Thanks everyone for your replies. Now, I know it is 'red'.
Yoong Liat, I have a question for you which is not related to my original post.
He was confused by the past participle. That's why I told him that the past participle of 'spread' is pronounced as 'spred'.
Do you remember what CalifJim (I think was him) told us on verbs following a past tense verb though they are factual? I'm not sure whether you read the thread, but basically in that thread CalifJim said usually after a past tense verb, past tense verbs are used. But I have a tendency to use present tense after 'told' especially when I want to highlight facts. I hope that this is acceptable in writing as I find myself doing it naturally. ![Sad [:(]](/emoticons/emotion-6.gif)