Do the colors that surround you influence how you feel? Can the colors on your walls and on your clothes affect your moods? Some researchers believe the answer is a decisive yes, while others aren’t so sure.
Yet many marketers, interior designers, medical professionals and others swear by an informal field of science known as color psychology. Color psychology is defined as “the study of how the colors we perceive impact our thoughts and feelings.”
Marketers use the science of color to persuade us to buy things. When choosing paint, furniture and wall art, interior designers act on the theory that colors can arouse certain feelings in us. Dentists are often advised to use light blue paint on their office walls to help calm apprehensive patients.
We should keep in mind, though, that only by considering cultural preferences are we able to fully understand the science of color. For instance, in the West, white is for brides and black is for funerals. But in ancient Asia, white was sometimes worn for funerals. In Japan yellow represents courage while in the United States, it represents happiness. Additionally, many variables including gender, age, background and more must be considered before making color assumptions when one is studying the effects of color.
After taking color variable into account it’s safe to consider some mainstream theories about specific colors and their meanings. Here are just a few:
Red symbolizes love, energy, passion and danger. Red is also believed to increase one’s hunger, which might be the reason why McDonald’s and Coca-Cola chose red as their major branding color.
Brown, a color from nature, best represents things that are honest, trustworthy and dependable. It seems a perfect fit as the branding color for the package delivery company UPS.
Blue-in addition to representing peace and calm-also means integrity and competence. It’s no surprise that PayPal and American Express both use blue as their branding color.
Green-another color from nature-represents health, growth and freshness and is the perfect branding color for Starbucks.
Pink symbolizes love, romance, innocence and femininity (女性特质). The popular doll company that makes Barbie uses pink as its major branding color.
If color psychology advocates are correct, then our emotions and decisions are truly influenced by the colors around us. With this knowledge, we can effectively harness (驾驭) color power to create positive school, work and home environments.
1. What does the phrase “swear by” in the second paragraph probably mean?A.deeply investigate | B.somewhat doubt |
C.deeply believe | D.still wish |
A.To remind we should take culture into account when learning the science of color. |
B.To state that cultural preferences are decisive factors in color psychology. |
C.To show different cultures have different preferences for different colors. |
D.To prove white and black represent complete different things in different countries. |
A.color psychology may help us make correct decisions in life |
B.color psychology is an uncultivated field in modern science |
C.color psychology has been recognized throughout the world |
D.color psychology is influencing our emotions and decisions |
A.The potential effects of color on our lives. |
B.The positives and negatives of color psychology. |
C.The foundation and function of color psychology. |
D.The relationship between color and man Section |
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【推荐1】If we are observant(善于观察的), we can find that most of the flowers in nature are red, orange and yellow. If we have seen a black flower, it is a chance in a million. People have made census (统计) to colors of more than four thousand kinds of flowers and discovered that only eight of them are black. Why are black flowers so rare?
As we know, sunlight is formed by seven different kinds of colored light. The wave length of each light changes, so the quantity of heat in each light changes, too. Flowers, especially their petals (花瓣) , are very weak and easy to the harm caused by high temperature. Black flowers can take in all the light waves, which cause the flowers to dry up in a high temperature. So the black flowers can hardly continue their lives. While red flowers, orange flowers and yellow ones can protect themselves from sunlight by reflecting(反射) the red light, orange light and yellow light, each of which has a large quantity of heat.
That is why red, orange and yellow flowers are very common in nature while black flowers are so unusual.
