EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Science of Taste

We like to imagine that flavour resides in our food, an objective property waiting on the tongue to be detected. The reality is far stranger. What we casually call "taste" is in fact a composite illusion, assembled by the brain from at least three streams of information: the five basic tastes registered by the tongue, the far richer array of aromas drawn in through the back of the nose, and a host of contextual cues that have nothing to do with chemistry at all. Strip away any one of these, and the experience collapses. The dominance of smell is easily demonstrated. Pinch your nose while eating a jellybean and it registers as little more than abstract sweetness; release your fingers and a vivid flavour—strawberry, lemon—floods in. Roughly four-fifths of what we attribute to taste is, on this account, actually smell. Yet aroma is only the beginning. Colour, price, even the weight of the cutlery have all been shown to shift our judgements. Diners told a wine is expensive report it as more pleasant, and brain scans confirm that the pleasure centres really do light up more brightly. The deception is not merely reported; it is genuinely felt. This pliability is not a design flaw but a feature with deep evolutionary roots. A sense of taste that could be swayed by experience allowed our ancestors to learn, rapidly and durably, which foods nourished and which sickened—a single bout of food poisoning can instil a lifelong aversion. The same machinery, however, leaves the modern palate exquisitely vulnerable to manipulation by marketers who have learned to engineer expectation as carefully as flavour itself. To understand taste, then, is to abandon the comforting notion of an impartial tongue and to accept that every meal is, in part, a story the brain tells itself.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

  • The tongue is the only organ truly responsible for the flavours we experience.
  • Flavour is not an objective property of food but a perception the brain constructs from multiple sources.
  • Smell and taste are two entirely separate senses that should never be confused.
  • Marketers have recently invented techniques to create flavours that do not exist.
Phrase

What we casually call "taste" is in fact a composite illusion, assembled by the brain

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文全体は「味は食物の客観的性質ではなく、脳が複数の情報源から組み立てる知覚だ」という論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Flavour is not an objective property of food but a perception the brain constructs from multiple sources.」

正解

第1段で味は『食物に宿る客観的性質』という直観を否定し、a composite illusion, assembled by the brain from at least three streams of information (脳が少なくとも3つの情報源から組み立てる複合的錯覚) と定義する。続く段で嗅覚・文脈手掛かりの影響を論じ、最終段で every meal is, in part, a story the brain tells itself と締める。よって『味は客観的性質ではなく脳が複数源から構築する知覚』が主旨。

  • 「The tongue is the only organ truly responsible for the flavours we experience.」

    = 味の責任は舌だけにある ━ 本文はむしろ舌は3つの情報源の1つに過ぎず、約8割が嗅覚だと述べているので正反対。

  • 「Marketers have recently invented techniques」

    = 業者が最近技術を発明した ━ marketers は最終段の一例に過ぎず、本文の主題は味覚の構築的性質であってマーケティング技術の発明ではない。

  • 「Smell and taste are two entirely separate senses」

    = 嗅覚と味覚は完全に別物 ━ 本文は両者が融合して flavour を作ると論じており『完全に別物・混同するな』とは逆の主張。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
reside in ~~に宿る・存在するFlavour does not reside in the food.
a composite illusion複合的な錯覚Taste is a composite illusion.
be assembled from ~~から組み立てられるIt is assembled from three streams.
a host of ~多数の~a host of contextual cues
strip away ~~を取り除くStrip away any one of these.
❝例文

  • What we call taste is assembled by the brain.

    私たちが味と呼ぶものは脳が組み立てている。

  • Flavour does not simply reside in the food.

    風味は単に食物に宿っているのではない。

  • Strip away the aroma and the experience collapses.

    香りを取り除くと体験は崩壊する。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は第1段の定義文 (is in fact ~) と最終段の結論文 (every meal is ~) を結べば速い。極端な一者限定 (only the tongue) や周辺例 (marketers) は主旨ではない。

問 2

According to the passage, what does the jellybean example demonstrate?

  • Sweetness is the only one of the five basic tastes the tongue can register.
  • Artificial sweets contain no real aroma compounds whatsoever.
  • Much of what we credit to taste actually depends on the sense of smell.
  • Blocking the nose makes food taste more intensely flavoured than before.
Phrase

Roughly four-fifths of what we attribute to taste is, on this account, actually smell.

