B
Many people take it for granted that black is a color of bad things while white should always mean something good. This may be because, in their opinion, black is related to darkness and white to purity. However, that is not always the case. Did you know that the same one color may mean differently in different places of the world?
In the Englishspeaking world, black is the color of mourning. People wear black clothes at the funeral. Red is concerned with danger or bloodshed (流血).Yellow is the word for fear. If you are afraid, you are yellow. Yet none of these sayings is true outside the Englishspeaking world. In China and Korea white is the color of mourning. In Russia, China and some other countries, red stands for beauty, life and excellence. In Italy and Germany, you are yellow with anger, not with fear.
Even within the Englishspeaking area it is not difficult to find color contradictions (矛盾). A red cap in the United States is a porter in a railway station. In Britain, however, a red cap is a military policeman. Both names are logical because both men wear red caps. Similarly, the British term for an American white collar worker is sometimes called a blackcoated worker.
One does not have to cross an area to find color differences. Would you rather be redblooded or a blueblooded? If we go back to the origin, we find that both terms are logical as both names suggest. The expression “blue blood” comes from Spain, where some noble families proudly said that they had “blue blood”. Actually they meant that they had no Moorish or Jewish blood. But then why “blue” blood? Because they were fairskinned, and it is only natural that their blood vessels (血管) stood out appearing blue.
Yellow is concerned with anger in ________.
A.Russia | B.Britain |
C.Germany | D.China |
The two meanings of the term “red cap” form a difference in ________.
A.pronunciation | B.climate |
C.logical relationship | D.custom |
Britain as well as America would probably agree that ________.
A.black stands for the color of mourning |
B.a blackcoated worker is employed in an office |
C.red represents beauty and excellence |
D.a red cap is a porter in a station |
The best title for this passage is “________”.
A.The Origin of Blue Blood |
B.The Development of the Symbolic Use of Colors |
C.Colors That Carry Bad Meanings |
D.The Meaning Concerned with Certain Colors |