Question

Many people take it for granted that black is a color of bad things while white should always mean something good. This may be because, in their opinion, black is related to darkness and white to purity. However, that is not always the case. Did you know that the same colour may mean differently in different places of the world?

In the English-speaking world, black is the colour of mourning. People wear black clothes at the funeral. Red is concerned with danger or bloodshed (流血). Yellow is the word for fear. If you are afraid, you are yellow. Yet none of these sayings is true outside the English-speaking world. In China and Korea white is the colour of mourning. In Russia, China and some other countries, red stands for beauty, life and excellence. In Italy and Germany, you are yellow with anger, not with fear.

Even within the English-speaking area it is not difficult to find colour contradictions. A redcap in the United States is a porter in a railway station. In Britain, however, a redcap is a military policeman. Both names are logical because both men wear red caps. Similarly, the British term for an American white collar worker is sometimes called a black-coated worker.

One does not have to cross an area to find colour differences. Would you rather be red-blooded? If we go back to the origin, we find that both terms are logical as both names suggest. The expression "blueblood" comes from Spain, where some noble families proudly said that they had "blue blood". But then why "blue" blood? Because they were fairskinned, and it is only natural that their blood vessels (血管) stood out appearing blue.

1.Yellow is concerned with anger in                .             

A. Russia            B. China                   C. Britain              D. Germany

2. The two meanings of the term "redcap" form a difference in                .     

A. pronunciation        B. logical relationship     C.  custom              D. climate

3. Both Britain and America would probably agree that                .         

A. a black-coated worker is employed in an office       B. black is the color of mourning

C. red stands for beauty and excellence                 D. a redcap is a porter in a station

4.The best title for this passage is               

A. The Development of the Symbolic use of Colors        B. The Meaning Concerned With Certain Colors 

C. Colors that Carry Bad Meanings                   D. The Origin of Blue Blood.

5.When some Spanish called themselves “blueblood”, they actually meant               .

A. they came from a noble family                        B. their faces looked blue

C. they had blue blood in their vessels                     D. they were fairskinned

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.B

5.A

【解析】略