Since then, other companies have jumped on the bandwagon to promote everything from soft drinks to new clothes as a 27 .
答案：(C) remedy
語意「其他公司也跟風把各種東西當作『解方/療法』來推廣」（暗示把商品當作治療憂鬱星期一的解方），remedy（療法/解方）符合；disguise（偽裝）、merit（優點）、ceremony（儀式）都不合。
remedy 這個字你可能沒把握，只隱約覺得跟「補救」有關；四個選項又都是名詞，於是憑感覺挑。remedy 的意思是療法、解方，可以指治病的藥方，也可以指解決問題的辦法（a remedy for sth ＝ ……的解方）。
先把整句讀完：other companies have jumped on the bandwagon to promote everything from soft drinks to new clothes as a ___（其他公司也跟風，把從飲料到新衣服的各種東西都當成 ___ 來推銷）。要判斷空格是什麼，得知道這些商品是拿來對付什麼的——前文說一月的第三個星期一是 the most depressing day of the year（一年中最憂鬱的一天）。既然有一個「病」，商品就是被包裝成「解方」。下一段的 a website devoted to "beating Blue Monday"（一個專門「擊退憂鬱星期一」的網站）用了 beating，也是同一條「對付它」的思路。
disguise（偽裝）：商品不是拿來假扮什麼的；merit（優點、價值）是事物本身的長處，promote sth as a merit 語意不通；ceremony（儀式）是有固定流程的活動，飲料和衣服都不是儀式。這一題答對率只有 42%，主因應該是不熟悉 remedy，而其他三個字看起來又都認識——這時候與其比字義，不如先問「這段在解決什麼問題」，用文章脈絡反推。
a remedy for sth（……的解方、療法）、home remedy（居家療法、民間偏方）、remedy the situation（補救情況）、jump on the bandwagon（跟風、趕搭順風車）、promote A as B（把 A 宣傳成 B）、the most depressing day（最令人沮喪的一天）。
The idea of Blue Monday dates back to a 2005 campaign by Sky Travel. The travel company wanted to 26 people to take January vacations, so they reached out to a psychologist. The scholar then developed an equation to find the most depressing day of the year, and it turned out to be the third Monday in January. Since then, other companies have jumped on the bandwagon to promote everything from soft drinks to new clothes as a 27 . A group in the UK even started a website devoted to "beating Blue Monday."
Many scientists, however, say there is no evidence that Blue Monday causes any more sadness than other specific days of the year. 28 , the idea of Blue Monday persists. According to psychologist Dean Burnett, people feel down in January 29 post-holiday discontent, and the Blue Monday claim makes it seem like there are scientific reasons for this. Also, the idea 30 a very complex issue regarding depression into something simple and easily understandable, and that tends to appeal to a lot of people.