Taste is such a subjective matter that we don’t usually conduct preference tests for food. The most you can say about anyone’s preference is that it’s one person’s opinion. But because the two big cola panies—Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed so aggressively, we’ve wondered how big a role taste preference actually plays in brand loyalty. We set up a taste test that challenged people who identified themselves as either Coca-Cola or Pepsi fans: Find your brand in a blind tasting.
We invited staff volunteers who had a strong liking for either Coca-Cola Classic (传统型) or Pepsi, Diet (低糖的) Coke, or Diet Pepsi. These were people who thought they’d have no trouble telling their brand from the other brand.
We eventually located 19 regular cola drinkers and 27 diet cola drinkers. Then we fed them four unidentified samples of cola one at a time, regular colas for the one group, diet versions for the other. We asked them to tell us whether each sample was Coke or Pepsi; then we analyzed the records statistically to pare the participants’ choices with what mere guess-work could have acplished.
Getting all four samples right was a tough test, but not too tough, we thought, for people who believed they could recognize their brand. In the end, only 7 out of 19 regular cola drinkers correctly identified their brand of choice in all four trials. The diet-cola drinkers did a little worse----only 7 of 27 identified all four samples correctly.
While both groups did better than chance would predict, nearly half the participants in each group made the wrong choice two or more times. Two people got all four samples wrong. Overall, half the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first, so tiredness, or taste burnout, was not a factor. Our preference test results suggest that only a few Pepsi participants and Coke fans may really be able to tell their favorite brand by taste and price.
【小题1】According to the passage the preference test was conducted in order to .A．show that a person’s opinion about taste is mere guess-workB．pare the ability of the participants in choosing their drinksC．find out the role taste preference plays in a person’s drinkingD．reveal which cola is more to the liking of the drinkers【小题2】 It is implied but not stated in the first paragraph that .A．the petition between the two colas is very strongB．blind tasting is necessary for identifying fansC．the purpose of taste tests is to promote the sale of colasD．the improvement of quality is the chief concern of the two cola panies【小题3】The word “burnout” (Line3, Para. 5) refers to the state of .A．being seriously burnt in the skinB．being badly damaged by fireC．being unable to function because of excessive useD．being unable to burn for lack of fuel【小题4】The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to .A．emphasize that taste and price are closely related to each otherB．remend that blind tasting be introduced in the quality control of colasC．show that taste preference is highly subjectiveD．argue that taste testing is an important marketing strategyC
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(答案→)C
解析：文章介绍人的口味是很主观的事情，通过偏好的测试是证明偏好在人的饮料中起着什么作用。测试人员被提供四种可口可乐和百事可乐的样本品尝，看他们能不能说出不同的饮料名称，结果证明只有一部分人可以说出自己喜欢的品牌的饮料。
【小题1】细节题：从第一段的句子：we’ve wondered how big a role taste preference actually plays in brand loyalty. We set up a taste test that challenged people who identified themselves as either Coca-Cola or Pepsi fans:可知做偏好的测试是为了偏好在人的饮料中起着什么作用。选C
【小题2】推理题：从第一段的句子：But because the two big cola panies—Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed so aggressively, aggressively是“好斗的，争强好胜的“，可以推断出这两个公司的竞争很激烈。选A
【小题3】猜词题：从最后一段的句子：Overall, half the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first, so tiredness, or taste burnout, was not a factor.可知一般的受测试人员在最后一轮中和第一轮中做的一样好，所以疲劳不是因素。所以我们可以推断出burnout和tiredness意思相近，选C
【小题4】写作意图题：从第一段的句子：Taste is such a subjective matter that we don’t usually conduct preference tests for food. The most you can say about anyone’s preference is that it’s one person’s opinion.可知作者一开始就说人的口味是很主观的事情，下面的文章就是在证明这个观点。选C