1. It is a chance in a million” means______.A.something common |
B.something lucky |
C.something extremely rare |
D.something impossible |
A.many different kinds of colored light |
B.three different kinds of colored light—red, orange and yellow |
C.seven different kinds of colored light |
D.four thousand kinds of colored light |
A.they are so weak that it’s difficult for them to grow up |
B.there are actually no black flowers in the world |
C.the petals of black flowers are very delicate(易碎的) |
D.they can take in the light of all wave length which make the flowers dry up because of high temperature. |
A.Red, orange and yellow flowers can absorb the light of all wave lengths. |
B.People have found that only a few kinds of flowers are black. |
C.Most of the flowers are resistant(有抵抗力的) to high temperature owing to their bright colors. |
D.The black flowers cannot protect themselves from sunlight. |
【推荐2】Colour saturation(饱和) refers to the intensity(强度) of the reds, greens and blues. Photos high in colour saturation make food look fresher and tastier to viewers, which increases their willingness to order the menu items, a new study suggests. “In the restaurant business, these results provide a simple method to increase sales,” said Stephanie Liu, lead author of the study and associate professor of hospitality management at the Ohio State University. “On Instagram, it means using the ‘X-Pro Ⅱ’ filter(滤镜) on your food photos rather than the ‘Early bird’ filter. It costs nothing, so it’s an easy win for restaurant marketers.
In one survey, 267 participants were asked to imagine themselves looking through options on an online food-ordering platform. They were shown photos of a poke bowl, a Hawaiian dish featuring fish, vegetables and sauce over rice. They were randomly asked to view one of the four different photos with either high or low colour saturation and either close or farther away visual distance. The food in the more highly-saturated photos looked fresher and tastier to participants, and that led them to be more likely to purchase the food. But colour saturation had a stronger effect when the food appeared more distant in the photos. “When the food is shown close up, it’s already easy for the viewers to imagine how fresh and tasty the food would be,” Liu said. “Colour saturation is not as necessary.”
In the second survey, 222 online participants were asked to imagine they were looking through photos of pizza from a restaurant near their home. They were told they would either be eating alone or with their family. As in the previous study, the food in the colour-saturated photo was always seen as fresher and tastier and one that people would be more likely to buy. But that effect was stronger for people who were told they would be eating alone. “When people are eating with others, the social experience is a big part of what people look forward to,” Liu said. “But when they are eating alone, they focus more on the food itself.”
“These findings are more important now than ever before,” Liu said. “With people ordering online, restaurants have to post pictures of their food on online ordering platforms. They should pay more attention to the photos they post as they do to the text. Colour saturation is one key element they need to focus on.”
1. What is a direct effect of the “X-Pro Ⅱ” filter according to Stephanie Liu?A.Strengthening the “Early bird” filter. |
B.Keeping colour saturation low. |
C.Making food in photos more appealing. |
D.Increasing the variety of menu items. |
A.When the food appears farther to the observer. |
B.When the poke bowl contains more food. |
C.When the food is fresher and tastier in reality. |
D.When the visual distance of the food is shorter. |
A.They take social experience into consideration. |
B.They choose food that is easier to obtain. |
C.They want the food to be fresher and tastier. |
D.They pay more attention to colour saturation. |
A.How Colour Speaks for Menu Items Online |
B.How Colour Saturation Affects People |
C.How Colour Brings Benefits to Ordering Platforms |
D.How Colour in Photos Makes Food Look Tastier |
【推荐3】Nervous suspects locked up in Britain’s newest police station may feel relieved by a pleasant yellow colour on the door. If they are close to confessing a crime, the blue on the wall might tip the balance.
Gwent Police have abandoned colours such as greys and browns of the 20th-century police cell and have used colour psychology to decorate them.
Ystrad Mynach station, which recently opened at a cost of 5 million, has four cells with glass doors for prisoners who suffer from claustrophobia. Designers have painted the frames yellow, which researchers say is a calming colour. Other cells contain a royal blue line because psychologists believe that the colour is likely to encourage truthfulness.
The station has 31 cells, including 12 with a “live scan” system for drunken or disturbed prisoners, which detects the rise and fall of their chest. An alarm alerts officers if a prisoner’s breathing stops and carries on ringing until the door is opened.
Designers and psychologists have worked for years on colour. Blue is said to suggest trust, efficiency, duty, logic, coolness, thinking and calm. It also suggests coldness and unfriendliness. It is thought that strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft colours will calm the mind and aid concentration.
Yellow is linked with confidence, self-respect and friendliness. Get the colour wrong and it could cause fear, depression and anxiety, but the right yellow can lift spirits and self-respect.
