One person chooses a bright red car, but another prefers a dark green. One family paints the living room a sunny yellow, but another family uses pure white. One child wants a bright orange ball, but another wants a light blue one. Psychologists and businessmen think these differences are important.

In general, people talk about two groups of colors: warm colors and cool colors. Researchers think that there are also two groups of people: people who prefer warm colors and people who prefer cool colors.

The warm colors are red, orange, and yellow. Where there are warm colors and a lot of light, people usually want to be active. People think that red, for example, is exciting. Sociable people, those who like to be with others, like red. The cool colors are green, blue, and violet. These colors, unlike warm colors, are relaxing. Where there are cool colors, people are usually quiet. People who like to spend time alone often prefer blue.

Red may be exciting, but one researcher says that time seems to pass more slowly in a room with warm colors than in a room with cool colors. He suggests that a warm color, such as read or orange, is a good color for a living room or restaurant. People who are relaxing or eating do not want time to pass quickly. Cool colors are better for offices or factories if the people who are working there want time to pass quickly.

Researchers do not know why people think some colors are warm and other colors are cool. However, almost everyone agrees that red, orange, and yellow are warm and that green, blue, and violet are cool. Perhaps warm colors remind people of warm days and the cool colors remind them of cool days. Because in the north the sum is low during winter, the sunlight appears quite blue. Because the sun is higher during summer, the hot summer sunlight appears yellow.

People associate colors with different objects, feelings, and holidays. Red, for example, is the color of fire, heat, blood, and life. People say red is an exciting and active color. They associate red with a strong feeling like anger. Red is used for signs of danger, such as STOP signs and fire engines. The holiday which is associated with red is Valentine's Day. On February 14, Americans send red hearts to people they love.

Orange is the bright, warm color of leaves in autumn. People say orange is a lively, energetic color. [此處開(kāi)始無(wú)錄音]They associate orange with happiness. They holidays which are associated with orange are Halloween in October and Thanksgiving Day in November. One October 31 many Americans put large orange pumpkins in their windows for Halloween.

Yellow is the color of sunlight. People say it is a cheerful and lively color. [無(wú)錄音結(jié)束]They associate yellow, too, with happiness. Because it is bright, it is used for signs of caution.

Green is the cool color of grass in spring. People say it is a refreshing and relaxing color. Machines in factories are usually painted light green.

Blue is the color of the sky, water, and ice. Police and Navy uniforms are blue. When people are sad, they say "I feel blue." They associate blue with feelings like unhappiness and fear.

Violet, or purple, is the deep, soft color of darkness or shadows. People consider violet a dignified color. They associate it with loneliness. On Easter Sunday people decorate baskets with purple ribbons.

White is the color of snow. People describe white as a pure, clean color. They associate white with a bright clean feeling. Doctors and nurses normally wear white uniforms. On the other hand, black is the color of night. People wear black clothes at serious or formal ceremonies.

Businessmen know that people choose products by color. Businessmen want to manufacture products which are the colors people will buy. Fox example, an automobile manufacturer needs to know how many cars to paint red, how many green, and how many black. Good businessmen know that young people prefer different colors than old people do and men prefer different colors than women do.

Young children react to the color of an object before they react to its shape. They prefer the warm colors - red, yellow, and orange. When people grow older, they begin to react more to the shape of an object than to its color. The favorite color of adults of all countries is blue. Their second favorite color is red, and their third is green.

On the whole, women prefer brighter colors than men do. Almost everyone likes red, but women like yellow and green more than men do. Pink is usually considered a feminine color. Blue is usually considered a masculine color. As a result, people dress baby girls in pink and baby boys in blue. However, it is dangerous to generalize because taste changes. For example, years ago businessmen wore only white shirts; today they wear many different colors, including pink.

If two objects are the same except for color, they will look different. Color can make an object look nearer than a blue object. For example, red letters on a blue sign look as though they are in front of the sign. Bright objects look larger than dark objects. However, they are actually the same size. Large or fat people who want to look smaller or slimmer wear dark clothes. When they wear dark clothes, they look smaller and slimmer than they are.

