Our perception of hoe food tastes is influenc...

Our perception of hoe food tastes is influenced by cutlery like knives, forks, and spoons, research suggests.

“Size, weight, shape and color all have an effect on flavor,” says a University of Oxford team. Cheese tastes saltier when eaten from a knife rather than a fork; while white spoons make yoghurt taste better, experiments show.

The study in the journal Flavour suggests the brain makes judgments on food even before it goes in the mouth. More than 100 students took part in three experiments looking at the influence of weight, color and shape of cutlery on taste. The researchers found that when the weight of the cutlery is consistent with expectations, this had an influence on how the food tastes. For example, food tasted sweeter on the small spoons that are traditionally used to serve desserts.

Color contrast was also an important factor-white yoghurt eaten from a white spoon was rated sweeter than white yoghurt tasted on a black spoon. Similarly, when testers were offered cheese on a knife, spoon, fork or toothpick, they found that the cheese on a knife tasted saltiest.

“How we experience food is a multisensory experience involving taste, feel of the food in our mouths, pleasant smells, and the feasting of our eyes,” said Pro. Charles Spence and Dr. Vanessa Harrar. “Even before we put food into our mouths, our brains have made a judgment about it, which affects our overall experience.”

Past research has shown that china can change our perception of food and drink. For example, people generally eat less when food is served on smaller plates. “The new research into how the brain influences food perception could help dieters or improve gastronomic（美食的）experiences at restaurants,” said Pro. Spence. He told BBC News: “There’s a lot more to food than what’s on the plate. Many things we thought didn’t matter do. We’re going to see a lot more of neuroscience（神经科学）design around mealtimes.”

1.According to the text, we know that the cheese used in the experiment is ________.

A. salty　　 B. sour

C. sweet　　 D. bitter

2.What do we know about the weight of the cutlery in paragraph 3?

A. It is important for people.

B. People usually don’t care about it.

C. It affects how the food tastes.

D. It is always different from people’s expectation.

3.What does the underlined word “multisensory” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?

A. Coming from the senses.

B. Involving many different senses.

C. Able to feel or perceive.

D. Easily affected by other feelings.

4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A. Research on cutlery is of great importance.

B. Research on food will be continued in the future.

C. Research on the effect of nerves on the taste of food will be done.

D. Research on plates and food will be carried out in the near future.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Recent findings have shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception (感知) of the food in front of us. A new study suggested that our short-term memory may also play a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people's hunger levels were predicted not by how much they'd eaten but rather by how much food they’d seen in front of them — in other words, how much they remembered eating.

This difference suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal, says Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol.

''Hunger isn't controlled merely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an independent role for memory for that meal, '' Brunstrom says. ''This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought. ''

These findings echo earlier research that suggests our perceptions of food can sometimes trick our body's response to the food itself. In a 2016 study, for instance, people who drank the same 380-calorie milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones (荷尔蒙), depending on whether the shake's label said it contained 620 or 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more full when they thought they'd consumed a higher-calorie shake.

1.What affects our appetite according to the new study?

A.How much we remember eating.

B.What time we eat our last meal.

C.How much we eat our last meal.

D.What ingredients the food contains.

2.The underlined word ''echo'' in the last paragraph means ________ in Chinese.

A.暗示 B.反映

C.印证 D.改善

3.What is the main idea of the text?

A.Good eating habits contribute to our health.

B.Eating speed often affects our food digestion.

C.Psychological factors influence our hunger levels.

D.Our biological need for energy determines our food intake.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements. Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us. In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses.

Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing. An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong. These days, advertisers not only offer free samples, but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well. They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.

During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory. They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener. The response to this competition was tremendous. Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory. One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds. A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole of his car. All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed. The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize. But just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2,400 pounds. It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1,000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients. It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry. The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24,000.

1..

. Why have advertisers made a close study of human weakness?

A. They thought it was very interesting to do so.

B. They wanted to persuade the customers to buy their products.

C. They thought it was their duty.

D. They wanted to research how much people spend buying their products.

2..

. Why do advertisers offer free samples and other things to people?

A. They use them to attract people’s attention.

B. Their advertisements have little effect on customers.

C. Different means are being used to cheat people.

D. They produce too many products that can’t be sold out.

3..

From the last paragraph, we know that the factory failed to expect _______.

A. how many people would take an interest in the competition

B. how many ingredients are needed to bake a large biscuit

C. it was possible to bake a biscuit as large as the student’s

D. the payment wouldn’t be as high as $ 24,000

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements. Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts（施加） some influence on us. In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified（分类） all our little weaknesses.

Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing. An advertisement which begins with the magic work FREE can rarely go wrong. These days, advertisers not only offer free samples, but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well. They design hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to draw the attention of millions of people in this way.

During a radio program, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory. They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener. The response to this competition was active. Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory. One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds. All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed. The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize. But just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly large biscuit which weighed 2,400 pounds. It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1,000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients. The factory had to pay more money than they had expected, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $24,000.

高二英语填空题中等难度题查看答案及解析

The following speed of a plant is influenced by a number of factors, _______ are beyond our control

A. most of them　　 B. most of that

C. most of which　　 D. most of what

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

The growing speed of a plant is influenced by a number of factors, ______ are beyond our control.

A. most of them                            B. most of what                 C. most of which      D. most of that

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

The growing speed of a plant is influenced by a number of factors, ________ are beyond our control.

A. most of them    B. most of which    C. most of what    D. most of that

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

We often just use our sense of sight, touch, smell, and taste to eat food. But what about our sense of hearing? Does sound also affect our dining experience?

