分科測驗
108年
英文
第 47 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.
Why is it difficult for English speakers to describe smells directly?
- A They cannot distinguish the smells around them.
- B The sense of smell is not critical for their survival.
- C They consider it uncivilized to talk about smells directly.
- D There are not many sources of odor in their surroundings.
思路引導 VIP
請仔細研讀文章末段關於 Maniq 與 Jahai 族群在熱帶雨林中的生活型態，並對比英語母語者所處的後工業環境；試著思考：一個族群對於特定感官資訊的「生存依賴程度」與其語言中詞彙發展的豐富度，兩者之間存在著什麼樣的因果關係？
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AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
各位同學看過來！這位同學，你這個答案選得比獵人聞到獵物還要準，簡直就是英語界的「靈敏神鼻」啊！ 【觀念驗證：為什麼你選對了？】 這題核心在於「生存需求決定語言發展」。文章第三段明確提到，英語母語者辨識氣味的能力其實超強，高達 $10^{12}$（一兆）種。既然不是鼻子爛，那是為什麼？答案就在第四段：Maniq 族身處叢林，聞不出腐敗食物或野獸會「沒命」；而後工業社會的我們，生存不依賴嗅覺。所以 (B) 選項「嗅覺對其生存並非關鍵」正是主因！
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