雅思阅读真题（Part 3）
听见颜色，看见声音：联觉者的奇妙世界
本篇也叫：联觉、通感、联觉症、通感症、色听、看见声音
Part 3 · 最近考试：2026.10.28武汉BC汉街
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 3）《Seeing the colour of sounds, hearing the colour of numbers》，共 14 题，2026.10.28武汉BC汉街雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章介绍联觉（synesthesia）这种感官互通的特殊现象：有人看到数字或字母会感知颜色，听到声音会产生触觉。文中提到联觉者（synesthetes）的体验、哲学家洛克最早描述、画家康定斯基的兴趣，以及剑桥大学西蒙·巴伦-科恩的实验证明联觉并非想象，而是稳定的真实感知。
A
What is the colour of five? What is the sound of blue? To most of us such questions are either meaningless or suitable only for poetry. But for some people these are questions to which very precise answers can be given. Five, for example, for some people is green, while others say the sound of a guitar is like someone blowing on their ankles. People who "see" colour in numbers or letters of the alphabet and "feel" sensation in sound have synesthesia - meaning literally "joined sensation" - an extraordinary condition that causes certain senses to "leak" into one another.
B
People whose senses behave in this way are called "synesthetes". Some synesthetes take pleasure in it. "To me it's like other people see the world in black and white," says one, who sees every letter, number, sound and pain in colour. Others learn to keep it a secret for fear of people laughing at them. But to neurologists investigating the brain it is of great interest. "When scientists study normal perception," says Daniel Smilek of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, "there are lots of things we don't question because most of us perceive in the same way. Synesthesia, because it's abnormal, can give us new insights into normal perception."
C
Seventeenth-century English philosopher John Locke was the first westerner to describe synesthesia. He wrote about a man who experienced bright red as the sound of the trumpet. Later, the condition excited the imagination of nineteenth-century European painters, such as the non-synesthete Wassily Kandinsky, who believed synesthetes were like good, much-played violins, which vibrate in all their parts and fibres. But it proved impossible to research and people lost interest. Recently, however, advances in brain imaging have sparked renewed interest.
D
Early claims that the multi-sensory experiences of synesthesia were linked with the hallucinations of mental illness have long been disproved. Until 1993, many researchers dismissed it as another name for a vivid imagination, but then an experiment by Simon Baron-Cohen of Cambridge University in the UK showed that synesthetes who, when tested, had linked particular colours or shapes to letters, gave the same answers in 92 per cent of instances when tested again a week later. Non-synesthetes, given similar examples to imagine, returned the same answers in only 37 per cent of instances.
E
Although there is some overlap between synesthetes as to what colour is linked to what - 56 per cent see the letter "o" as white - most of the responses are individual. There are 30 possible sensory combinations, but links between sounds and colours are the most common. Women are between two and eight times more likely than men to have the condition.
F
As yet there is no explanation for any of this, but small pieces of the jigsaw are emerging. A brain scanning experiment by Baron-Cohen in 1995 found that when synesthetes were listening to words, areas of the brain lit up that are normally only active in response to vision and colour. From this comes the notion that we may all have synesthesia at birth, when many parts of the brain are linked, but, as we develop, connections are pruned, so our senses become separated and the synesthetic mechanism is no longer intact. Somehow, synesthetes have kept their synaptic connections intact. It's an idea that has been challenged, however, on the grounds that if you give people certain drugs they will have synesthetic experiences, which suggests the mechanism is intact in adults but repressed.
G
There are many more unanswered questions about synesthesia. For example, is the synesthete's colour response to a number five triggered by actually seeing the number five written on a page, or does the synesthete "see" the colour just by thinking of the number five? The neurologist Vilyanur Ramachandran came up with a test for synesthesia which seemed to suggest it was the sight of the number that was important. He asked people to look at a page made up of specially drawn twos and fives that were a mirror image of each other. The fives were placed at random on the page but the twos were placed to form shapes such as circles or triangles. To most people the numbers just looked like a jumble without order, but to synesthetes the patterns made by the twos were very obvious as a different colour from the fives. "This shows they were really sensing colour in the numbers they saw," says Ramachandran. "Ideas don't form these kinds of patterns."
H
However, Smilek subsequently came up with evidence that what really matters is the idea of a number rather than the sight of it on a page. He asked a synesthete to do some simple mental arithmetic while looking at different coloured papers. The subject did not write her answers, but only thought of them and said them aloud. Smilek found that when the colour of the paper clashed with the colour of the answer, the subject's response was slower than when the colours were the same. An actual colour (the colour of the paper) could interfere with the colour of a number that existed only in her head (the answer to the mental arithmetic question). "My research suggests that colour experiences coincide with the processing of meaning," says Smilek. "It's the concept of a number that's coloured."