Ingrid Collins, a psychologist who specializes in the effects of colour, said that colour was an “energy force”. She said: “Blue does enhance communication but I am not sure it would enhance truthful communication.”
Yellow, she said, affected the mind. Red on the other hand, should never be considered because it could increase aggression. Mrs Colling praised the designers for using colours in the cells. Gwent is not the first British force to experiment with color to calm down or persuade prisoners to co-operate. In the 1990s Strathclvde Police used pink in cells based on research carried out by the US Navy.
1. The expression “tip the balance” in paragraph 1 probably indicates that the blue might ________.A.let suspects keep their balance | B.make suspects cold and unfriendly in law court |
C.help suspects to confess their crimes | D.enable suspects to change their attitudes to colours |
A.Royal blue lines | B.Scanning equipment. | C.Glass doors. | D.Yellow frames. |
A.Pink. | B.Red. | C.Blue. | D.Yellow. |
A.the relationship between colours and psychology |
B.a comparison of different functions of colours |
C.Scientific ways to help criminals reform themselves in prison |
D.the use of colours in cells to affect criminals’ psychology |
【推荐1】Much like beauty, art is in the eve of the beholder. The artwork we are attracted to can give insight into our personality, such as whether we are too quick or too slow, calm or moody. Studies into art preferences date back to the 1930s-most of them examining the degree to which people like or dislike different paintings. Research shows that a person’s interest in art is more strongly related to certain personality traits (特征) than to social class, age, or gender.
In particular, a personality trait called “openness” is the best predictor of whether individuals are interested in art. On the other side, those who identify as “conscientious” (一丝不苟的) , are often less drawn to the arts. These traits are part of the Big Five, a widely accepted personality theory based on nearly a century of research.
The model claims that each personality is made up of a combination of five core traits: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion (enjoying being with other people), agreeableness (being pleasant) and neuroticism (feeling worried and nervous). Rather than stating a person as being either thy or outgoing, the Big Five Model believes that everyone lies somewhere between the two extremes.
Personality traits may also affect the way people visually scan art. A 2018 study tracked participants’ eye movements as they studied abstract (抽象的) artwork. The majority of participants concentrated on the upper-right part. This makes sense, as the right half of the brain is specialized for visual and spatial processing, and also plays a significant role in processing the emotions that art draws out. However, participants who tended toward neuroticism focused on the left side of the picture, and those with mental disease paid more attention to the bottom of the picture.
Even with the impressive amount of research into the relationship between people’s personality traits end their love for art, there are still holes in the theories. For instance, some scientists claim that the Big Five Model doesn’t translate across cultures and is mainly targeted toward those living in developed nations. Also, most studies have focused on two-dimensional art, like paintings, and haven’t yet described differing preferences for the variety of media that exist around the world. Then there’s the fact that our art preferences change over time and are informed by our ages, relationships and life experiences.
People’s preferences for art are nearly as complicated as art itself. But if you’re looking for a quick test of someone’s general personality traits, it doesn’t hurt to glance at what’s hanging on their walls.
1. What does the underlined part “art is in the eye of the beholder” in Paragraph 1 imply?A.The value of an artwork depends on its quality and price. |
B.Whether an artwork is attractive is based on personal opinions. |
C.The preference for art is mostly influenced by one’s social status. |
D.We judge an artwork based on whether it is considered beautiful. |
A. | B. | C. | D. |
A.It is a system developed nearly a century ago. |
B.It may not apply to people from some countries. |
C.It strictly classifies everyone into one of the five traits. |
D.It can explain the change in our art preference overtime. |
A.Why one likes an artwork better than others. |
B.How to discover one’s art preference. |
C.How to reveal one’s personality traits. |
D.What one’s taste in art says about him/her. |
【推荐2】National Guide Dog Month is held in September every year. It is a month-long celebration set apart to honor the work of guide dogs and raise awareness, appreciation, and support for guide dog schools across the US. Guide dogs go through demanding training from an early age. They help those with sensory issues such as blindness and provide added mobility (移动能力) and independence for those who might not have otherwise had such freedoms.
