The human sense of smell is closely associated with our emotions.

The human sense of smell is closely associated with our emotions. We use our limbic system — the part of the brain which is thought to control emotion — to connect our sense of smell to our feelings. Before people even recognize a smell, the deepest parts of the brain have already been stimulated (激发) and an emotional response has been triggered.
Research has shown that humans can react emotionally to smells that we can barely even notice. In one study at a major university in Chicago, three smells were given to thirty-one volunteers. The smells were of different concentrations, and some were so low that they were hardly detectable to the human nose. The different smells used were: a pleasant lemon scent (气味), a neutral anisole (中性苯甲醚), or an unpleasantly sweaty smelling acid. First, the volunteers were asked to press a button to show whether they had smelled anything or not. Then they were shown a picture of a face, which they had to rate for its likeability using a six-point marking system.
The results of the study showed that when people knew they had been exposed to a smell, it did not influence the way they judged the likeability of the faces. However, when they believed they had not smelled anything, but had actually been exposed to one of the scents, the ratings of face likeability changed. Exposure to very low concentrations of acid, so low that they were undetectable, tended to produce a negative response to a face. By comparison, after smelling lemon scent but again detecting no smell, participants rated faces as generally likeable. These findings support other research into sense perception (感觉), whether it is smell, sight, or hearing, which shows that subliminal (潜意识的) sensory information does affect our perceptions.
12. Which word can best replace “triggered” in Paragraph 1?
A. Stopped. B. Changed.
C. Controlled. D. Started.
13. What is the purpose of paragraph 2?
A. To discuss how smells are connected to emotions.
B. To explain why the research is important.
C. To describe how the study was done.
D. To report the results of the study.
14. What conclusion does the author come to?
A. Pleasant and unpleasant smells have the same effect on people.
B. This study’s results agree with those of previous studies.
C. Other senses aren’t connected to perception the way smell is.
D. Scents have almost no influence on people’s emotions.
15. What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Effects of scents on emotions
B. What influences how we feel?
C. Our sensitive sense of smell
D. Techniques and senses

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