Wanted: a large biscuit tin
通缉：一个大饼干罐
Who won the prize for the biggest biscuit?
谁赢得了最大的饼干奖?
No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements.
没有人能避免受到广告的影响。
Much as we may pride ourselvs on our good taste,
尽管我们可能为自己的好品味而自豪,
we are no longer free to choose the things we want,
我们不再可以自由选择我们想要的东西,
for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us.
因为广告对我们产生了微妙的影响.
In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product,
在他们努力说服我们购买这个或那个产品的过程中,
advertisers have made a close study of human nature
广告客户对人性进行了密切的研究
and have classified all our little weaknesses.
把我们所有的小弱点都分类了。
Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing.
广告商多年前发现，我们所有人都喜欢不劳而获。
An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong.
一个以"免费"这个神奇词开头的广告很少出错.
These days, advertisers not only offer free samples,
这些天，广告商不仅提供免费样品,
but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well.
但是免费的汽车，免费的房子，以及世界各地的免费旅行。
They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money.
他们设计了数百项比赛，使我们能够赢得巨额资金。
Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers
广播和电视使广告商成为可能
to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
以这种方式吸引数百万人的注意力。
During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers
在一个广播节目中，一家饼干制造商公司
once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory.
曾经让听众烤饼干送到他们的工厂。
They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener.
他们提出每磅10美元买一个听众烤的最大的饼干.
The response to this competition was tremendous.
对这次比赛的反应是巨大的.
Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory.
不久，各种形状和大小的饼干开始到达工厂。
One lady brought biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds.
一位女士在独轮车上带来了饼干。 它重近500磅。
A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car.
过了一会儿，一个男人带着一块饼干走了过来，饼干占据了他汽车的整个后备箱。
All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed.
所有送来的饼干都经过了仔细的称重.
The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize.
最大的是713磅。 这似乎是肯定的，这将赢得奖品。
But just before the competition closed,
但就在比赛结束前,
a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2, 400 pounds.
一辆卡车带着一个真正巨大的饼干来到工厂，重达2400磅。
It had been baked by a college student
它是一个大学生烤的
who had used over 1, 000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar,
他用了1000多磅面粉，800磅糖,
200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients.
200磅的脂肪和400磅的各种其他成分。
It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry.
它太重了，不得不用起重机把它从卡车上拆下来。
The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated,
制造商不得不支付比他们预期的更多的钱,
for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24, 000.
因为他们以24,000美元从学生那里买了饼干.