A new report answers, “yes, it does.”

That answer comes from researchers at Brigham Young University and Colorado State University in the United States. They found that hearing is important in the eating experience.

Hearing is often called “the forgotten food sense”, says Ryan Elder. Elder is an assistant professor of marketing at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. He says that if people notice the sound the food makes as they eat it, they might eat less. On the other hand, watching loud television or listening to loud music while eating can hide such noises. And this could lead to overeating.

For the study, the researchers wanted to test whether the sounds of eating—chewing, chomping and crunching(松脆的)—had any effect on how much a person ate. During the experiments, the test subjects wore headphones and listened to noise at either a high or low audio level. Then researchers gave them a crunchy snack: pretzels. The study found that subjects who listened to the higher volume noise ate more pretzels than those with the low audio levels.

Elder says that when hiding I heard sounds of eating, like when you watch television or listen to loud music while eating, we take away the sense of hearing. And this may cause you to eat more than you would normally. The researchers are calling this, the “crunch effect”.

The researchers admit that the effects may not seem like much at one meal. But over a week, a month or a year, all that food can really add up.

1.Which sense is often ignored in the eating experience?

A. Sight.　　 B. Smell.

C. Hearing.　　 D. Touch.

2.Who would find this article helpful?

A. People who enjoys cooking food　 .　　 B. People who cares about losing weight.

C. People who like watching TV　　　　 .　　 D. People who want to eat healthy food.

3.Why the researchers use “pretzels”?

A. They can make loud noise.　　 B. They are delicious.

C. They are more available　　 D. They are good for health.

4.Which can be the best title for the passage?

A. Be Mindful of Whatever You Eat　　 B. Be Sensitive to Your Eating habits

C. Want to Lose Weight? Listen to yourself Eat　　 D. Better Hear Than Eat

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

We often just use our sense of sight, touch, smell, and taste to eat food. But what about our sense of hearing? Does sound also affect our dining experience?

A new report answers, “yes, it does.”

That answer comes from researchers at Brigham Young University and Colorado State University in the United States. They found that hearing is important in the eating experience.

Hearing is often called “the forgotten food sense”, says Ryan Elder. Elder is an assistant professor of marketing at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. He says that if people notice the sound the food makes as they eat it, they might eat less. On the other hand, watching loud television or listening to loud music while eating can hide such noises. And this could lead to overeating.

For the study, the researchers wanted to test whether the sounds of eating—chewing, chomping and crunching—had any effect on how much a person ate. During the experiments, the test subjects wore headphones and listened to noise at either a high or low audio level. Then researchers gave them a crunchy snack: pretzels. The study found that subjects who listened to the higher volume noise ate more pretzels than those with the low audio levels.

Elder says that when hiding I heard sounds of eating, like when you watch television or listen to loud music while eating, we take away the sense of hearing. And this may cause you to eat more than you would normally. The researchers are calling this, the “crunch effect”.

The researchers admit that the effects may not seem like much at one meal. But over a week, a month or a year, all that food can really add up.

1.Which sense is often ignored in the eating experience?

A. Sight.　　 B. Smell.

C. Hearing.　　 D. Touch.

2.Who would find this article helpful?

A. People who enjoys cooking food.

B. People who cares about losing weight.

C. People who like watching TV.

D. People who want to eat healthy food.

3.Why the researchers use “pretzels”?

A. They can make loud noise.　　 B. They are delicious.

C. They are more available　　 D. They are good for health.

4.Which can be the best title for the passage?

A. Be Mindful of Whatever You Eat

B. Be Sensitive to Your Eating habits

C. Want to Lose Weight? Listen to yourself Eat

D. Better Hear Than Eat

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

You may think, salt is just a simple cooking element we shake on our food for a little

extra taste. But salt is much more than that. Without salt our muscles would not move. Our nervous systems would not operate. Our hearts would not beat.

But do not think rubbing salt in a wound will help. Doing that would be painful and not heal the wound. To rub salt in a wound is an idiom that means to purposefully make a bad situation worse.

Early humans got the salt they needed to stay alive from the animals they killed. But advances in agriculture led to a diet low in salt. So, humans needed to find other sources. Those who lived near the ocean or other natural sources for salt were lucky. Those who did not had to trade for salt. In fact, people used salt as a method of payment in many parts of the ancient world. The word “salary” comes from the word “salt”.

Salt also played an important part in population movement and world exploration. Explorers understood that if they could keep food fresh, they could travel longer distances. So they used salt to preserve food and explored the world.

Salt was so important that, according to food historians, it was traded pound-for- pound for gold. Today, people still use the expressions “to be worth one’s salt” or “worth one's weight in salt”. The expressions describe a person of value.

A person might also be called “salt of the earth”. That description means he or she is dependable and trustworthy. However, when you say “I think we should take what he said with a grain of salt” you mean you accept it but maintain a degree of doubt about its truth.

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A. Salt plays an important part in our life.

B. Salt makes food tasty.

C. Salt is considered to be part of our muscles.

D. Salt is sure to damage nervous systems.

2.A beggar's bread was stolen last night, which means 　　　　 .

A. salt of the earth　　 B. rubbing salt in a wound

C. a diet low in salt　　 D. worth his salt

3.If you describe a person as a great help, you mean 　　　　 .

A. he is called salt of the earth　　 B. he is often taken as a grain of salt

C. he often uses salt to preserve meat　　 D. he is worth his weight in salt

4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Salt is more than a four-letter word　　 B. Salt is a basic element in cooking

C. Salt is a word with a long history　　 D. Salt is popular with different persons

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析