In conclusion, color is very important to people. Warm and cool colors affect how people feel. People choose products by color. Moreover, color affects how an object looks. It is even possible that your favorite color tells a lot about you.

一個(gè)人選擇鮮紅色的小轎車(chē)，而另一個(gè)人則寧可要墨綠色的。一戶人家把客廳粉刷成金黃色，而另一戶人家則使用純白色。一個(gè)孩子要鮮橙色的球，而另一個(gè)孩子則要淺藍(lán)色的。心理家和商人們認(rèn)為這些差別是很重要的。

總的來(lái)說(shuō)，人們談?wù)摰氖莾纱箢愵伾号屠渖Ｑ芯咳藛T認(rèn)為世人也有兩大類：喜歡暖色的人和喜歡冷色的人。

紅、橙、黃是暖色。凡有暖色并有充足光線的地方，人們通常想要積極活動(dòng)。例如，人們認(rèn)為紅色會(huì)使人心潮激動(dòng)。喜歡社交的人，喜歡和他人在于起的人都喜歡紅色。綠、藍(lán)、紫都是冷色。冷色與暖色不同，會(huì)使人心情輕松。凡是在冷色的環(huán)境里，人們通常都很安靜。凡是喜歡一個(gè)人自己獨(dú)自度過(guò)時(shí)光的人都喜歡藍(lán)色。

紅色會(huì)令人激動(dòng)興奮，不過(guò)某一位研究人員說(shuō)，人在暖色房間里似乎會(huì)覺(jué)得比在冷色的房間時(shí)間過(guò)得慢。這位研究人員認(rèn)為，紅、橙之類的暖色適用于客廳和飯店。凡是消閑或進(jìn)餐的人都不希望時(shí)間過(guò)得很快。如果人們?cè)谵k公室或工廠上班，都希望時(shí)間過(guò)得很快，那么把環(huán)境弄成冷色就比較好。

研究人員現(xiàn)在還都不知道，為什么人們認(rèn)為有些顏色是暖的，而另外一些顏色是冷的。但是幾乎人人都承認(rèn)紅、橙、黃是暖色，而綠、藍(lán)、紫是冷色。也許暖色能使人們想起溫暖的日子，而冷色使人想起冷的日子。因?yàn)樵诒狈蕉咎?yáng)低，使人覺(jué)得似乎陽(yáng)光有點(diǎn)發(fā)藍(lán)，而在炎熱的夏季令人覺(jué)得陽(yáng)光似乎是黃色的。

人們把不同的顏色和不同的事物、不同的感覺(jué)、不同的節(jié)日聯(lián)系在一起。例如，紅色是火、熱、血和生命的顏色。人們說(shuō)紅色是令人激動(dòng)和積極活動(dòng)的顏色。人們把紅色同憤怒這種強(qiáng)烈的感情聯(lián)系在一起，紅色被用作危險(xiǎn)的樗，例如，停止的標(biāo)志、救火車(chē)的標(biāo)志。跟紅色聯(lián)系在一起的節(jié)日是瓦倫泰情人節(jié)。在每年2月14日，美國(guó)人都給他們所愛(ài)的人紛紛寄送紅心。

橙色是秋季葉子的鮮暖色。人們說(shuō)橙色是充滿生命活動(dòng)的積極向上的顏色。人們把橙色和幸福快樂(lè)聯(lián)系在一起。與橙色有聯(lián)系的兩個(gè)節(jié)日是10月份的萬(wàn)圣節(jié)和11月份的感恩節(jié)。在10月31日很多美國(guó)人把大橙色的南瓜燈擺在窗戶上來(lái)歡度萬(wàn)圣節(jié)。

黃色是陽(yáng)光的顏色。人們說(shuō)黃色是一種歡快的充滿了生機(jī)的顏色。人們也把黃色和幸福快樂(lè)聯(lián)系在一起。因?yàn)辄S色鮮艷，黃色也被用作黃牌警告的標(biāo)志。

綠色是冷色，是春季草坪的顏色。人們說(shuō)，綠色使人覺(jué)得大地回春萬(wàn)象更新，是使人心曠神怡的顏色。各工廠的機(jī)器大多數(shù)都被油漆成嫩綠色。

