The Color of Love

爱的色彩

导读：今年有三个情人节，是爱情年！而在这个爱情年里，你有没有收获爱情呢？如果你还没有，不用着急，从现在开始用绚丽的色彩打扮你的家，让它成为你的甜蜜爱情屋。不同的色彩将打扮出不同的爱情小屋，在不同风格的爱情屋内也将演绎出不同的爱情故事。赶快行动吧，在下一个情人节也许你就将收获属于你的缤纷爱情了！

Color me blue? Pink with passion? How color can make the mood in any room.

Did last Valentine's Day pass you by without bringing you closer to that special someone? Well, we've got good news. Maybe it's not you.

Take a look at your home. Is this a place love would want to live?

Just because you might not have someone special in your life, other than yourself, doesn't mean you don't need to create a place for love. To help bring love into your life, we suggest you create a place in your home where it feels welcome.

Believe it or not, the fastest and easiest way to achieve this is to add a bit of color to your walls.

Of course you’re thinking of painting the bedroom. But, for love to truly foster, you'll want the extend the welcoming feeling to encompass（围绕） any room where you enjoy bringing company, or simply enjoy spending time when you're on your own.

Whether it’s for wall paint, curtains, or carpet, picking out specific colors for a room is challenge for most of us. Most of us aren’t lucky enough to have a designer’s color sense, yet we know what we like. Developing a knack（本领） for color isn’t necessarily easy, but you can hone your skill by using your powers of observation. First, start noticing colors whenever you enter a room—someone else’s living room, the waiting room at the doctor’s office, a church. Magazines are great too, but nothing beats walking into an actual space and sensing what effect the color scheme has on you.

So, how do you pick from the literally thousands of choices out there? Let's start with the color (or colors) you have in your home right now. Are the majority of your walls a chalky white? Or, if there are colors on your walls, were they your choice or were they there when you moved in? Have you simply 'settled' on the color of your walls simply because you haven't gotten around to changing it?

The colors you live with on the outside and inside of your home can truly affect your daily life. There has been quite a bit of research done on the subject recently which shows that colors can influence your choices, your perceptions, even your mood!

So how will your color choice help bring love into your life?

Well, colors speak volumes to us. They can be warm, sensuous, cold, moody, cozy, safe--you name it. What one person might read into a color could be completely different from someone else. But by bringing in those colors that speak to you personally, you can change your attitude and outlook on life--which ultimately can create an environment for change and opportunity.

The colors you choose will also say something about you to others. Thus, you may want to choose those colors that are a bit warmer, more romantic and inviting, such as reds, oranges or soft browns, rather than the cool tones of dark blue, green or grayish brown.

What follows are a few generalizations about colors. Take them with a grain of salt, match them against your own personality, and see if you agree. If a color suits your taste and personality, try it. Because remember, if you're looking for a change, a little spice in your life, or even a potential new love, a little splash of color can go a long way.

RED

Do you love red? Red is a dynamic（有活力的） and passionate（热情的） color and symbolizes love, rage and courage. An attention getter, red has huge emotional impact. Red is literally at both ends of the emotional spectrum. Some feel that people who select red tend to be aggressive, impulsive, and powerful individuals who strive for success. At the same time, some reds can be quite warm and create a sense of security and coziness（安逸） as you delve（探究） into deeper tones.

YELLOW

Yellow exudes warmth, inspiration（灵感） and vitality（活力）, and is one of the happiest of all colors; is often associated with joy and virtue in their purest sense. It’s been known to represent communication, enlightenment（启蒙）, sunlight and spirituality（神圣）. If your favorite color is yellow, it's probable that you look forward to the future, and that you are intellectual, highly imaginative and idealistic. Commonly, people who love yellow may have a cheerful spirit and have an expectation of greater happiness. Yellow and white complement each other beautifully.

ORANGE

While the color orange is the color of autumn, in spice form and design, you need not feel restricted by this. In its brighter tones, orange is happy, positive and lively. If you prefer its darker shades, you'll find that it becomes exotic and exciting. Orange lovers tend to have excessive energy with an eye for structure and organization. They usually also love to be surrounded by family and friends.

BROWN

Brown, while it may be the color of dirt, it can also be quite sensuous in nature. Brown also represents the importance of hearth（家庭） and home. You may have noticed that it has been a much more commonly used color in recent design choices. The reason for this shift is that it symbolizes physical comfort, ease and contentment. Those who prefer brown tend to be conscientious（谨慎的）, steady and reliable.

TEAL

The color of the ocean being teal makes it obvious that it should represent cool and constant. This color points to stability and resistance to change. People who prefer teal, more often than not（多半）, are sensitive, and have excellent taste in a wide variety of areas. They tend to be optimistic and trusting, with a high degree of faith and hope, easily trusting others.

