2012年职称英语考试《综合类A级》考试真题_职称英语考试真题综合类

2012年职称英语考试《综合类A级》考试真题

16、回答16-22题：

In Sports, Red is the Winning Color

When opponents of a game are equally matched, the team dressed in red is more likely to win, according to a new study.

British anthropologists Russell Hill and Robert Barton of the University of Durham reached that conclusion by studying the outcomes of one-on-one boxing, toe kwon do, Greeo-Roman-wresting, and freestyle-wrestling matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

In each event Olympic staff randomly assigned red or blue clothing or body protection to competitors. When otherwise equally matched with their opponent in fitness and skill, athletes wearing red were more likely to win the bout.

Where there was a large point difference -presumably because one contestant was far superior to the other- color had no effect on the outcome, Barton said. Where there was a small point difference, the effect of color was sufficient to tip the balance.

In equally matched bouts, the preponderance of red wins was great enough that it could not be attributed to chance, the anthropologists say. Hill and Barton found similar restdts in a review of the colors worn at the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament. Their report will be published in

tomorrows issue of the journal Nature.

Joanna Setchell, a primate researcher at the University of Cambridge in England, has found similar results in nature. Her work with the large African monkeys known as mandrills shows that red coloration gives males an advantage when it comes to mating.