80 True Colors

CHAPTER 1 What Is Color? COLORS CAN CHANGE THE WAY WE FEEL AND EVEN OUR BEHAVIOR. BUT WHAT ARE THEY? Seeing things in color is something we rarely think about. It's something we enjoy: a beautiful flower garden, a brightly colored bird, or a bride's wedding dress. And colors can also be used to tell us what to do and what not to do: a green traffic light means we can go, a person with a white flag wants to stop fighting and talk, and a red sign can mean danger. But why do we see different colors? Color is really light. Light travels in different wavelengths. The colors we see depend on the type of wavelength that something reflects. For example, when a ball appears to be red, the wavelength it reflects is long. If a ball seems to be blue, the wavelength it reflects is short. The green wavelength is somewhere in the middle. These three colors, red, blue, and green, are called primary colors.

第一章什么是颜色？颜色可以改变我们的感觉，甚至我们的行为。 但它们是什么呢？看到有颜色的东西是我们很少想到的事情。 它是我们喜欢的东西：一个美丽的花园，一只色彩鲜艳的鸟，或者新娘的结婚礼服。 颜色也可以用来告诉我们什么该做什么不该做：绿灯意味着我们可以通行，举白旗的人想要停止争吵和谈话，红色标志意味着危险。 但是为什么我们会看到不同的颜色呢？ 颜色真的很淡。光以不同的波长传播。 我们看到的颜色取决于物体反射的波长类型。 例如，当一个球看起来是红色的，它反射的波长很长。 如果一个球看起来是蓝色的，那么它反射的波长就很短。 绿色的波长在中间。 红、蓝、绿这三种颜色被称为三原色。

When light wavelengths reach the eye, they act on special nerve cells called cones. These cones send an electrical message to the brain, and the brain tells us which color we have seen. In the human eye, there are three types of cones connected to the primary colors. And the color we see will be a result of their shared action. When light is reflected from a tomato, for example, only the red cone will send a message to the brain. So we will see red. When all three types of cone receive the same amount of red, green, and blue wavelengths, we see white. This is because white reflects all the light wavelengths it receives. Something black reflects no light wavelengths at all, so in science, black is not really a color.

当光波到达眼睛时，它们作用于一种叫做视锥细胞的特殊神经细胞。 这些视锥细胞向大脑发送电子信息，然后大脑告诉我们看到的是哪种颜色。 在人眼中，有三种类型的视锥细胞与三原色相连。 我们看到的颜色是它们共同作用的结果。 例如，当光从番茄反射过来时，只有红色的锥体会向大脑发送信息。 所以我们会看到红色。当三种视锥细胞接收到相同数量的红、绿、蓝波长时，我们看到的是白色。 这是因为白色反射了它接收到的所有波长的光。 黑色的东西根本不反射光的波长，所以在科学上，黑色并不是一种真正的颜色。

We see other colors such as orange, purple, or yellow when all three cones are in action, but receive different amounts of wavelengths. Then the primary colors are mixed. Some people are color-blind. In most cases, this doesn't mean they can't see any colors. It means they have difficulty seeing the difference between some colors, usually red and green. These people are born with one cone that doesn't work well. Interestingly, color blindness is much more common in men than in women. Although about eight percent of men are color-blind, only around one percent of women are.

当这三种视锥细胞同时工作时，我们会看到其他颜色，如橙色、紫色或黄色，但接收到的波长不同。 然后将原色混合。 有些人是色盲。 在大多数情况下，这并不意味着他们看不到任何颜色。 这意味着他们很难分辨某些颜色之间的区别，通常是红色和绿色。 这些人天生就有一个锥体不能正常工作。 有趣的是，色盲在男性中比在女性中更常见。 虽然大约8%的男性是色盲，但只有大约1%的女性是色盲。

Many animals don't see colors like humans do. Birds, for example, see more colors than we do because they have four or more types of cones. Dogs and cats have only two types of cones, connected to blue and green, and they see fewer colors than we do. But color isn't just a scientific matter. It's part of our personality and the way we think and behave. Color is deep in our culture, and it helps us experience our world. For example, in recent years, the color green has become an international symbol for taking care of the environment. Thanks to colors, we can understand each other in spite of nationality or language. But be careful! It's not always that easy. What color would you expect a Chinese bride to wear on her wedding day? Or a traditional Irish bride? Read on and find out!

许多动物不像人类那样能看到颜色。 例如，鸟类比我们看到更多的颜色，因为它们有四种或更多的视锥细胞。 狗和猫只有两种视锥细胞，分别与蓝色和绿色相连，它们能看到的颜色比我们少。 但颜色不仅仅是一个科学问题。 这是我们个性的一部分，也是我们思考和行为的方式。 颜色在我们的文化中根深蒂固，它帮助我们体验我们的世界。 例如，近年来，绿色已经成为保护环境的国际象征。 因为有了颜色，我们可以不受国籍和语言的限制而相互理解。 但是要小心！事情并不总是那么容易。 你希望中国新娘在结婚那天穿什么颜色的衣服？ 还是传统的爱尔兰新娘？ 继续读下去，找出答案吧！

CHAPTER 2 The Color of Culture THINK ABOUT THE COLOR WHITE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? FRESH SNOW, PEACE, OR UNHAPPINESS? YOUR ANSWER WILL DEPEND ON YOUR CULTURE! In ancient china, if a young bride told her parents she was getting married in white, they probably wouldn't allow the marriage to happen. This may seem strange to you because in many Western countries white is a typical color for a bride's wedding dress. But in China, the color white is a symbol of unhappiness and death. Not a good choice of color for a wedding, then! In fact, colors have been used since the beginning of time as symbols of the way people think and behave. In Ireland, for example, brides traditionally wore blue to show that they were pure. These color symbols depend

第二章文化的色彩思考白色。 这对你意味着什么？新鲜的雪，和平，还是不幸？ 你的答案取决于你的文化！在中国古代，如果一个年轻的新娘告诉她的父母她要穿白色的衣服结婚，他们可能不会允许这场婚姻发生。 这对你来说可能很奇怪，因为在许多西方国家，白色是新娘婚纱的典型颜色。 但在中国，白色是不幸和死亡的象征。 这可不是婚礼上的好颜色啊！事实上，从一开始，颜色就被用作人们思考和行为方式的象征。 例如，在爱尔兰，新娘传统上穿蓝色来表明她们是纯洁的。 这些颜色符号取决于

on the culture and history of a society, and they can be very different from country to country. This can make international communication difficult at times. What do you think the color red means? Traditionally in China it's the symbol of happiness and good luck. People often give money in a red envelope as a present at weddings or the New Year. In India, red is a symbol of pure things, and it is used a lot during marriage ceremonies. On the day of the wedding, the bride's hands are painted with a reddish- brown dye called henna. She wears a red dress. And before the bride enters her new home, she washes her feet in red water. Red is used as a symbol to show how the girl stops being a child and starts life as a woman.

一个社会的文化和历史，不同的国家有很大的不同。 这有时会使国际交流变得困难。 你认为红色是什么意思？ 在中国传统上，它是幸福和好运的象征。 人们通常在婚礼或新年时把钱装在红包里作为礼物。 在印度，红色是纯洁的象征，在婚礼上经常使用。 在婚礼当天，新娘的手上要涂上一种叫做指甲花的红棕色染料。 她穿着一件红色的连衣裙。在新娘进入新家之前，她要用红色的水洗脚。 红色被用作象征，表示女孩如何不再是一个孩子，开始作为一个女人的生活。