# The sense of flavour - 科目：雅思阅读真题（Part 1） - 考频：中频 - 最近考试：2023.3.18 - 题目数：12 - 来源页：https://www.yaquan.site/paper/7c581ca0-f710-4b5b-97a9-0f5ddb54b55f（在线机考练习与音频请访问该页面） - 数据更新：2026-10-29 ## 题目原文 A Scientists now believe that human beings acquired the sense of taste as a way to avoid being poisoned. Edible plants generally taste sweet; deadly ones, bitter. Taste is supposed to help us differentiate food that’s good for us from food that’s not. The taste buds on our tongues can detect the presence of half a dozen or so basic tastes, including sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami (a taste discovered by Japanese researchers , a rich and full sense of deliciousness triggered by amino acids in foods such as shellfish, mushrooms, potatoes, and seaweed). Tastebuds offers a limited means of detection, however, compared with the human olfactory system, which can perceive thousands of different chemical aromas. Indeed, ‘flavor’ is primarily the smell of gases being released by the chemicals you’ve just put in your mouth. The aroma of food can be responsible for as much as 90% of its flavor. B The act of drinking, sucking or chewing a substance releases its volatile gases. They flow out of the mouth and up the nostrils, or up the passageway at the back of the mouth, to a thin layer of nerve cells called the olfactory epithelium, located at the base of the nose, right between the eyes. The brain combines the complex smell signals from the epithelium with the simple taste signals from the tongue, assigns a flavor to what’s in your mouth, and decides if it’s something you want to eat. C Babies like sweet tastes and reject bitter ones; we know this because scientists have rubbed various flavors inside the mouths of infants and then recorded their facial reactions. A person’s food preferences, like his or her personality, are formed during the first few years of life, through a process of socialization. Toddlers can learn to enjoy hot and spicy food, bland health food, or fast food, depending upon what the people around them eat. The human sense of smell is still not fully understood. It is greatly affected by psychological factors and expectations. The mind filters out the overwhelming majority of chemical aromas that surround us, focusing intently on some, ignoring others. People can grow accustomed to bad smells or good smells; they stop noticing what once seemed overpowering. D Aroma and memory are somehow inextricably linked. A smell can suddenly evoke a long-forgotten moment. The flavours of childhood foods seem to leave an indelible mark, and adults often return to them, without always knowing why. These ‘comfort foods’ become a source of pleasure and reassurance a fact that fast-food chains work hard to promote Childhood memories of Happy Meals can translate into frequent adult visits to McDonald’s’, like those of the chain’s ‘heavy users’, the customers who eat there four or five times a week. E The human craving for flavour has been a large unacknowledged and unexamined force in history. Royal empires have been built, unexplored lands have been traversed, great religions and philosophies have been forever changed by the spice trade. In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail in order to try to find new seasonings and thus to make his fortune with this most desired commodity of that time. Today, the influence of flavour in the world marketplace is no less decisive. The rise and fall of corporate empires – soft-drink companies, snack-food companies, and fast-food chains – is frequently determined by how their products taste. F The flavor industry emerged in the mid-1800s, as processed foods began to be manufactured on a large scale. Recognizing the need for flavor additives, the early food processors turned to perfume companies that had years of experience working with essential oils and volatile aromas. The great perfume houses of England, France, and the Netherlands produced many of the first flavor compounds. In the early part of the 20th century, Germany’s powerful chemical industry assumed the lead in flavour production. Legend has it that a German scientist discovered methyl anthranilate, one of the first artificial flavours, by accident while mixing chemicals in his laboratory. Suddenly, the lab was filled with the sweet smell of grapes. Methyl anthranilate later became the chief flavoring compound of manufactured grape juice. G The quality that people seek most of all in a food, its flavour, is usually present in a quantity too infinitesimal to be measured by any traditional culinary terms such as ounces or teaspoons. Today’s sophisticated spectrometers, gas chromatograph, and headspace vapor analyzers provide a detailed map of a food’s flavour components, detecting chemical aromas in amounts as low as one part per billion. The human nose, however, is still more sensitive than any machine yet invented. A nose can detect aromas present in quantities of a few parts per trillion. Complex aromas, such as those of coffee or roasted meat, may be composed of gases from nearly a thousand different chemicals. The chemical that provides the dominant flavour of bell pepper can be tasted in amounts as low as 0.02 parts per billion; one drop is sufficient to add flavour to the amount of water needed to fill five average-sized swimming pools ## 题目与答案 ### 1. 