Whenever advertisers want you to stop thinking about the product and to start thinking about something bigger, better, or more attractive than the product, they use that very popular wore "like". The word "like'' is the advertiser's equivalent of the magician's use of misdirection.

　　"Like" gets you to ignore the product and concentrate on the claim the advertiser is making about it.

　　"For skin like peaches and cream" claims the ad for a skin cream. What is this ad really claiming? It doesn't say this cream will give you peaches-and-cream skin. There is no verb in this claim, so it doesn't even mention using the product. How is skin ever like "peaches and cream" '?

　　Remember, ads must be read exactly according to the dictionary definition of words. This ad is making absolutely no promise for this skin cream. If you think this cream will give you soft, smooth, and youthful-looking skin, you are the one who has read the meaning into the ad.

　　The wine that claims "It's like taking a trip to France" wants you to think about a romantic evening in Paris as you walk along the street after a wonderful meal in an intimate craft. Of course, you don' t really believe that a wine can take you to France, but the goal of the ad is to get you to think pleasant, romantic thoughts about France and not about how the wine tastes or how expensive it may be. That little word "like" has taken you away from crushed grapes into a world of your own imaginative making. Who knows, maybe the next time you buy wine, you'll think those pleasant thoughts when you see this brand of wine, and you'll buy it.

　　How about the most famous "like" claim of all, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should Ignoring the grammatical error here, you might want to know what this claim is saying.

　　Whether a cigarette tastes good or bad is a subjective judgment because what tastes good to one person may well taste horrible to another. There are many people who say that all cigarettes taste terrible, other people who say only some cigarettes taste all right, and still others who say all cigarettes taste good.

　　1. The word "like" in an ad often focuses the consumer's attention on ______.

　　A. what the advertiser says about the product

　　B. what magic the product really possesses

　　C. why the advertiser promotes the product

　　D. why the product is as good as promised

　　2. The author suggests that language in ads should be understood ______.

　　A. according to its dictionary definition

　　B. according to its contexts

　　C. imaginatively

　　D. impartially

　　3. To promote sales, advertisers often exploit consumers' ______.

　　A. economic status

　　B. practical need

　　C. emotional need

　　D. social status

　　4. Advertisers often use ambiguous language to ______.

　　A. promise excellent quality

　　B. cash in on grammatical errors

　　C. appeal to consumers' rational judgments

　　D. take advantage of consumers' imagination

　　5. The best title for the passage would be ______.

　　A. The Magic of "Like" in Advertising

　　B. The Promise of "Like" in Advertising

　　C. The Definition of "Like" in Advertising

　　D. The Application of "Like" in Advertising

　　答案：

　　1. A。细节题。由文章第一段第一段…Like gets you to ignore the product and concentrate on the claim the advertiser is making about it．"呵知．"like"一词将观众的注意力集中到了广告词上。

　　2. A。细节题。从文章第一段倒数第三句"Remember，ads must be read exactly according to the dictionary definition of words．"可见，作者认为观众应该根据字典的解释来看待广告词。

　　3. C。推理题。本题应从第二段推测，第二段主要意思是广告怎样使你沉浸在美好的想象中，且从文章的用词(pleasant，romantic．。．)我们可知，所产生的联想都是与精神和情绪有关的。

　　4. D。推理题。题于为"广告商通常使用暖昧、不明确的语言来…"，本文说的是广告词使观众产生联想，与此有关的选项是D。

　　5. D。主旨题。文章主要说的是"像"一词在广告词中的应用，B，C与文意无关…且从作者的语气我们可以判断作者对广告商的这种做法是持反对态度的，从而排除A。故选D。