藍(lán)色是藍(lán)天、碧水和晶冰的顏色。警察和海軍的制服都是藍(lán)色。當(dāng)人們心情悲傷時(shí)，人們會(huì)說(shuō)"I feel blue"（我覺(jué)得心情很混喪）。人們把不愉快和恐懼之類的感覺(jué)同藍(lán)色聯(lián)系在一起。

紫羅蘭色，或者叫紫色，是陰暗處的暗淡而又輕柔的顏色。人們認(rèn)為紫羅蘭是一種高貴莊嚴(yán)的顏色。人們把柴油色與孤家寡人惟我獨(dú)尊聯(lián)系在一起。在復(fù)活節(jié)的禮拜日，人們用紫色的絲帶來(lái)裝飾盛蛋的筐籃。

白色是雪的顏色。人們把白色說(shuō)成是純潔干凈的顏色。人們把白色同明快純潔的感覺(jué)聯(lián)系在一起。與此相反，黑色是黑夜的顏色。人們?cè)谇f嚴(yán)的正式的儀式上都穿黑色服裝。

商人們都懂得人們是按顏色來(lái)選購(gòu)商品的。廠商們都想要生產(chǎn)出人們?cè)敢馊ベ?gòu)買(mǎi)的顏色的產(chǎn)品。例如，汽車(chē)生產(chǎn)廠商需要知道有多少汽車(chē)要噴成紅色，多少噴成綠色，多少噴成黑色。有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的商人們都知道年青人跟老年人比較起來(lái)，年青人更喜歡多種多樣的不同顏色。男人跟女人比，男人更喜歡多種不同的顏色。

幼小的兒童對(duì)一件物品的顏色先作出反應(yīng)之后，才會(huì)對(duì)物品的形狀作出反應(yīng)。幼小的兒童喜歡暖色--紅、黃、橙。當(dāng)人的年齡增長(zhǎng)之后，人們就會(huì)對(duì)物品的形狀的反應(yīng)多于對(duì)物品的顏色的反應(yīng)。所有的國(guó)家的成年人最喜歡的顏色是藍(lán)色，第二種喜歡的顏色是紅色，第三種喜歡的顏色是綠色。

整個(gè)說(shuō)來(lái)，婦女比男人更喜歡鮮艷的顏色。幾乎大家都喜歡紅色。但是，女人和男人比起來(lái)，女人更喜歡黃色和綠色。粉紅色通常被認(rèn)為是女性的專用顏色。藍(lán)色通常被認(rèn)為是男性的顏色。因此，人們總是給女?huà)氪┐鞣奂t色，而給男嬰穿戴藍(lán)色的。但是，一律都這樣辦可就危險(xiǎn)了，因?yàn)槿说呐e愛(ài)好會(huì)變的。例如，幾年前搞事業(yè)的人士只穿白襯衫，可是如今他們卻穿著五顏六色的襯衫，甚至還穿粉紅色的襯衫。

如果兩件東西除了顏色不同而外都相同，那么這兩件東西看起來(lái)就不同。顏色能使物品看起來(lái)好像較近或較遠(yuǎn)，較大或較小。一件紅色的東西看起來(lái)總是比一件藍(lán)色的東西近一些。例如，一塊藍(lán)底的招牌上面的紅色字體看起來(lái)就好像紅字是在招牌的前面似的。顏色鮮艷的物品看上去就比色調(diào)發(fā)暗的物品好像大一些似的，但實(shí)際上他們的大小是一樣的。大個(gè)子或肥胖的人，如果想要讓人看起來(lái)瘦小點(diǎn)兒，苗條點(diǎn)兒就應(yīng)穿暗色的衣服。如果這些大個(gè)子胖人要穿上黑衣服，那么他們看起來(lái)就要比他們實(shí)際上瘦小一些、苗條一些。

由此可以得出結(jié)論，顏色對(duì)人們是很重要的。暖色和冷色都會(huì)影響到人的感覺(jué)。人們是根據(jù)顏色不挑選產(chǎn)品的，更重要的是，顏色影響到一個(gè)物體的外觀，甚至可以根據(jù)你所喜歡的顏色就能了解到有關(guān)你本人的許多情況。