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(可乐) companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed 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 C0ca-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 (传统型)or Pepsi, Diet (低糖的)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.

　　We eventually located 19regular cola drinkers and 27diet cola drinkers. Then we fed them four unidentifiedsamples of cola one at a time, regular colas for the one group, diet versions for the other. We asked themto tell us whether each sample was Coke or Pepsi; then we analyzed the records statistically to compare the participants ’choices with what mere gum-work would 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 7out of19regular cola drinkers correctly identified theirbrand of choice in all four trials. The diet-cola drinkers did a little worse -only 7of27identified 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 burn out, 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.

　　练习题：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. 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

　　2. 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

　　3. It is implied in the first paragraph that _____.

　　A. the purpose of taste tests b 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

　　4. The word "burnout"(Line4,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

　　5. 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

　　1.[A] 第1段第3句提到，由于两大可乐公司的营销如此具有攻击性，我们不由想知道对味道的偏好在品牌忠诚度上起多大的作用，A与之相符。

　　2.[B] 第4段第2、3句表明可口可乐和百事可乐在味道方面并无多大差异，B与之相符。A、D不是实验数据所表明的事情，故排除;C与原文的意思不相符，也排除。

　　3.[C] 由第1段第3句中Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed so aggressively可知两大公司竞争极为激烈，故选C。

　　4.[D] 文章最后一段第3句中，fatigue与taste bum out之间用or连接，表明两者语义比较接近，对比四个选项，D符合，表示味觉疲劳、麻木。

　　5.[A] 文章第1句Taste is such... food表明味觉偏好是十分主观的，且下文讲到的实验结果也更进一步印证了该观点，故选A。