你有没有发现，广告里的东西总是比真的漂亮？
Have you noticed that things in ads always look prettier than the real ones?
照片上的汉堡又大又新鲜，可是买回来一看，完全不一样。
The hamburger in the photo is big and fresh, but once you buy it and take a look, it's completely different.
广告还喜欢用数字骗人，比如它说十个人里有九个说好，其实它只问了十个人。
Ads also like to fool people with numbers — for example, it says nine out of ten people say it's good, when actually it only asked ten people.
最厉害的办法是让你觉得大家都在买，因为谁也不想做最后一个买的人。
The cleverest trick is making you feel that everyone is buying it, because nobody wants to be the last one to buy.
我以前也常常被广告骗，买了很多用不到的东西。
I used to be fooled by ads all the time too, buying lots of things I never got to use.
后来我学会了一个办法：看到喜欢的东西，先等三天再决定。
Later I learned a trick: when I see something I like, I first wait three days before deciding.
三天以后，如果还想要，就买；大部分时候，我已经把它忘了。
Three days later, if I still want it, I buy it; most of the time, I have already forgotten about it.
广告的秘密其实很简单：它卖的不是东西，而是你的梦。
The secret of advertising is actually simple: what it sells is not a product, but your dream.
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Key words 生词
广告guǎnggàoadvertisement
秘密mìmìsecret
汉堡hànbǎohamburger
骗piànto fool; to cheat
决定juédìngto decide
梦mèngdream
Grammar note 语法点
不是……而是……
"Not A, but B" corrects a wrong idea and gives the true one: 它卖的不是东西，而是你的梦。
他不是不想来，而是没有时间。— It's not that he doesn't want to come, it's that he has no time.
先……再……
"First ..., then ..." puts two actions in order, with the second waiting for the first: 先等三天再决定。
我们先吃饭，再去看电影。— Let's eat first, then go to the movie.
Check yourself 小测验
1. What is the hamburger like in the ad photo?
2. How many people did the ad actually ask before claiming 'nine out of ten say it's good'?
3. What is the author's trick when seeing something they like?
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