The first attempt to train guide dogs was in Paris at the “Les Quinze-Vingts” hospital for the blind. The founder of the Institute for the Education of the Blindd “Blinden-Erziehungs-Institut” in Vienna, Johann Wilhelm Klein, wrote about guide dogs in his book published in 1819. This provides evidence that dogs have been helping humans for a long period.
After the World War I, when many soldiers came back blind, the use of guide dogs peaked. The demand for this service accounted for the opening of the first school for guide dogs in Oldenburg, Germany. Dog trainer Dorothy Harrison Eustis is credited with bringing the first guide dog to America, and Eustis later established the “Seeing Eye School” in Morristown, New Jersey.
Dick Van Patten was the inspiration behind National Guide Dog Month. He admired the ability of these dogs to improve the standards of life for those living with blindness but he was also aware of the time, energy, and cost that went into training these dogs. He decided to take action and raise awareness and provide financial support for guide dog schools. Van Patten owned a pet food company that underwrote (承担) all costs for the promotion of National Guide Dog Month. The first guide dog fundraiser was in Southern Califormia with the support of the Petco Foundation.
Thanks to Van Patten’s effort, many guide dog organizations have now become beneficiaries (受益者) of these month-long events. In the month of September, a drive is held to collect funds that go towards funding non-profit guide dog organizations accredited by the International Guide Dog Federation.
1. What can we know about National Guide Dog Month?A.It is observed all over the world. |
B.It provides more freedom for the blind. |
C.It holds training activities for the public. |
D.It helps promote guide dog organizations. |
A.In America. | B.In Britain. | C.In Germany. | D.In France. |
A.He improves the life for the blind. |
B.He trains lots of guide dog in the US. |
C.He runs a non-profit pet food company. |
D.He benefits many guide dog organizations. |
A.The strict training on guide dogs. |
B.The reasons for needing guide dogs. |
C.The origin of National Guide Dog Month. |
D.The impact of National Guide Dog Month. |
【推荐3】A study published Tuesday in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review found that words expressing angry feelings sound alike in several unrelated languages. They’re less likely than other words to include the sounds L, R, W or Y. And more friendly versions of such words often have these sounds added. The finding suggests that certain rules may link the world’s languages, no matter how different they are.
Ryan McKay, co-author of the paper, happened to discover that some of the English curses (诅咒语) seem to have something in common; They’re often short and include the sounds B, P, T or K. Then Dr. McKay teamed up with his colleague Shiri Lev-Ari to learn whether these rules went beyond English.
During the experiment, they asked fluent speakers of Arabic, Korean, German and Spanish to list the worst words they could think of. Once they’d made a list of each language’s most commonly used curses, the researchers compared these with neutral (中性的) words from the same language. To their surprise, the rules still apply.
Next, the scientists asked the same people to listen to pairs of invented words, such as “yog” and “tsog” and guess which word in each pair was a curse. The subjects were more likely to guess that words without L, R. W and Y, such as “tsog”, were curses. Finally, the researchers looked through the dictionary for English curses and their cleaned-up versions. Once again, the cleaned-up versions included more of the sounds L, R, W and Y.
“Most 20th-century language scientists held that any word could have any meaning,” said Dr. McKay. “With curses, though, the sounds themselves seem to carry meaning. This can shape and change our understanding of how languages are formed.”
“It is the first time for researchers to study curses across languages and the finding is very interesting,” said Benjamin Bergen, a language scientist at the University of California, who was not involved in the study. “But it is just another case of what’s called sound symbolism in the language study: A word sounds like what it means.”
1. Which word is most probably not a leaned-up curse according to the text?A.Rucy. |
B.Buk |
C.Yayad. |
D.Walawah. |
A.Applying their study to more unrelated languages. |
B.Studying the neutral words and curses side by side. |
C.Asking people to listen to pairs of non-existing words. |
D.Comparing English curses with their friendly versions. |
A.The study method is really unscientific. |
B.It will change our understanding in a way. |
C.It is not a totally new discovery at all. |
D.The selected languages are too limited. |
A.To introduce a newly published study. |
B.To prove the unique rules in English. |
C.To tell another way of memorizing words. |
D.To show how to use more friendly curses. |