PINK

Pink is highly emotional in character and connotes a sensitive heart. Universally representing caring and sharing, the person who chooses pink usually indicates a strong personality. The affectionate（温柔亲切的） and concerned individual also prefers pink. Gently, you offer love, attention and nurturing to those in distress.

VIOLET

Violet, the color of luxury, indicates sensuality, passion and depth of feeling. This lavish color creates an unusual atmosphere and provides an unexpected essence. If you like violet, you tend to be unique, highly sensitive and observant. Creative and artistically talented, you tend to have a complex personality.

GREEN

Green is the color of life, and represents freshness, security and tranquility（平静）. Green creates an atmosphere that is calm and restful, and characterizes the intense power of nature. If you selected green, you seek stability, balance and persistence. You are a moral and affectionate individual.

BLUE

The color of tranquility, blue is cooling, soothing and orderly. The color of royalty, blue can also bring comfort and serenity（平静） to our lives. If you choose blue, you have a basic need for a calm, harmonious（和谐的） and tension-free existence. Capable, conservative and sensitive to others, you make a loyal and trustworthy friend.

WHITE

White suggests goodness, purity and innocence（纯真）. Its elusive nature provides serenity and the essence of perfection. The individual who chooses white as a favorite color seeks excellence and enlightenment in all philosophies. Simplicity, purity and recognition are a constant endeavor.

These are by no means strict rules, nor guidelines. A color will speak to you when you meet it head on. But, it might be difficult at first to tell how a color will look from a swatch, so try painting a larger area. You'll quickly learn whether or not that color is for you.

But, be open-minded. Take a chance. Let your home be a landing spot for love. After all, colors can only foster change if you let them in.

(source: http://www.msn.com)

Cellphone calls affect drivers' brains

打手提电话影响驾驶

导读：现在人们的生活条件是越来越好，许多人是买房又买车。同时在这个移动通讯的时代，几乎人手一手机，有些人甚至有两三个手机。因此，在马路上你经常可以看到有人一边打着手提电话，一边驾驶着私人轿车，一幅繁忙的景象。多任务同时进行可能是这个快速发展时代的特征，可是我们在追求效率的同时更要注意人身安全啊！看看下面这份调查报告，您可能就再也不会一边打电话一边驾驶了！

Talking on a cellphone while driving sharply reduces brain activity needed to keep track of road conditions and leads drivers to gaze at things without their brains actually seeing them, according to a psychologist at the University of Utah.

Hands-free phones pose the same safety hazards as handheld phones, says psychologist David Strayer, who presented his findings Thursday at the American Psychological Association meeting in New Orleans. His findings were based on lab studies using driving machines with about 500 adults. Among the key findings:

• Conversations with passengers reduce a driver's attention, but they aren't as unsafe as talking on a phone. "Passengers tend to help the driver if they see something hazardous（有危险的）. They might point it out or at least stop talking," Strayer says.

• Studies show that talking on a cellphone cuts a driver's brain activity in half in a key area of the brain needed for noticing traffic conditions.

• Eye-tracking studies show that when drivers eyeball objects on a road, they're much less likely to recall seeing something if they're on the phone at the same time. "They're as blind to dumpsters（大型垃圾装卸卡车） along the road as to a child running across the street," Strayer says.

The brain has a limited capacity for attention, so whatever is siphoned off by a phone conversation is subtracted from attention for driving, he says.

In Strayer's lab studies, adults on cellphones drive and react more slowly. "Twentysomethings on a cellphone have the same reaction time as 70-year-olds, and older drivers are super-slow," he says. Strayer thinks the widespread use of cellphones is slowing traffic and increasing commute times.

Emotional conversations, particularly those on unhappy topics, are most likely to divert attention needed by drivers, suggest studies by University of Kansas psychologist Paul Atchley, who also reported at the APA meeting.

But rational decision-making falters too, according to Strayer's research. His experiments show adults make poorer decisions when they're on the phone and driving. "Some people try to work from their cars, and I wonder about their decisions," he adds.

About 8% of drivers are on cellphones at any given time, according to a 2005 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). But the number is believed to be rising, "and it doesn't include those using other electronic devices like Blackberrys and Palm Pilots," says Rae Tyson of NHTSA.

The majority of traffic accidents don't involve cellphone use, says Joe Farren of CTIA-The Wireless Association, the trade group for the wireless industry. "We don't want people to use phones in their cars if they think it's going to distract them, but there are a lot of other things that are equally or more distracting for drivers," he says.

(source: http://www.usatoday.com)