---
url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-3/26-wanted-a-large-biscuit-tin.md
description: '新概念英语第三册：Wanted: A Large Biscuit Tin。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。'
---

# 26 · 征购大饼干筒

### 第1段

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 a subtle 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 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 word 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 devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
During a radio programme, 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 tremendous. 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. A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car. 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 colossal 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. It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry. The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24,000.

中文理解：没有人能完全不受广告影响。我们或许很为自己的品味自豪，却早已不能全凭意愿选择想要的东西，因为广告正在潜移默化地影响我们。为了说服我们买这种或那种商品，广告商深入研究人性，把我们各种微小的弱点都摸得清清楚楚，还一一归了类。
广告商多年前就发现，我们都喜欢不花钱得到东西。广告只要用“免费”这个有魔力的词开头，通常就错不了。如今，他们不光送免费样品，还送汽车、房子，甚至环球旅行。他们设计出数不清的有奖竞赛，让人有机会赢取巨额奖金。借助广播和电视，广告商用这种方式，就能吸引数百万人的注意。
有一次，一家饼干生产商在广播节目中，请听众自己烤饼干，再寄到工厂。谁烤出的饼干最大，公司就按每磅十美元的价格收购。比赛反响热烈，不久，各种形状、各种大小的饼干就纷纷送到工厂。一位女士用独轮手推车推来一块饼干，重近五百磅。随后，一名男子送来的饼干，竟占满了汽车的整个后备厢。所有饼干都经过仔细称重，其中最大的一块重713磅，眼看就要获奖。可比赛快结束时，一辆卡车开进了工厂，运来一块真正大得惊人的饼干，重达2,400磅。这是一名大学生烤制的，用了一千多磅面粉、八百磅糖、二百磅油脂，以及四百磅其他配料。饼干重得只能用起重机从卡车上卸下来。最后，厂家付出的代价远超预期：他们花了24,000美元，买下了这名学生的饼干。

* **avoid being influenced**：避免受到影响；avoid + being + 过去分词，保留受到影响的被动关系。

* **pride ourselves on**：为……自豪；反身代词要与主语一致。

* **a subtle influence on**：对……潜移默化的影响；have / exert an influence on + 对象，subtle 指不易察觉。

* **this or that product**：这样或那样的产品；this or that 泛指不同具体对象，而非只限定两个产品。

* **something for nothing**：不花代价得到的东西；常用于讨论贪便宜心理。

* **free samples**：免费样品；sample 指试用样品，不是购买整套产品。

* **enable us to**：使我们能够……；enable + 人 + to do，不用 enable someone doing。

* **capture the attention of**：吸引……的注意；也可 capture someone's attention，宾语是注意力。

* **offered to pay**：主动提出支付；offer to do 是提出行动，还未必已经执行。

* **Before long**：不久以后；与long before很久以前的时间关系相反。

* **all shapes and sizes**：各种形状和大小；常后置修饰多样物品。

* **on a wheelbarrow**：用手推独轮车运着；on 描述货物承载位置，不是让人乘坐独轮车。

* **were carefully weighed**：被仔细称重；weigh 指测重量，weight 是名词；被动主语是被称的物件。

* **win the prize**：赢得奖项；win a prize；beat 后接对手，不能混成 win the opponent。

* **had been baked**：此前已被烤制；had been + 过去分词，交代送到现场前的制作。

* **had anticipated**：原先预料到；than… had anticipated 连接实际结果与先前预估。

#### 原文注释 · No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements.

注释：①no longer = not any more, not now。②In their efforts to persuade us = in their attempts to influence us to do sth.。③classified = put into categories。

#### 原文注释 · Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing.

注释：①FREE = without any cost or payment。②enable = make it possible for。 ③capture = attract and hold。

#### 原文注释 · During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory.

注释：①The response to this competition = the reaction to this contest。②all shapes and sizes = assorted。

#### Summary 摘要

A biscuit company asked its customers to bake biscuits and send them to the factory. As a prize, they offered $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit they received. The response was tremendous, with one biscuit weighing 500 pounds and another weighing 713 pounds. They thought that was the winner until a lorry delivered one which weighed 2,400 pounds baked by a college student. A crane lifted it from the lorry and the manufacturers paid the student $24,000. (80 words)

#### Composition 作文 The Last Question 最后一个问题

\[1]The other evening I listened to a quiz show on the radio which was organised by a firm of soap manufacturers. A member of the audience was invited to answer ten questions to win money. He could take a money prize after each correct answer or go on to a more difficult question. Each new question was worth twice the last question.

\[2]The man was very nervous in front of the audience, but he got the first question right. Then he slowly answered all the questions correctly—spelling questions, history questions, general knowledge, mathematics,…The audience was getting very excited as the question master got to question number 9.

\[3]"And your ninth question," he said, "is worth £1,024. Here it is. Which nineteenth-century sailing ship won a race from Shanghai to England?"

\[4]"It was the Thermopylae," the man said confidently. "She beat the Cutty Sark." \[5]"Correct," said the questionmaster, and the audience went mad. The question master had to ask them to be quiet.

\[6]"And here is your tenth and last question," the host said, "which is worth £2,048 exactly. "Advertisement": how do you spell it?"

\[7]The man paused and then said: "I think this is a trick question. I can spell 'advertisement', but I can also spell 'it'. The answer is 'I-T'."

\[8]"You're absolutely right," the host said, "and you have won £2,048! Congratulations!" (239 words)

## 学完这一课

用 Much as I… 写一个真诚承认后仍需转折的观点。

[Nce · 本册复习台](/new-concept/book-3/review) · [三册选择地图](/new-concept/)

*译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第88—90页，2022年2月第3版。*