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 (可樂飲料) 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 (傳統(tǒng)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
　　參考譯文
　　口味
　　個人的味覺極具主觀性，所以我們通常不會去調查人們喜歡哪些食品。就任何個人的愛好而言，你至多也只能說這是他個人的意見。但由于可口可樂和百事可樂這兩家公司推銷自己的產(chǎn)品是如此積極，我們不由得發(fā)問，對某種口味的嗜好在多大程度上會促使人們只喝具有該口味的品牌的飲料?我們舉行了一次品嘗試驗，來測試那些自認為是可口可樂迷或是百事可樂迷的人，能否在沒有標明品牌的飲料中找到自己喜愛的品牌。
　　我們邀請的自愿參加品嘗活動的員工，都是些要么是非常喜歡傳統(tǒng)的可口可樂或百事可樂，要么就熱衷于喝低糖的(健怡)可口可樂或百事可樂的人。而且，這些人都認為在兩種品牌的飲料中試嘗出自己喜歡的品牌易如反掌。
　　我們最后定了l9名專喝傳統(tǒng)可樂和27名只喝低糖可樂的可樂飲用者。然后，我們讓他們分四次品嘗四種沒有標明品牌的可樂，一二組是傳統(tǒng)可樂，另一組是低糖可樂。我們要求他們說出每次喝的可樂是可口可樂還是百事可樂；然后我們對他們的答案記錄進行了統(tǒng)計分析，以便將他們的答案與隨意猜測的可能結果進行比較。 要準確無誤地確認四種樣品的品牌不是一件輕而易舉的事，但我們認為對于這些十分相信自己能夠辨認出自己品牌的人來說也不應該太難。結果表明，19名只喝傳統(tǒng)可樂的人中只有7人能在四次品嘗中正確認出自己的品牌，喝低糖可樂的一組錯誤的多一點，27人中也只有7人辨認出自己喜歡的品牌。
　　雖然兩組人的成績要比僅靠猜測答對的概率高，但每組中都有將近一半的人會有兩次或兩次以上的識別錯誤。還有兩人沒有一次答對�？v觀幾輪品嘗，一半?yún)⒓悠穱L的人，第四輪和第一輪品嘗的效果是一樣的，因此味覺疲勞不是一個有影響的因素�？偟目磥�，這次品嘗活動的結果表明，只有為數(shù)不多的百事可樂和可口可樂的飲用者能根據(jù)口味和價格真正認出自己喜歡的品牌。