单选题
Taste is such a subjective matter that we don't usually conduct preference tests for food. The most you can say about anyone's 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 CocaCola or Pepsi fans: Find your brand in a blind tasting. We invited staff volunteers who had a strong liking for either CocaCola 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 guesswork could have accomplished. Getting all four samples right was a tough test, but not too though, 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 out 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.
单选题
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 guesswork D. compare the ability of the participants in choosing their drinks
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。本题询问的是这次口味偏好试验活动的目的是什么。文章第一段的第三句话中提到“…we've wondered how big a role taste preference actually plays in brand loyalty”，点明我们想搞清口味爱好在使一个人坚持只喝一种品牌的饮料中到底起到什么作用。然后接下来一句话“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．”指出作者因此进行了一次味觉试验，让那些自认为只喝可口可乐或百事可乐的人在没有标明品牌的饮料中品尝出自己喜爱的饮料。由此可见作者进行试验的目的是为了弄清口味在个人选用饮料时起什么作用，所以选项A为正确答案。
单选题
The underlined word" burnout" (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
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 词汇题。本题需要根据上下文推断出burnout一词的意义。burnout一词出现在文中第五段的第二句话“Overall，half the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first，so fatigue，of taste burnout，was not a factor．”中，在这句话中，taste burnout前出现了表示“或者，也就是说”的Or一词，也就是说“味觉burnout”是对fatigue(疲倦，疲劳)一词的解释。由此可以判断四选项中只有选项D为正确答案。选项A说“表皮严重烧伤”，选项B说“因为缺少燃料而不能燃烧”，选项C说“被火严重烧伤”，这三个选项都不能在意义上与文中的fatigue的意思相对等，故均不是正确答案。
单选题
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 oter D. recommend that blind tasting be introduced in the quality control of colas
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 大意判断题。本题询问的是作者写此篇文章的目的。文章第一段的第一和第二句指出，口味极具主观性，因此不大会有人去调查一般人偏爱哪些食物，而且作者认为就任何个人的爱好而言，充其量也只能说是他个人的意见。这起到开篇点题的作用。同时文章最后一句话“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．”也指出只有极少数人能凭自己的味觉辨认出自己喜爱的品牌饮料，这又对文章开始的点题作了回应。可见作者写这篇文章的目的是说明口味爱好是极具主观性的，所以选项A为正确答案。