2012年考研英語閱讀理解精讀篇（三）_跨考網(wǎng)

　　TEXT THREE

　　In a world where sight and sound seem to reign supreme, all it takes is a cursory glance at the size of the perfume industry to realise that smell matters quite a lot, too. Odours are known to regulate moods, thoughts and even dating decisions, which is why any serious romantic will throw on the eau de toilette before going out for a night on the town. Yet in all these cases, those affected are aware of what they are smelling. Unlike the media of sight and sound, in which subliminal messages have been studied carefully, the potential power of subliminal smells has been neglected.

　　Wen Li and her colleagues at Northwestern University in Chicago are now changing that. In particular, they are investigating smells so faint that people say they cannot detect them. The idea is to see whether such smells can nevertheless change the way that people behave towards others.

　　Dr Li's experiment, the results of which have just been published in Psychological Science, employed 31 volunteers. These people were exposed to three different odours at low concentration. One was the fresh lemon scent of citral. The second was the neutral ethereal perfume of anisole. The third was the foul sweaty smell of valeric acid. And the concentrations really were low. In the case of valeric acid, for example, that concentration was seven parts per trillion—a level only just detectable by bloodhounds. As a control, Dr Li used a mineral oil that has no detectable smell at any concentration.

　　The participants were asked to sniff a jar containing either one of the three odours or the scentless oil, and then press a button to indicate whether they thought the jar smelled of anything. Immediately after that, a picture of a face would appear on a screen in front of them for just over a second. Each participant was asked to rate the face's “l(fā)ikeability”.

　　Dr Li found that the odours helped shape people's judgments about the faces when their responses indicated that they had not smelled anything. When someone had been exposed to valeric acid, for example, he tended to react negatively to a face. Exposure to citral, by contrast, made that face seem, on average, more friendly. (Obviously, the same face was not shown to any given participant more than once.) Even more intriguing, however, was that when participants did consciously perceive a smell, its effect on face-perception disappeared.

　　What is going on is unclear. If smells can carry useful information about personality (which is possible), then the effect would be expected to be the same whether or not the chemical in question is detected subliminally. If they do not carry such information, then it is hard to see what use the subliminal reaction is. Nevertheless, it is there.

　　The findings do, however, demonstrate what might be a powerful method of manipulation. Indeed, Dr Li considers the potential uses to be vast. Business meetings might be made more pleasant by releasing appropriate fragrances into the air in unsmellable amounts. Conversely, fights might be started by putting people in the presence of a faint foul odour. Advertising hoardings might benefit from a little olfactory tweaking and cinema audiences could be reduced to floods of tears at the appropriate moment. The sweet smell of success might, in other words, actually be undetectable.

　　1. Dr. Li is carrying out such an investigation in order to _____

　　[A] find out how smells regulate moods in a subtle and nuanced way.

　　[B] prove that smell plays an equally important role in daily life as that of sight and sound.

　　[C] find out if people are sensitive to faint smells.

　　[D] find out if faint smells could influence people’s judgement of others.

　　2.The mineral oil is used in Dr. Li’s experiment to _____

　　[A] control the concentration of odours in a slightly detectable degree.

　　[B] act as a group of comparison with that of the other smells.

　　[C] regulate the participants’ moods by decreasing the smell’s concentration.

　　[D] protect the participants from losing sense of smell.

　　3. The word “l(fā)ikeability” (Line 4, Paragraph 4) most probably means_____

　　[A] similarity.

　　[B] likeness.

　　[C] loveliness.

　　[D] likelihood.

　　4. When the participants conciously smelt the valeric acid, they tended to_____

　　[A] make negative judgement to a face.

　　[B] make positive judgement to a face.

　　[C] make biased judgement to a face.

　　[D] make fair judgement to a face.

　　5. From Dr. Li’s experiment, it can be infered that_____

　　[A] one’s reaction to subliminal smells reflect useful information about his or her personality.

　　[B] subliminal smells can influence people’s interaction with each other.

　　[C] subliminal smells have no effect on people’s conscious face-perception.

　　[D] subliminal smells turn out to be a means of powerful manipulation in terms of business success.

　　文章剖析：

　　這篇文章介紹了細微氣味對人們的影響。文章第一段講述雖然氣味在人們生活中占有重要地位，但是細微氣味的潛在力量卻為人所忽視;第二段講述李博士正在進行研究細微氣味的試驗;第三、四、五段講述了李博士試驗的具體情況;第六段講述還有待研究的問題;第七段講述這個發(fā)現(xiàn)的意義和作用。

　　詞匯注釋：

　　cursory adj. 粗略的, 草率的 subliminal adj. 潛在意識的，微小的

　　citral n. [化]檸檬醛 ethereal adj.輕的, 天上的, 象空氣的

　　valeric acid n. 纈草酸; 戊酸 bloodhound n. 警犬

　　hoarding　n.招貼板，廣告牌 olfactory adj. 嗅覺的

　　tweak v. 調節(jié)，擰

　　難句突破：

　　Odours are known to regulate moods, thoughts and even dating decisions, which is why any serious romantic will throw on the eau de toilette before going out for a night on the town.

