No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements. Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts（施加） some influence on us. In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified（分类） all our little weaknesses.
Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing. An advertisement which begins with the magic work FREE can rarely go wrong. These days, advertisers not only offer free samples, but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well. They design hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to draw the attention of millions of people in this way.
During a radio program, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory. They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener. The response to this competition was active. Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory. One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds. All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed. The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize. But just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly large biscuit which weighed 2,400 pounds. It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1,000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients. The factory had to pay more money than they had expected, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24,000.

Advertising
Customers and advertisers	Though_______ of our good taste, customers are _____ by advertisements when buying things.
In fact, advertisers  have studied human nature in order to _______ customers to buy this or that product.
According to their ______ ,all customers love to get things for _______.
The usually effective means	Advertisers offer free things, which often does ______.
Hundreds of competitions are ______ for customers to win huge sums of money.
Radio and television are used to ______ people’s attention.
An exception	By radio, a company of biscuit manufacturers once advertised that they would offer $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener, which ______ active response.
However, they never______ to pay $24,000 for a truly large biscuit made by a college student and carried by a lorry.