We invited staff volunteers who had a strong liking for either Coca-Cola Classic (傳統型)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.
練習題：
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，由于兩大可樂公司的營銷如此具有攻擊性，我們不由想知道對味道的偏好在品牌忠誠度上起多大的作用，A與之相符。
2.[B] 第4段第2、3句表明可口可樂和百事可樂在味道方面并無多大差異，B與之相符。A、D不是實驗數據所表明的事情，故排除;C與原文的意思不相符，也排除。
3.[C] 由第1段第3句中Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed so aggressively可知兩大公司競爭極為激烈，故選C。
4.[D] 文章最后一段第3句中，fatigue與taste bum out之間用or連接，表明兩者語義比較接近，對比四個選項，D符合，表示味覺疲勞、麻木。
5.[A] 文章第1句Taste is such... food表明味覺偏好是十分主觀的，且下文講到的實驗結果也更進一步印證了該觀點，故選A。