　　[主體句式] Odours are known to …

　　[結構分析]這是一個簡單句，which 引導的非限定性定語從句是用來修是前面的整個句子的。

　　[句子譯文]大家知道，氣味可以調節(jié)人的情緒、想法，甚至是約會決定，這也就是為什么人們晚上在城里赴約時總要噴上點香水。

　　If smells can carry useful information about personality (which is possible), then the effect would be expected to be the same whether or not the chemical in question is detected subliminally.

　　[主體句式] If… then…

　　[結構分析]這是一個帶有條件狀語從句的復雜句，在后面分句中，有一個條件狀語從句。

　　[句子譯文]如果氣味帶有個性信息(這是有可能的)，那么不管這種化學是否可以被潛意識感覺到，其反應應當是一樣的。

　　題目分析：

　　1. Dr. Li is carrying out such an investigation in order to _____ 1. 李博士進行這項試驗是為了_____

　　[A] find out how smells regulate moods in a subtle and nuanced way. [A] 探索氣味是如何以一種細小微妙的方式調節(jié)人的情緒的。

　　[B] prove that smell plays an equally important role in daily life as that of sight and sound. [B]證明氣味在人的生活中與人們的視覺、聽覺一樣起到了重要的作用。

　　[C] find out if people are sensitive to faint smells. [C] 探索人們是否對微弱的氣味敏感。

　　[D] find out if faint smells could influence people’s judgement of others. [D]探索微弱的氣味是否可以影響人們對他人的判斷。

　　[答案]D

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 推理題。文章介紹了李博士的實驗，可以看出，該實驗的對象是微弱的、人們靠嗅覺聞不到的氣味。主要研究這種氣味能否影響人們對于他人的行為，從試驗詳細描述來看，主要是人們對于他人的印象和判斷。其中文章的第一段和第二段分別談到“和視覺和聲音媒介不同的是，它們其中微小的訊息已經被仔細研究過了，而細微的氣味潛在的力量卻被人們忽略了”、“特別的是，他們現(xiàn)在研究的氣味非常微弱，人們都說他們感覺不到這些氣味。他們想看看這些氣味是不是也可以影響人們對他人的行為”等都說明了所有答案中D最為吻合文章的意思。

　　2.The mineral oil is used in Dr. Li’s experiment to _____ 2. 李博士的實驗中礦物油是用來_____

　　[A] control the concentration of odours in a slightly detectable degree. [A] 在一個基本上很難察覺的程度上控制氣味的濃度。

　　[B] act as a group of comparison with that of the other smells. [B] 作為和其他氣味比較的一個對照組。

　　[C] regulate the participants’ moods by decreasing the smell’s concentration. [C] 通過降低氣味的濃度來調節(jié)試驗參與者的情緒。

　　[D] protect the participants from losing sense of smell. [D] 保證試驗參與者不會喪失嗅覺。

　　[答案] B

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆

　　[分析] 推理題。文章第三段指出，李博士在實驗中用一種完全沒有氣味的礦物油作為control， 這里control的意思是在對照實驗中被用作對照標準的一個或一組物體。不過這個意思比較生僻，考生可能不知道。那么可以根據(jù)實驗中它的作用推斷出來，它是絕對無味的，可以和其他的氣味的實驗結果對照。如果考生擁有足夠的常識，也會知道在一般的科學實驗中，為了保證試驗結果的有效性，通常需要設置一個對照組。那么，選項B最為符合題意。

　　3. The word “l(fā)ikeability” (Line 4, Paragraph 4) most probably means_____ 3. “l(fā)ikeability” (第四段第四行)意思最可能指_____

　　[A] similarity. [A] 類似性。

　　[B] likeness. [B] 相似性。

　　[C] loveliness. [C] 可愛。

　　[D] likelihood. [D] 相似性，可能性。

　　[答案] C

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 猜詞題。根據(jù)上下文來判斷該詞的意思，試驗要求參與者給看到的臉做一個判定，判定的內容可以根據(jù)實驗結果看出來，是讓參與者判斷所看到的臉是否“可親”，因此，可以斷定這個詞的意思是C。