1 The brain determines which aromas we are aware of. 1 The brain determines which aromas we are aware of. - TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN **答案**：NOT GIVEN 原文定位：The mind filters out the overwhelming majority of chemical aromas that surround us, focusing intently on some, ignoring others ### 10. in the past, the reason why so many explorers ventured to distant lands to bring back new 10_____ which were greatly sought after in Europe. in the past, the reason why so many explorers ventured to distant lands to bring back new 10_____ which were greatly sought after in Europe. **答案**：seasonings 原文定位：Christopher Columbus set sail in order to try to find new seasonings 同义替换：「seasonings」↔「spices」 ### 11. Here they were used in cooking to enhance the usual 11_____ and unappetizing dishes eaten by rich and poor alike. Here they were used in cooking to enhance the usual 11_____ and unappetizing dishes eaten by rich and poor alike. **答案**：flavour 原文定位：Toddlers can learn to enjoy hot and spicy food, bland health food, or fast food ### 12. We associate certain smells with the past as they are 12_____ . We associate certain smells with the past as they are 12_____ . **答案**：indelible 原文定位：The flavours of childhood foods seem to leave an indelible mark, and adults often return to them 同义替换：「associate certain」↔「evoke」；「with the past」↔「a long-forgotten moment」 ### 13. Modern technology is able to help determine the minute quantities of 13_____ found in food. Modern technology is able to help determine the minute quantities of 13_____ found in food. **答案**：chemical aromas 原文定位：Today’s sophisticated spectrometers, gas chromatograph, and headspace vapor analyzers provide a detailed map of a food’s flavour components, detecting chemical aromas in amounts as low as one part per billion 同义替换：「minute quantities」↔「amounts as low as one part per billion」；「determine」↔「detecting」；「Modern technology」↔「spectrometers, gas chromatograph, headspace vapor analyzers」 ### 2. 2 The sense of taste is as efficient as the sense of smell. 2 The sense of taste is as efficient as the sense of smell. - TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN **答案**：FALSE 原文定位：Tastebuds offers a limited means of detection, however, compared with the human olfactory system, which can perceive thousands of different chemical aromas 同义替换：「sense of taste」↔「tastebuds」；「sense of smell」↔「olfactory system」；「efficient」↔「means of detection」 ### 3. 3 Personal tastes in food are developed in infancy. 3 Personal tastes in food are developed in infancy. - TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN **答案**：TRUE 原文定位：A person’s food preferences, like his or her personality, are formed during the first few years of life 同义替换：「Personal tastes」↔「preferences」；「developed」↔「formed」；「in infancy」↔「during the first few years of life」 ### 4. 4 Christopher Columbus found many different spices on his travels. 4 Christopher Columbus found many different spices on his travels. - TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN **答案**：NOT GIVEN 原文定位：In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail in order to try to find new seasonings and thus to make his fortune with this most desired commodity of that time ### 5. 5 In the mid-1880s, man-made flavors were originally invented on purpose. 5 In the mid-1880s, man-made flavors were originally invented on purpose. - TRUE - FALSE - NOT GIVEN **答案**：FALSE 原文定位：Legend has it that a German scientist discovered methyl anthranilate, one of the first artificial flavours, by accident while mixing chemicals in his laboratory 同义替换：「man-made」↔「artificial」；「invented」↔「discovered」；「on purpose」↔「by accident」 ### 6-7. It is thought that the sense of taste was 6_____ in order to 7_____ the foods It is thought that the sense of taste was 6_____ in order to 7_____ the foods **答案**：acquired|||differentiate 原文定位：Scientists now believe that human beings acquired the sense of taste as a way to avoid being poisoned;Taste is supposed to help us differentiate food that’s good for us from food that’s not ### 8. the foods which are harmless to us from those that are not 8_____ . the foods which are harmless to us from those that are not 8_____ . **答案**：good 原文定位：Taste is supposed to help us differentiate food that’s good for us from food that’s not 同义替换：「harmless」↔「good」 ### 9. The sense of smell, which gives us the flavour we detect in our food, helps us to take pleasure in our food. Indeed this 9_____ for flavour was, The sense of smell, which gives us the flavour we detect in our food, helps us to take pleasure in our food. Indeed this 9_____ for flavour was, **答案**：craving 原文定位：The human craving for flavour has been a large unacknowledged and unexamined force in history 同义替换：「was the reason why」↔「force in history」 --- 以上内容由鸭圈雅思真题库（www.yaquan.site）提供，收录近期雅思考试真题回忆，支持在线机考模式免费练习。