Passage 18

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 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 or Pepsi, Diet 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 compare the participants’ choices with what mere guess-work could have accomplished.

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 to 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 result suggest that only a few Pepsi participants and Coke fans may really be able to tell their favorite brand by taste and price.

86. 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

87. 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

88. 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

89. The word “burnout” (Line 4, Para. 5) here refers to the state of _________

A) being seriously burnt in the skin B) being unable to burn for lack of fuel

C) being badly damaged by fire D) being unable to function because of excessive use

90. 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

Passage 18

（９０）味觉是极为主观的东西，因而我们通常不会做对食品喜好程度的测试。我们能对任何人的偏好所说的最多的，便是那是个人意见。（８８）但因为两大可乐公司——可口可乐与百事可乐的销售是如此的具有攻击性，（８６）我们不由地想知道对味道的偏好在品牌忠诚度上实际起了多大的作用。我们开始了一项味觉测试，它会挑战那些自称是可口可乐或是百事可乐的拥护者的人：蒙眼尝味来发现你喜爱的品牌。

我们请了一批志愿者，他们对传统可口可乐、百事可乐、低糖可乐与低糖百事四者中的一种十分喜爱。他们都认为自己可以毫不费力把自己喜爱的牌子与其它牌子区分开来。

我们最终确定了１９名普通可乐饮用者与２７名低糖可乐饮用者。

然后我们给他们喝四种不知种类的可乐样品，每次一种，一组喝普通可乐，另一组喝低糖可乐。我们请他们说出每种样品是可口可乐还是百事可乐；然后以统计的角度分析数据，以把参加测试者的选择与猜测相比较。

我们认为把四种样品都判断正确可不容易，但也不算困难，因为这些人都相信自己可以分辨出自己喜爱的品牌。（８７）结果，１９个普通可乐饮用者中只有７个正确地在全部四个测试样品中区分出了自己喜爱的品牌。低糖可乐饮用者做得更糟，２７个人中只有７个人把全部四个都判断对了。

两组的结果都比随机猜测的正确率要高，但每组中几乎有一半人选错了两次以上，有两个人把全部四个都弄错了。总体来说，（８９）一半的参与测试者在最后一轮测试中与第一轮中表现差不多，因此疲劳或是味觉失灵不是原因。我们的口味偏好测试的结果表示，只有很少的百事可乐爱好者与可口可乐爱好者真的可以由口味和价格判断出他们喜爱的品牌。

８６、根据本文，做这个口味偏好测试是为了________

Ａ）弄清在人们饮用饮料时口味偏好所起的作用　Ｂ）揭示哪一种可乐更受人喜爱

Ｃ）显示人们对口味的评价仅仅是猜测而已　Ｄ）比较参与测试者选择自己喜爱饮料的能力

８７、在口味偏好测试中的统计显示________

Ａ）可口可乐与百事可乐是人们最喜爱的两种饮料　

Ｂ）可口可乐与百事可乐的口味没有很大差别

Ｃ）很少有人无法区分可口可乐与百事可乐　　Ｄ）人们的口味互不相同

８８、在第一段中暗示_________

Ａ）口味测试的目的是促进可乐的销售　　　Ｂ）提高品质是两家可乐公司最关心的事

Ｃ）两种可乐的竞争很激烈　　　　　　　　Ｄ）要区分品牌爱好者，蒙眼测试是必要的

８９、“burn out”这个词（第５段第６行）指的是____的状态

Ａ）皮肤严重烧伤　　　　　　　　　　　　Ｂ）因为缺乏燃料不能燃烧

Ｃ）被火损伤得很严重　　　　　　　　　　Ｄ）因为过度使用而失灵了

９０、作者写本文的目的是___________

Ａ）显示味觉偏好是十分主观的

Ｂ）提出观点，即味觉测试是一项重要的市场推广策略

Ｃ）强调口味与价格两者密切相关

Ｄ）推荐在可乐品质管理中引入蒙眼测试