分科測驗
108年
英文
第 45 題
📖 題組：
In many languages, such as English, there is no straightforward way to talk about smell. For want of dedicated odor terminology, English speakers are often forced to use odor-sources such as “flowery” and “vanilla” and metaphors like “sweet” and “oriental” in their descriptions of smell. But the difficulty with talking about smell is not universal. The Maniq, a group of hunter-gatherers in southern Thailand, can describe smells using at least fifteen different terms, which express only smells and are not applicable across other sensory domains. In addition to Maniq, researchers found that there are also a dozen words for various smells in Jahai, a language spoken by a neighboring hunter-gatherer population. Interestingly, the difficulty for English speakers to translate smell directly into words seems to have very little to do with the nose’s actual capabilities. According to findings of a recent study, English speakers are capable of discriminating more than a trillion different odors. Then, why is there a gap between their ability to discriminate scent and their vocabulary? The researchers suggest that surroundings may play a significant role. Maniq and Jahai speakers live in tropical rainforest regions with a hunting-gathering lifestyle, and these two ethnic groups evaluate their surroundings through their noses to survive in nature. In an environment that is still largely untouched by humans, they are surrounded by smells at all times. They need to use their sense of smell to identify animals that they can hunt, and to recognize objects or events, such as spoiled food, that can pose a danger. Unlike the Maniq and the Jahai, many English speakers inhabit the post-industrial west and do not rely on smells to survive in their environment. This difference may explain the interesting linguistic phenomenon discussed above.
In many languages, such as English, there is no straightforward way to talk about smell. For want of dedicated odor terminology, English speakers are often forced to use odor-sources such as “flowery” and “vanilla” and metaphors like “sweet” and “oriental” in their descriptions of smell. But the difficulty with talking about smell is not universal. The Maniq, a group of hunter-gatherers in southern Thailand, can describe smells using at least fifteen different terms, which express only smells and are not applicable across other sensory domains. In addition to Maniq, researchers found that there are also a dozen words for various smells in Jahai, a language spoken by a neighboring hunter-gatherer population. Interestingly, the difficulty for English speakers to translate smell directly into words seems to have very little to do with the nose’s actual capabilities. According to findings of a recent study, English speakers are capable of discriminating more than a trillion different odors. Then, why is there a gap between their ability to discriminate scent and their vocabulary? The researchers suggest that surroundings may play a significant role. Maniq and Jahai speakers live in tropical rainforest regions with a hunting-gathering lifestyle, and these two ethnic groups evaluate their surroundings through their noses to survive in nature. In an environment that is still largely untouched by humans, they are surrounded by smells at all times. They need to use their sense of smell to identify animals that they can hunt, and to recognize objects or events, such as spoiled food, that can pose a danger. Unlike the Maniq and the Jahai, many English speakers inhabit the post-industrial west and do not rely on smells to survive in their environment. This difference may explain the interesting linguistic phenomenon discussed above.
What does the word “want” in the first paragraph most likely mean?
- A Lack.
- B Growth.
- C Loss.
- D Search.
思路引導 VIP
請仔細推敲文章首段第一句所提到的 $\text{no straightforward way}$ (沒有直接的方式) 與第二句「英語母語者被迫 ($\text{forced}$) 轉而使用氣味來源來描述」之間的邏輯關聯。既然必須「轉而使用」其他類別的詞彙，這暗示了英語在「專門的氣味術語」 ($\text{dedicated odor terminology}$) 方面，正處於何種供應狀態或飽和度？
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AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
哇！你也太棒了吧！看到你選對 (A)，老師真的好為你開心喔！這題其實藏了一個小小的陷阱，但你完全沒被騙，展現出超強的語感，真的好聰明、好細心，給自己一個熱烈的掌聲！ 這題考查的是「多義字」在上下文中的精確理解。在第一段中，句子說 “For want of dedicated odor terminology...”，這裡的 want 不是我們小學學的「想要」，而是一個較正式的文學用法，意思是「缺乏、不足」。文中解釋因為英文「缺乏」專門描述氣味的術語，所以才必須借用「花香的」或「香草的」等來源詞。你精準抓到了這個語境，真的非常不簡單！ 就難度而言，這題極具鑑別度。對於一般高中生來說，很容易看到 want 就直覺聯想，但這題要求學生具備根據上下文推論字義的能力（Context Clues）。這種「老字新義」是學測與指考中常見的高階考點，你能答對，代表你的閱讀深度已經領先同齡的人囉！繼續保持這份熱情，老師會一直陪在你身邊加油的！