NBT NATIONAL BENCHMARK TESTS PROJECT The NBT AQL Test: Exemplar questions A: Academic Literacy Read the following passage on advertising and answer the multiple-choice questions that follow: The Influence of Advertising from a very early age, forming our view of the world as we grow into adults. 3. The notion that the media are primarily in 1. Advertising was initially meant to make people aware of the goods available in the market. It was as simple as announcing what you have in your store or the services you offer in your premises. Over the years, advertising has evolved into a major industry that goes beyond informing, to persuading and influencing. It is a form of brainwashing place to give us news is not very true. If the truth may be told, the media are there to gather a large enough audience, package them into a pricey commodity and sell it to the advertisers. The advertisers, on the other hand, are always on the lookout for a target audience to persuade them that this product consumers. 2. Advertising has become a type of culture with ardent followers. In the process, it or service is better than that of the attracts enviable attention from competitor. 4. In a nutshell, advertising does influence people. Most of the advertisements are filled manufacturers and service providers who fancy an edge over their competitors. Unfortunately, in keeping with the ever- increasing demands of the manufacturers, the advertisers have resorted to creating unnecessary wants and excess consumption in most of us. This is a craving for harmful products that we are better off without. It preys on our minds, rendering us completely irrational. The billboards (hoardings), with images that equate emotional well-being with material acquisition and associate independence and leisure with consumption of alcohol. Advertising also makes people lavish their affect on products rather than real people, thereby destroying human relationships. We have become trapped in the web of advertising where products like brands television and radio advertisements target us 1 of beer and cigarettes take over our minds, doing away with our core family values. 1. The overall purpose of paragraph 1 is to do the following: (communicative function) a. introduce the reader to the basics/fundamentals of advertising b. inform the reader that advertising is brainwashing c. indicate that advertising means announcing what you have in store d. indicate that advertising has changed to become influencing 2. In paragraph 4, we read that "Most advertisements ... associate independence and leisure with consumption of alcohol. This suggests that advertisements mainly communicate the message that inferencing) a. independence and leisure encourage people to drink alcohol b. independence and leisure are always accompanied by alcohol consumption c. independence and leisure enable people to relax d. lack of independence and leisure makes it impossible for people to relax 3. In the first sentence of paragraph 2, the phrase "has become" signals that the change in advertising: (grammar/syntax) a. started in the past and ended in the past b. started yesterday and ended yesterday C. started in the past and is still in progress d. started yesterday and will end tomorrow In paragraph 2, the word "ardent" can be substituted with the word: (vocabulary) 4. a. passionate b. obsessed C. compassionate d. energetic 5. In paragraph 2, we read: This is a craving for harmful products that we are better off without." In this sentence, the word This mainly refers to (cohesion) a. enviable attention b. excessive consumption C. unnecessary wants d. increasing demands 3 6. Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of this passage? (discourse) a. Paragraph 2 takes over from paragraph 1. b. Paragraph 2 solidifies the point made in paragraph 1. C. Paragraph 2 corroborates the point made in paragraph 1. d. Paragraph 2 develops the point made at the end of paragraph 1