and the price is right. You've never
heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish. They must know. So, you buy it. You never
realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency. They are actually paid to go from
store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo Bertolla clothes.
Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating. If the person looks cool, the product
seems cool, too. This is the secret of undercover marketing. Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to
use it.
Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional
advertising. This is particularly true of the MTV generation-consumers between the age of 18 and 34. It is
a golden group. They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads.
So advertising agencies hire young actors to "perform" in bars and other places where young adults go.
Some people might call this practice deceptive (骗人的), but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it
creative. "Look at traditional advertising. Its effectiveness is decreasing."
However, one might ask what exactly is "real" about of young women pretending to be enthusiastic
about a sweater? Advertising executives would say it's no less real than an ad. The difference is that you
know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something. You don' t know when a conversation you overhear
is just a performance.
1. The two attractive young women were talking so that they could _____. [ ]
A. get the sweater at a lower price
B. be heard by people around
C. be admired by other shoppers
D. decide on buying the sweater
2. Lorenzo Bertolla is _____. [ ]
A. a very popular male singer
B. an advertising agency
C. a clothing company in Rome
D. the brand name of a sweater
3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? [ ]
A. The two girls are in fact employed by the Lorenzo Bertolla Company.
B. The MTV generation tend to be more easily influenced by ads.
C. Traditional advertising is becoming less effective because it's too direct.
D. Undercover marketing will surely be banned soon by the government.
4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text? [ ]
A. Two Attractive Shoppers
B. Lorenzo Bertolla Sweaters
C. Ways of Advertising
D. Undercover Marketing
