Question

Nervous suspects (嫌疑犯) 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 grays and browns of the 20th-century police cell (牢房) 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(幽闭恐怖症). 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 Collins praised the designers for using colours in the cells. Gwent is not the first British force to experiment with colour to calm down or persuade prisoners to co-operate. In the 1990s Strathclyde 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. help suspects to confess their crimes

C. make suspects cold and unfriendly in law court            

D. enable suspects to change their attitudes to colours

2. Which of the following colours should NOT be used in cells according to me passage?

A. Pink.          B. Yellow                  C. Blue.                       D. Red.

3. Which of the following helps alert officers if someone stops breathing?

A. Scanning equipment.         B. Royal blue lines.                   

C. Glass doors.                      D. Yellow frames.

4. The passage is mainly concerned with _____.

A. the relationship between colours and psychology          

B. a comparison of different functions of colours

C. the use of colours in cells to affect criminals’ psychology

D. scientific ways to help criminals reform themselves in prison

Answer 1

1.B  2.D  3.A  4.C