　　4. When the participants conciously smelt the valeric acid, they tended to_____ 4.當參與者意識到自己聞到了頡草酸時，他們

　　趨向于____

　　[A] make negative judgement to a face. [A] 對看到的臉給以否定的判斷。

　　[B] make positive judgement to a face. [B] 對看到的臉給以肯定的判斷。

　　[C] make biased judgement to a face. [C] 對看到的臉給以偏頗的判斷。

　　[D] make fair judgement to a face. [D] 對看到的臉給以公平的判斷。

　　[答案]D

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

　　[分析]推理題。第五段提到很讓人費解的是，當參與者意識到自己聞到了一種氣味，那么對臉的判斷的影響就消失了。實驗中參與者在沒有意識地聞到這種草酸味時，他會對臉有一種否定的判斷，但是當他意識到自己聞到時，這種影響就沒有了。那么可以推斷，他對臉的判斷就比較公允了，選項D最為符合。

　　5. From Dr. Li’s experiment, it can be infered that_____ 5. 由李博士的實驗可以推斷出_____

　　[A] one’s reaction to subliminal smells reflect useful information about his or her personality. [A]一個人對細微的氣味的反應顯示了有關于其個性的有用的信息。

　　[B] subliminal smells can influence people’s interaction with each other. [B] 細微的氣味可以影響人們與他人的交往。

　　[C] subliminal smells have no effect on people’s conscious face-perception. [C] 細微的氣味不能影響人們有意識地對臉的判斷。

　　[D] subliminal smells turn out to be a means of powerful manipulation in terms of business success. [D] 細微的氣味在商業(yè)成功的意義上來說是一種非常有利的控制手段。

　　[答案]B

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆

　　[分析] 推理題。李博士的實驗主要是為了看看細微的氣味能否影響人們對他人的看法和印象,根據(jù)實驗結果,參與者在聞了細微氣味后會對看到的臉產生一定的反應,因此,可以得出結論,細微的氣味能夠影響對他人的行為。選項A，文章中提到有可能有這種可能，但是還沒有證實。C不是該實驗的一個主要結論，且該論點也沒有得到證實。D選項的相關內容在文章的最后一段有所涉及，但是這只是對前景的推測，結論還沒有得到證實。因此，答案應該選B選項。

　　參考譯文：

　　在一個視覺和聲音占絕對上風的世界里，我們只需隨便看一下香水行業(yè)的規(guī)模就能明白氣味也占有很重要的地位。大家知道，氣味可以調節(jié)人的情緒、想法，甚至是約會決定，這也就是為什么人們晚上在城里赴約時總要噴上點香水。但是在所有的這些事例中，那些受影響的人都意識到自己聞到的是什么的。視覺和聲音媒介中那些微小的訊息已經被仔細研究過了，而微弱氣味潛在的力量卻被人們忽略了。

　　李文和她在芝加哥西北大學的同事們現(xiàn)在就在改變這種狀況。特別需要指出的是，他們現(xiàn)在研究的氣味都極其微弱，以至于人們都說他們感覺不到這些氣味。他們想看看這些氣味是不是也可以影響人們對他人的行為。

　　李博士的實驗結果剛剛發(fā)表在《心理科學》上，該實驗有31名志愿者。這些志愿者身處三種低濃度的氣味中，一種是新鮮檸檬的檸檬醛氣味，第二種是茴香醚的中性輕香味，第三種是纈草酸的汗臭味。這三種氣味的濃度都很低。比如，纈草酸的汗臭味濃度為萬億分之七，這種濃度只有警犬才能發(fā)覺。李博士在每種濃度中都用了一種礦物油作為對照，這種礦物油的氣味是察覺不到的。

　　這些志愿者都被要求嗅裝有某一種氣味或無味的油罐子，然后再按下按鈕表示自己是否聞到什么了。聞完后馬上會在他們面前的屏幕上出現(xiàn)一張臉的圖像，只顯示一秒鐘。然后每個人都會被要求斷定這張臉的“可愛程度”。

　　李博士發(fā)現(xiàn)當人們認為自己沒有聞到任何氣味時，氣味其實會影響人們對臉的評價。比如某人聞到纈草酸時，他對看到的臉就會有不好的反應。相反，聞到檸檬酸的味道一般會讓臉看起來更友好些。(當然，每張臉只給同一個人看一次。)但是，更奇怪的是當參與者意識到自己聞到了某種味道時，上述影響就消失了。

　　這到底是怎么回事還不清楚。如果氣味帶有個性信息(這是有可能的)，那么不管這種化學是否可以被潛意識感覺到，其反應應當是一樣的。如果不帶有這種信息，就很難看出這種潛意識的反應有什么用了。但不管怎樣，事實擺在我們面前。

　　但是這些發(fā)現(xiàn)展現(xiàn)出一些可能的強有力的控制方法。實際上，李博士認為這種潛力是巨大的。如果在噴灑些適當?shù)娜藗兟劜坏降南阄?，商業(yè)會議會讓人感覺更加舒適。相反，讓人們在很微弱的臭味中，就可能發(fā)生爭斗。廣告牌可以受益于一點氣味調節(jié)，而在適當時候為電影觀眾加些氣味可能會使他們淚如泉涌。換句話說，勝利的甜蜜氣味是無法覺察的。