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

鼻をつまむと味が消える例=味とされるものの大半が実は嗅覚だと示す。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Much of what we credit to taste actually depends on the sense of smell.」

正解

第2段で鼻をつまむとジェリービーンは abstract sweetness にしか感じられず、放すと strawberry, lemon の風味が floods in と述べ、Roughly four-fifths of what we attribute to taste is ... actually smell と結論する。よって『味とされるものの多くが実は嗅覚に依存する』が正解。

  • 「Sweetness is the only one of the five basic tastes the tongue can register.」

    = 甘味だけが唯一の基本味 ━ 本文は基本味が five あると明示しており、甘味だけとは言っていない。

  • 「Blocking the nose makes food taste more intensely」

    = 鼻を塞ぐと味がより濃くなる ━ 鼻をつまむと風味は『失われる』のだから正反対。

  • 「Artificial sweets contain no real aroma compounds」

    = 人工菓子に香り成分が一切ない ━ 本文は香りが脳に届くか否かの話であり、菓子に香り成分が無いとは述べていない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
attribute A to BAをBのせいにするwhat we attribute to taste
on this accountこの説明によればactually smell, on this account
flood inどっと流れ込むa vivid flavour floods in
little more than ~~に過ぎないlittle more than abstract sweetness
four-fifths of ~~の5分の4four-fifths of the flavour
❝例文

  • Pinch your nose and the flavour disappears.

    鼻をつまむと風味は消える。

  • Most of what we attribute to taste is smell.

    味とされるものの大半は嗅覚だ。

  • Release your fingers and the aroma floods in.

    指を放すと香りがどっと流れ込む。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は本文の数値や定型句 (four-fifths, actually smell) を別語に置換した選択肢が正解。『正反対 (more intensely)』や『一者限定 (only sweetness)』は典型的な引っかけ。

問 3

What does the passage say about the influence of price on flavour?

  • Believing a wine is expensive genuinely increases the pleasure registered in the brain.
  • Price affects judgement of food but never of beverages such as wine.
  • Expensive wines are chemically proven to taste better than cheap ones.
  • Diners only claim to enjoy costly wine more but show no real brain response.
Phrase

brain scans confirm that the pleasure centres really do light up more brightly

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

高価だと聞いたワインは『報告だけでなく』脳の快楽中枢が実際に強く反応する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Believing a wine is expensive genuinely increases the pleasure registered in the brain.」

正解

第2段で Diners told a wine is expensive report it as more pleasant とし、さらに brain scans confirm that the pleasure centres really do light up more brightly と続け、The deception is not merely reported; it is genuinely felt と締める。よって『高価だと信じると脳が記録する快楽が実際に増す』が正解。

  • 「Expensive wines are chemically proven to taste better」

    = 高価なワインは化学的に美味と証明 ━ 本文は化学ではなく『期待』が快楽を変えると述べており、価格と化学的味の優劣は無関係。

  • 「Diners only claim to enjoy costly wine more but show no real brain response.」

    = 口先だけで脳反応はない ━ 本文は脳スキャンが実際に強い反応を確認したと述べているので正反対。

  • 「Price affects judgement of food but never of beverages such as wine.」

    = 価格は食品に効くが飲料には効かない ━ 本文の実例がまさにワイン (飲料) なので矛盾。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
light up活性化する・輝くthe pleasure centres light up
be told (that) ~~と聞かされるDiners told a wine is expensive
report A as BAをBと報告するreport it as more pleasant
not merely ~; it is ...単に~ではなく…not merely reported; it is felt
genuinely felt本当に感じられるThe deception is genuinely felt.
❝例文

  • Diners told the wine was costly enjoyed it more.

    高価だと聞いた客はより味わいを楽しんだ。

  • The pleasure centres really do light up more brightly.

    快楽中枢が実際により強く活性化する。

  • The deception is not merely reported but genuinely felt.

    その錯覚は報告だけでなく本当に感じられる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

因果・詳細設問は『report (主観) + brain scans confirm (客観)』の二段構えに注目。本文が両方を肯定している以上、『口先だけ (only claim)』の否定肢は外れる。

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