次の英文を読み、10～17の問題に最も適した答えを選べ。

Competition in the marketplace requires that the buyer not only knows what is good for him but also what is good. If the seller produces nothing of value, as determined by a rational or reasonable marketplace, then he loses out. It is the assumption of (10)rationality among buyers that ^*spurs competitors to become winners, and winners to keep on winning. Where it is assumed that a buyer is unable to make rational or reasoned decisions, laws are passed to ^*invalidate transactions, as, for example, those which prohibit children from making contracts. In America, there even exists inlaw a requirement that sellers must tell the truth about their products, for if the buyer has no protection from false claims, rational decision-making is seriously ^*impaired.

The move away from the use of ^*propositions in commercial advertising began at the end of the nineteenth century. But it was not until the 1950's that the television commercial made linguistic ^*discourse ^*obsolete as the basis for product decisions. By (13)substituting images for claims, the pictorial commercial made emotional appeal, not tests of truth, the basis of consumer decisions. The distance between rationality and advertising is now so wide that it is difficult to remember that there once existed a connection between them. Today, on television commercials, propositions are as scarce as unattractive people. (14)The truth of falsity of an advertiser's claim is simply not an issue. A McDonald's comernercial, for example, is not a series of testable, logically ordered (11)assertions. It is a drama-a mythology, if you will-of handsome people selling, buying and eating hamburgers, and being driven to near ecstasy by their good fortune. No claims are made, except those the viewer projects onto or infers from the drama. One can like or dislike a television commercial, of course. But one cannot refute it.

Indeed, we may go this far: The television commercial is not at all about the character of products to be consumed. It is about (15)the character of the consumers of products. Images of movie stars and famous athletes, of serene lakes and macho fishing trips, of elegant dinners and romantic ^*interludes, of happy families packing their station wagons for a picnic in the country - these tell nothing about the products being sold. But they tell everything about the fears, fancies, and dreams of those who might buy them. What the advertiser needs to know is not what is right about the product but what is wrong with the buyer. And so, the balance of business (12)expenditures shifts from product research to market research. The television commercial has oriented business away from making products of value and toward making consumers feel valuable, which means that the business of business has now become ^*pseudo-therapy. The consumer is a patient assured by psycho-dramas.

【Source:Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Penguin Books, Viking Penguin Inc. 1984. pp. 127-128】

Glossary:
• spur: 駆り立てる
• invalidate transactions: 商取引を無効にする
• impair: 損なう
• proposition: 提案、意見
• discourse: 対話、談話
• obsolete: 時代遅れの
• interlude: 合間（の出来事）
• pseudo-: 擬似的な

10～12の問題については、本文の文脈上、下線語(10)～(12)の意味に最も近いものを選べ。

• 10. What does the word (10)rationality mean?
  • A. a correct motive or purpose
  • B. the condition of being logical
  • C. the state of acting without much thinking
  • D. an emotionally stable mind
• 11. What does the word (11)assertions mean?
  • A. strong statements that claim something is true
  • B. images to support an idea
  • C. scientific evidence
  • D. a series of entertaining phrases
• 12. What does the word (12)expenditures mean?
  • A. income
  • B. labels
  • C. models
  • D. money spent

13～17の問題については、本文の論旨に最も適した答えを選べ。

• 13. Why was (13)substituting images for claims important for television commercials?
  • A. Because television advertisers could save time selling their product.
  • B. Because television advertisers decided product images were not valuable.
  • C. Because consumers made decisions based on images rather than truths.
  • D. Because claims were more difficult to advertise than truths.
• 14. What does phrase, (14)The truth or falsity of an advertiser's claim is simply not an issue suggest?
  • A. A television advertiser's responsibility is only to present a product.
  • B. The consumer is not concerned with the claims of a product when buying it.
  • C. It is illegal for television advertisers to present false information.
  • D. A product's claim is only important to the advertiser.
• 15. Why is (15)the character of the consumers of products important to advertisers?
  • A. Because they want to sell their products to consumers of positive character.
  • B. Because they want to know the images that will attract consumers to products.
  • C. Because consumers of products value honest advertisers.
  • D. Because advertisers want important products for consumers.
• 16. Why do television advertisers want to make their consumers feel valuable?
  • A. Because they are advertising valuable products.
  • B. Because making a consumer feel valuable is effective for advertising.
  • C. Because advertisers want their customers to have positive products.
  • D. Because consumer satisfaction is important to create a product.
• 17. Which statement best represents the main idea of the reading passage?
  • A. In television advertising, the value of a product is more important than the market.
  • B. Television commercials are attractive to consumers because of their products.
  • C. The claims from advertising businesses focus on the value of a free market.
  • D. Television commercials have changed the way products are advertised.