Taste
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 (可乐饮料) companies--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 would 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 compare the participants' 'choices with what mere guess-work could have accomplished.
Getting all four samples right was a rough test, but not too tough, we thought, for people who believed they could recognize their brand, In the end, only 7 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 fatigue, 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.
36. According to the passage the preference .test was conducted in order to ____
A. find out the role taste preference plays in a person's drinking
B. reveal which cola is more to the liking of the drinkers
C. show that a person's opinion about taste is mere guess-work
D. compare the ability of the participants in choosing their drinks
37. The statistics recorded in the preference tests show _______.
A. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are people's two most favorite drinks
B. there is not much difference in taste between Coca-cola and Pepsi
C. few people had trouble telling Coca-Cola from Pepsi
D. people's tastes differ from one another
38. It is implied in the first paragraph that______
A. the purpose of taste tests is to promote the sale of colas
B. the improvement of quality is the chief concern of the two cola companies C. the competition between the two colas is very strong
D. blind tasting is necessary for identifying fans
39. " so fatigue, or taste burnout, was not a factor. " (Line 4, Para. 5) Why?A. Two people got all four samples wrong
B. Nearly half the participants in each group made the wrong choice two or more times
C. Only a few cola fans may really be able to tell their favorite brand
D. Half the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first round
40. The author's purpose in writing this passage is to ___________
A. show that taste preference is highly subjective
B.argue that taste testing is an important marketing strategy
C. emphasize that taste and price are closely related to each other
D. recommend, that blind tasting be introduced in the quality control of colas
参考译文
口味
个人的味觉极具主观性，所以我们通常不会去调查人们喜欢哪些食品。就任何个人的爱好而言，你至多也只能说这是他个人的意见。但由于可口可乐和百事可乐这两家公司推销自己的产品是如此积极，我们不由得发问，对某种口味的嗜好在多大程度上会促使人们只喝具有该口味的品牌的饮料?我们举行了一次品尝试验，来测试那些自认为是可口可乐迷或是百事可乐迷的人，能否在没有标明品牌的饮料中找到自己喜爱的品牌。
我们邀请的自愿参加品尝活动的员工，都是些要么是非常喜欢传统的可口可乐或百事可乐，要么就热衷于喝低糖的(健怡)可口可乐或百事可乐的人。而且，这些人都认为在两种品牌的饮料中试尝出自己喜欢的品牌易如反掌。
我们最后定了l9名专喝传统可乐和27名只喝低糖可乐的可乐饮用者。然后，我们让他们分四次品尝四种没有标明品牌的可乐，一二组是传统可乐，另一组是低糖可乐。我们要求他们说出每次喝的可乐是可口可乐还是百事可乐；然后我们对他们的答案记录进行了统计分析，以便将他们的答案与随意猜测的可能结果进行比较。 要准确无误地确认四种样品的品牌不是一件轻而易举的事，但我们认为对于这些十分相信自己能够辨认出自己品牌的人来说也不应该太难。结果表明，19名只喝传统可乐的人中只有7人能在四次品尝中正确认出自己的品牌，喝低糖可乐的一组错误的多一点，27人中也只有7人辨认出自己喜欢的品牌。
虽然两组人的成绩要比仅靠猜测答对的概率高，但每组中都有将近一半的人会有两次或两次以上的识别错误。还有两人没有一次答对。纵观几轮品尝，一半参加品尝的人，第四轮和第一轮品尝的效果是一样的，因此味觉疲劳不是一个有影响的因素。总的看来，这次品尝活动的结果表明，只有为数不多的百事可乐和可口可乐的饮用者能根据口味和价格真正认出自己喜欢的品牌
责任编辑：sealion1986
