Question

Anyone who ever wondered why a dying plant, say, a freshly-cut red rose may appeal to a lady friend, might take some comfort in science, which once again offers us a reasonable answer to one of the world’ s great mysteries.

Beyond a common preference in people for blue, “the long history of color preference studies has been described as ‘confusing and contradictory,” write scientists Anya Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling of England’ s Newcastle University, authors of a new study in the journal Current Biology. “This fact is perhaps surprising,” they said, “though the popularity of the concept that little girls differ from boys in preferring pink.”.

But the scientists believe they have an answer to this scientific mystery, discovering women’s preference for red, hidden above the average liking for blue.

In their study, the pair quickly flashed color cards, displaying many different aspects, at 208 volunteers, mostly Britishers but with a number of Han Chinese, who moved to the United Kingdom recently. Tested in three different experiments, the researchers found out a small but significant preference for reddish colors in the female volunteers.

Puzzled, the authors realized that most of the difference between men and women came in the form of a preference for green VS red in the color cards, regardless of the other slight differences such as the slightly blue ones that everyone liked. Why might this be?

Evolution might offer an answer, they reason. Human color perception（感知）, the assessment of three separate color types-red-green-blue-in our vision is a relatively recent addition to our line of mammals.

Adding weight to their argument, they found the women who are most typically feminine（女性的）on a psychological survey also had the biggest preference for reddish colors. “My love is like a red, red rose,” wrote the Scottish poet Rober Burns in 1794.

1.The scientists discovered the colour mystery that exists between men and women by _____..

A．giving examples                        B．doing experiments.

C．stating causes and effects                 D．interviewing volunteers.

2.The word “pair” in Para.4 refers to _____.

A．man and woman                        B．science and evolution .

C．Anya Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling              D．red and green

3.According to the study the scientists have carried out in the passage, _____.

A．men like blue most.

B．women have preference for red besides blue.

C．generally speaking boys prefer slight pink to blue.

D．girls also love slight green.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述了对女性偏爱红色的研究的结果。

1.B 细节题。根据文章第三段前四行But the scientists believe they have an answer to this scientific mystery, discovering women’s preference for red, hidden above the average liking for blue.

In their study, the pair quickly flashed color cards, displaying many different aspects, at 208 volunteers, mostly Britishers but with a number of Han Chinese, who moved to the United Kingdom recently.可知使用的做实验对志愿者进行研究的方法进行的。故B正确。

2.C 推理题。根据文章第二段Beyond a common preference in people for blue, “the long history of color preference studies has been described as ‘confusing and contradictory,” write scientists Anya Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling of England’ s Newcastle University, authors of a new study in the journal Current Biology.可知这项研究是由Anya Hurlbert and Yazhu Ling进行的，故pair就是指这两个人。故C正确。

3.B 细节题。根据文章第三段最后3行Tested in three different experiments, the researchers found out a small but significant preference for reddish colors in the female volunteers.可知研究中发现女性仍然偏爱红色。故B正确。

考点：考察科学报告类短文阅读

点评：本文讲述了对女性偏爱红色的研究的结果。要求考生在阅读理解整体语篇的基础上，把握文章的真正内涵。要吃透文章的字面意思，从字里行间捕捉有用的提示和线索，这是推理的前提和基础;要对文字的表面信息进行挖掘加工，由表入里，由浅入深，从具体到抽象，从非凡到一般，通过分析、综合、判定等，进行深层处理，符合逻辑地推理。