①Colors are often used to describe feelings. For example, if you "feel blue", it means that you're sad. A person who "sees red" is angry, and someone who's "tickled pink" is happy about something. Besides expressing feelings, though, colors may also influence our actions.
②In Japan, officials have put in blue lights around railroad platforms to discourage people from jumping in front of trains. As a result, certain stations with the blue lights have seen an 84 percent drop in suicide(自杀) numbers. Pink has been believed to prevent crimes. In the United States, rooms in prison(监狱) were painted this color to calm prisoners. In sports, some visiting teams have had to use all-pink locker rooms, which were meant to weaken the team and make them lose.
③Unlike pink, red may let you gain an upper hand in sports. Sportsmen who wore red were found to have a slightly higher chance of winning. Red is also believed to be the color of energy and power.
④The ways in which colors affect us may be a result of nature and evolution(进化). Red is the color of fire and blood. So it is connected to life, danger. Yellow describes sunny days and can make us feel energetic and happy, while blue relaxes us with images of the sea and the sky.
⑤Other factors relating our reactions to colors are culture and history. In the past, the process to produce purple is difficult, and only kings and nobles could afford things in purple. As a result, the color became a royal symbol.
⑥As you can see, colors shape how we understand the world. They are seen in all parts of life and they can influence us in ways that we may not notice.