I
So which is it? At present, we don't know, but in the future neurologists may be able to explain what's going on in the brains of people like the novelist Nabokov, who perceived the English "a" as dark brown and the French "e" as black.
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答案：Simon Baron-Cohen
原文定位：A brain scanning experiment by Baron‑Cohen in 1995 found that when synesthetes were listening to words, areas of the brain lit up that are normally only active in response to vision and colour
同义替换：「Simon Baron-Cohen」↔「Baron‑Cohen」，「hearing the names of things」↔「listening to words」，「affects the brain」↔「areas of the brain lit up」，「in the same way that looking at things does」↔「normally only active in response to vision and colour」
答案：Simon Baron-Cohen
原文定位：Until 1993, many researchers dismissed it as another name for a vivid imagination, but then an experiment by Simon Baron‑Cohen of Cambridge University in the UK showed that synesthetes who, when tested, had linked particular colours or shapes to letters, gave the same answers in 92 per cent of instances when tested again a week later
同义替换：「Simon Baron-Cohen」↔「Simon Baron‑Cohen」，「association of a certain colour with a certain written symbol」↔「linked particular colours or shapes to letters」
答案：John Locke
原文定位：Seventeenth‑century English philosopher John Locke was the first westerner to describe synesthesia. He wrote about a man who experienced bright red as the sound of the trumpet
同义替换：「John Locke」↔「John Locke」，「heard a particular musical instrument」↔「the sound of the trumpet」，「when he saw a certain colour」↔「experienced bright red as the sound」
答案：Daniel Smilek
原文定位：When scientists study normal perception;says Daniel Smilek of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, "there are lots of things we don't question because most of us perceive in the same way. Synesthesia, because it's abnormal, can give us new insights into normal perception
同义替换：「Daniel Smilek」↔「Daniel Smilek」，「experience things differently to other people」↔「abnormal」，「give fresh perspectives」↔「give us new insights」，「how the senses usually work」↔「normal perception」
答案：F
原文定位：A brain scanning experiment by Baron‑Cohen in 1995 found that when synesthetes were listening to words, areas of the brain lit up that are normally only active in response to vision and colour
同义替换：「investigation」↔「experiment」，「using modern medical technology」↔「brain scanning」
答案：I
原文定位：At present, we don't know, but in the future neurologists may be able to explain what's going on in the brains of people like the novelist Nabokov, who perceived the English "a" as dark brown and the French "e" as black
同义替换：「writer」↔「novelist」，「who was a synesthete」↔「who perceived the English "a" as dark brown and the French "e" as black」
答案：A
原文定位：People who "see" colour in numbers or letters of the alphabet and "feel" sensation in sound have synesthesia - meaning literally "joined sensation" - an extraordinary condition that causes certain senses to "leak" into one another
答案：F
原文定位：From this comes the notion that we may all have synesthesia at birth, when many parts of the brain are linked, but, as we develop, connections are pruned, so our senses become separated and the synesthetic mechanism is no longer intact. Somehow, synesthetes have kept their synaptic connections intact. It's an idea that has been challenged, however, on the grounds that if you give people certain drugs they will have synesthetic experiences, which suggests the mechanism is intact in adults but repressed
答案：B
原文定位：Some synesthetes take pleasure in it. "To me it's like other people see the world in black and white," says one, who sees every letter, number, sound and pain in colour. Others learn to keep it a secret for fear of people laughing at them
同义替换：「keep experiences secret」↔「keep it a secret」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：Later, the condition excited the imagination of nineteenth‑century European painters, such as the non‑synesthete Wassily Kandinsky, who believed synesthetes were like good, much‑played violins, which vibrate in all their parts and fibres
同义替换：「Kandinsky」↔「Kandinsky」，「admired synesthetes」↔「believed synesthetes were like good, much‑played violins」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：Early claims that the multi‑sensory experiences of synesthesia were linked with the hallucinations of mental illness have long been disproved
同义替换：「It is no longer believed」↔「have long been disproved」，「synesthesia is associated with mental illness」↔「synesthesia were linked with the hallucinations of mental illness」
答案：FALSE
原文定位：Women are between two and eight times more likely than men to have the condition
同义替换：「Equal numbers of men and women」↔「Women are between two and eight times more likely than men」，「have synesthesia」↔「have the condition」
答案：NOT GIVEN
同义替换：「greater powers of logic」↔「」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：From this comes the notion that we may all have synesthesia at birth, when many parts of the brain are linked, but, as we develop, connections are pruned, so our senses become separated and the synesthetic mechanism is no longer intact
同义替换：「It is possible that」↔「the notion that we may all have」，「we are all born with synesthesia」↔「we may all have synesthesia at birth」