Tasteissuchasubjectivematterthatwedon'tusuallyconductpreferencetestsforfood.Themostyoucansayaboutanyone'spreference,isthatit'soneperson'sopinion.Butbecausethetwobigcola(可乐)companiesCoca-ColaandPepsiColaaremarketedaggressively,we'vewonderedhowbigaroletastepreferenceactuallyplaysinbrandloyalty.WesetupatastetestthatchallengedpeoplewhoidentifiedthemselvesaseitherC0ca-ColaorPepsifans:Findyourbrandinablindtasting.
WeinvitedstaffvolunteerswhohadastronglikingforeitherCoca-ColaClassic(传统型)orPepsi,Diet(低糖的)Coke,orDietPepsi-Thesewerepeoplewhothoughtthey'dhavenotroubletellingtheirbrandfromtheotherbrand.Weeventuallylocated19regularcoladrinkersand27dietcoladrinkers.
Weeventuallylocated19regularcoladrinkersand27dietcoladrinkers.Thenwefedthemfourunidentifiedsamplesofcolaoneatatime,regularcolasfortheonegroup,dietversionsfortheother.WeaskedthemtotelluswhethereachsamplewasCokeorPepsi;thenweanalyzedtherecordsstatisticallytocomparetheparticipants'choiceswithwhatmeregum-workwouldhaveaccomplished.
Gettingallfoursamplesrightwasatoughtest,butnottootough,wethought,forpeoplewhobelievedtheycouldrecognizetheirbrand.Intheend,only7outof19regularcoladrinkerscorrectlyidentifiedtheirbrandofchoiceinallfourtrials.Thediet-coladrinkersdidalittleworse-only7of27identifiedallfoursamplescorrectly.
Whilebothgroupsdidbetterthanchancewouldpredict,nearlyhalftheparticipantsineachgroupmadethewrongchoicetwoormoretimes.Twopeoplegotallfoursampleswrong.Overall,halftheparticipantsdidaboutaswellonthelastroundoftastingasonthefirst,sofatigue,ortasteburnout,wasnotafactor.OurpreferencetestresultssuggestthatonlyafewPepsiparticipantsandCokefansmayreallybeabletotelltheirfavoritebrandbytasteandprice.
练习题：
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.Accordingtothepassagethepreferencetestwasconductedinorderto_____.
A.findouttheroletastepreferenceplaysinaperson'sdrinking
B.revealwhichcolaismoretothelikingofthedrinkers
C.showthataperson'sopinionabouttasteismereguess-work
D.comparetheabilityoftheparticipantsinchoosingtheirdrinks
2.Thestatisticsrecordedinthepreferencetestsshow_____.
A.Coca-ColaandPepsiarepeople'stwomostfavoritedrinks
B.thereisnotmuchdifferenceintastebetweenCoca-ColaandPepsi
C.fewpeoplehadtroubletellingCoca-ColafromPepsi
D.people'stastesdifferfromoneanother
3.Itisimpliedinthefirstparagraphthat_____.
A.thepurposeoftastetestsbtopromotethesaleofcolas
B.theimprovementofqualityisthechiefconcernofthetwocolacompanies
C.thecompetitionbetweenthetwocolasisverystrong
D.blindtastingisnecessaryforidentifyingfans
4.Theword"burnout"(Line4,Para.5)herereferstothestateof_____.
A.beingseriouslyburntintheskin
B.beingunabletoburnforlackoffuel
C.beingbadlydamagedbyfire
D.beingunabletofunctionbecauseofexcessiveuse
5.Theauthor'spurposeinwritingthispassageisto_____.
A.showthattastepreferenceishighlysubjective
B.arguethattastetestingisanimportantmarketingstrategy
C.emphasizethattasteandpricearecloselyrelatedtoeachother
D.recommendthatblindtastingbeintroducedinthequalitycontrolofcolas
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CocaColaandPepsiColaaremarketedsoaggressively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tastebumout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Tasteissuch...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。
