Методическая разработка "Этапы работы с текстом на уроках английского языка"

Colour Coded The psychology of the colour around us

“ Colour” is the British spelling of the word. In US English it is spelt “color” (without the “u”)

1. Pre-reading

See if you can answer these colour-related questions. Discuss your answers with a partner.

1. What are the primary colours?

2. What do you get if you mix...

i) …red + yellow?

ii) …yellow + blue?

iii) …blue + red?

3. What's the name given to the colours that are formed in question two?

4. What are the following complementary colours?

i) Red’s complementary colour is…

ii) Blue’s complementary colour is…

iii) Yellow’s complementary colour is…

2. Reading I

How can the following colours affect us? Discuss your answer with a partner.

Then, read the article once to compare your ideas.

red

pink

yellow

black

purple

white

green

blue

brown

orange

There’s a lot more to colour than you’d imagine. It can affect our mood, influence us subconsciously and even help us change our minds about things. But what do the different colours mean?

Red is associated with love, danger and excitement. It’s said to make people hungry, which is why so many restaurants use it in their logos. Tabloid newspapers and celebrity magazines also use red on their front covers to make the stories seem more exciting.

Companies with red in their logos include McDonald's, Burger King, The Sun, and Hello.

Green is considered a natural colour and is one of the easiest for our eyes to process, so it tends to relax us. This is why many hospitals are green, and why guests who are about to appear on a TV programme wait in the “green room”.

Companies with green in their logos include Aston Martin, Starbucks, Rolex and Carlsberg.

Blue implies security, steadfastness and dependability. It’s considered a “trustworthy” colour, which is why business people often wear blue suits to important meetings, and why so many banks are blue.

Companies with blue in their logos include Facebook, Barclays, Myspace, Twitter, Skype and PayPal .

Yellow is a cheerful, bright colour that attracts people’s attention. It’s also said to make people concentrate more, which is why it’s a common colour for notepads and textbooks.

Companies with yellow in their logos include Ferrari, Caterpillar, Yellow Pages and JCB.

Purple is often used to calm people, which is why you often see it in beauty products. Purple is also associated with spirituality and the paranormal.

Companies with purple in their logos include the Sci Fi Channel (Syfy), Reiki,Yahoo and FedEx.

Pink is also said to have a calming effect. Prisons are often painted in pink to calm down aggressive inmates. And sports ground dressing rooms for opposing teams are often painted in pink to make the players less competitive.

Companies with pink in their logos include Barbie, BreastCancer.org and Cosmopolitan.

Black is the colour of authority and power. It’s popular in fashion because it makes people appear thinner. It’s also an exclusive, high-class colour. However, black out!ts can also make the wearer seem “evil” (just think of Dracula and Darth Vader).

Companies with black in their logos include Hugo Boss, the BBC, Adidas and Chanel.

White is popular in decorating and fashion because it’s a light, neutral colour that goes with just about everything. Brides wear white to symbolise innocence and purity, while the white uniforms worn by medical staff imply hygiene and cleanliness.

Companies with white in their logos include Apple and Nintendo.

Orange is often associated with warmth, happiness and energy. There’s nothing remotely calm about this colour.

Companies with orange in their logos include easyJet, Jazztel and Orange.

Brown represents reliability, stability, and friendship. It’s also associated with natural or organic things.

Companies with brown in their logos include UPS, the Forest Hills Coffee Company and Hershey’s.

3. Reading II

Read the article again. Then, write the name of a colour next to each sentence.

1. It’s a cheerful bright colour.

2. It can make you look thinner.

3. Many hospitals are painted this colour .

4. These colours can calm people down.

5. This colour is often associated with natural things.

6. This colour goes with just about everything.

4. Language focus

Complete the following sentences with superlative forms of the adjectives in brackets.

1. It was the ____________________ (good) film I’d ever seen.

2. That was the ____________________ (bad) meal I’ve ever eaten.

3. He’s the _____________________(funny) person I know.

4. She’s the _____________________(intelligent) person in this company.

5. Discussion

1. What’s your favourite colour? Why?

2. Do you think different colours can affect you? How?

3. What colours do you like to wear? Why?