英语听力精选进阶版 6383

A trained sniffer dog can find hidden drugs or earthquake survivors¹ and even detect² cancer. We might not have as good a sense of smell as dogs, but we still follow our noses. Wake up and smell the coffee! Something smells fishy³. She has a nose for a bargain. The English language is full of idioms to do with smell, and many of them show how important smell is to our sense of judgement.

And that's not surprising, because a sense of smell is very useful in telling when food is off, or clothes need washing, for example. But millions of people can't smell anything at all: to use a medical term, they are 'anosmic.' In the UK alone, around 3 million people are anosmic, but the country's first clinic to help them has only recently been set up.

So how do people lose their sense of smell? Some people are born that way, they are congenitally anosmic. Others lose their sense of smell because of a head injury, or illness. Those with congenital anosmia might not know what they're missing⁴, but people who lose their sense of smell often become depressed⁵.

It's not only scents⁶ which are missing for people with anosmia. Food and drink lose their appeal too, because smell accounts for around 80% of our sense of flavour. They can't taste herbs, spices or garlic and fruit and wine simply taste sour.

Anosmia can also be dangerous. People with anosmia can get food poisoning, because they can't smell when food is bad. They can't smell smoke from a house fire, or leaking gas. Sarah Page is a patient at the new taste and smell clinic. She once turned the gas cooker on by mistake. Unable to smell it, Sarah was unaware⁷ that the house was filling with gas, which could have exploded at any time. It was some time before her mother came home and realised the problem.

Sarah is going to have an operation to treat her condition in the next few months. If it's successful, she says that what she wants most isn't to avoid danger. She would like to share the olfactory⁸ world of other people, including the bad smells. Sarah says, "People go 'Oh, that stinks⁹' - I want to be able to understand why that's a bad smell and join in with that conversation."

Quiz 测验

How many people are anosmic in the UK?

Around 3 million

Which phrase is used to mean 'born without a sense of smell'?

Congenitally anosmic

Why don't anosmic people enjoy wine?

It tastes sour/because 80% of flavour is smell

Why do anosmic people get food poisoning?

They can't smell when food is off/bad

What kind of treatment is Sarah Page going to have at the clinic?

An operation

Glossary¹⁰ 词汇表

detect 发现，检测

sense of smell 嗅觉

follow our noses 跟着鼻子走

wake up and smell the coffee! （比喻）认清事实

something smells fishy （比喻）什么事情有猫腻

she has a nose for a bargain （比喻）某人特别会找价廉物美的东西

idioms 成语

telling 判断

off （食品）坏了，馊了

head injury 头部创伤

depressed 沮丧，失落

scents 气味

food poisoning 食物中毒

leaking gas 煤气泄漏

patient 病人

operation 手术

treat her condition 治疗她的病症

olfactory 嗅觉

go 说

stinks 臭

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 detect   

vt.察觉，发现；探测

参考例句：

• I can detect signs of improvement in your thinking.我可以察觉出你思考问题方面的进步。
• Their instruments can detect the slightest vibration.他们的仪器能探测出极微弱的震动。

3 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。

4 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

6 scents   

n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉

参考例句：

• The air was fragrant with scents from the sea and the hills. 空气中荡漾着山和海的芬芳气息。
• The winds came down with scents of the grass and wild flowers. 微风送来阵阵青草和野花的香气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

8 olfactory   

adj.嗅觉的

参考例句：

• He is to develop a sensor to substitute for the olfactory abilities of dogs.克罗克将研制一种传感器用以代替狗的嗅觉功能。
• Based on these findings, Keller suspects that each person has an olfactory blind spot.根据这些发现，凯勒推断，每个人都有一个嗅觉盲区。

9 stinks   

v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• The whole scheme stinks to high heaven—don't get involved in it. 整件事十分卑鄙龌龊——可别陷了进去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soup stinks of garlic. 这汤有大蒜气味。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。