Question

Senses That Work Together

When we think about how our senses work, we usually imagine them operating separately: you sniff a flower, and the smell is delivered uninterrupted from nose to brain. However, it's more complex than that. Most evidence for cross modal perception (知觉) comes from studies into sound and vision (视觉). But research that shows other senses crossing over is coming out all the time, and it seems that even sound and smell sometimes form an unlikely pairing.

When New York researchers, Daniel Wesson and Donald Wilson, tried to find out the truth about a "mysterious” area of the brain called the olfactory tubercle, they had to deal with this fact. Originally, they only intended to measure how olfactory tubercle cells in mice responded to smell. But during testing, Wesson noticed that every time he put his coffee cup down, the mouse cells jumped in activity. In fact, the olfactory tubercle is well-placed to receive both smell and sound information from the outside world. Later they found that among separate cells, most responded to a smell but a significant number were also active when a sound was made. Some cells even behaved differently when smell and sound were presented together, by increasing or decreasing their activity.

Of course, mice aren't people, so research team has been carrying out further experiments. They pulled together a group of people and gave them various drinks to smell. Participants were asked to sniff the drinks, and then match them to appropriate musical instruments and produce the notes at different levels. The results were interesting: piano was regularly paired with fruity fragrances; strong smells sounded like the instruments that are made of metal.

Further research found that listening to different sounds can change your perceptions. Studying taste this time, the team ordered some special toffee (太妃糖) and put together “soundscapes” corresponding to bitterness and sweetness. Participants tasted similar pieces of toffee while listening to each soundscape, and found the toffee more bitter or sweeter, depending on which soundrack they were listening to.

Studies like this are helping scientists correctly describe our understanding of the senses, and how the brain combines them with its advantage. The consequences are worth considering. Could we see musicians work together with chefs to produce sound-improved food and drink? Will you be ordering a coffee with a soundrack to bring out your favorite smell? Come to think of it, that could be one thing you hope coffee shop chains don’t get round to.

1.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. A lot of research focuses on the senses.

B. There can be a link between sound and smell.

C. Sound and vision are relatively easy to study.

D. Evidence about the way senses work is hard to obtain.

2.In Wesson and Wilson's research,__________.

A. the mice were affected more significantly by sound

B. the result confirmed what the researchers had suspected

C. the connection between sound and smell was found by chance

D. the mice seemed to be afraid of certain sounds or smells

3.What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?

A. Participants took an active part in the experiments.

B. The purpose of the further experiments was totally different.

C. The result failed to support what was found in previous experiments.

D. Experiments showed that links between sound and smell were consistent.

4.How does the author feel about the effect of the research?

A. She is surprised at the recent developments.

B. She is excited about the creative chances.

C. She is convinced that the findings will be used soon.

D. She is worried about how the knowledge can be applied.

Answer

1. B

2. C

3. D

4. B

【解析】

本文为议论文。当我们思考我们的感官是如何工作的时候，我们通常会想象它们是分开运作的：

你嗅一朵花，气味从鼻子到大脑都不受干扰。然而，它比这要复杂得多。本文通过实验证明气味和声音是有联系的，以此证明各种感官是协调工作的。

1.词义猜测题。根据第二段中的But research that shows other senses crossing over is coming out all the time，and it seems that even sound and smell sometimes form an unlikely pairing.可知，研究者表明其他的crossing over感知正在不断出现，看起来，即使是声音和气味，有时也会形成一个不太可能的配对。可知划线词的意思是“声音和气味之间可能有联系”。故B选项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据第三段中 Originally, they only intended to measure how olfactory tubercle cells in mice responded to smell. But during testing, Wesson noticed that every time he put his coffee cup down, the mouse cells jumped in activity.可知，最初，他们只打算测量老鼠嗅结节细胞对嗅觉的反应。但在测试期间，他注意到每次他把咖啡杯放下，老鼠细胞就活跃起来了，由此推断，声音和气味之间的联系是偶然发现的。故C选项正确。

3.段落大意题。第二段最后老鼠的实验表明：当声音发出时，大多数细胞对气味作出反应，相当多的细胞也很活跃，第三段内容可知，通过人来做实验：有规律地把钢琴搭配果味芳香，强烈的气味听起来像金属制成的乐器，由此可推断，实验表明声音和气味之间的联系是一致的，协调的。故D选项正确。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中的Studies like this are helping scientists correctly describe our understanding of the senses, and how the brain combines them with its advantage. The consequences are worth considering. 可知，研究帮助科学家正确地描述了我们对感官的理解，以及大脑是如何结合其优势的，这些实验是值得考虑的。因此推断作者对具有创造性的机会感兴趣。故B选项正确。