Should we restrict advertising?
yesterday, i went on the internet to check my e- mails. but i couldn’t just check them. before
i could get down to business, i had to fight through pop up ads that wouldn’t go away.
several minutes were wasted. i then went outside to the mailbox and found a large stack of
junk ads waiting for me. i came inside, sorted through the mail and tossed the junk. more
waste. i turned on the tv to a toothpaste commercial, switched channels to a car commercial,
switched again to a preview of an upcoming show, and finally turned the power off. i got in
the car and drove to the grocery store. a burger place had a “buy one get one free” special.
next, there was a clothes shop with a big sale. i am passing billboards advertising colas, life
insurance, shoes, cell phone plans, stores, soups, a sports team, and several political
candidates. just a few years ago, this road sat next to spruce forests and fields. now, every
building on the road competed for my attention. i understand that advertising is a form of
speech that is protected by the constitution. nonetheless, it seems that it is time to apply
some limits to it.
ads waste more than they . they waste people's time, and they waste precious resources.
suppose i waste just ten minutes a day sorting through advertising suppose you waste the
same. multiply those minutes by 300 million people and then again by 365 days for the year.
the waste is astronomical.
in addition, some advertisements are inappropriate for children. checking e -mail, going to
the mailbox, traveling to the grocery store, and having turned on the tv are all things that
children frequently do. yet in every one of these places, i see ads every day that children
have no need to see. if advertisers don’t care. perhaps we should.
it is time we considered greater restrictions on our advertising. what we have now has gone
too far.
use the passage to answer the question.

18. the purpose of this essay is to persuade. which sentence best reflects this purpose? (1 point)
“yesterday, i went on the internet to check my emails.”
“i turned on the tv to a toothpaste commercial, switched channels to a car commercial, switched again to a
preview of an upcoming show, and finally turned the power off.”
“they waste people’s time, and they waste precious resources.”
“i understand that advertising is a form of speech that is protected by the constitution.”