第 31 至 34 題為題組
     Have you ever thought of “coloring” the names of the days of the week? When you listen to someonespeaking, do you see a rainbow of colors? Or perhaps Mozart’s music tastes like an apple pie to you? If so,it is very likely that you have synesthesia.      Synesthesia is a condition in which people’s senses intermix. In some cases, people with synesthesiamay experience colors when they hear, read, or even think of letters and numbers. In others, words cantrigger a real sensation of taste on their tongue.      31 In the early 1990s, however, scientists noticed that synesthetic colors do not change over time.When asked what color is evoked by a letter or number, synesthetic people would persistently give the sameanswer even if tested months or years apart.  32  The most compelling support, however, comes frombrain scans, which show that color processing areas in the brain light up when these people listen to certainwords.     Is synesthesia genetically inherited or acquired after birth? Scientists agree that synesthesia has agenetic basis, because it frequently runs in families. But an actual synesthesia gene (or genes) has not beenidentified yet.  33  For example, the flavors people with taste-word synesthesia experience are usuallychildhood flavors, such as chocolate or strawberries. Also, people with color-music synesthesia more oftenthan not have had early musical training.      Once thought to be extremely rare, synesthesia is now found to affect about one to four percent of thepopulation.  34  As is often observed, most of us tend to associate lower notes with darker colors andhigher notes with brighter colors. Researchers further point out that in most people synesthesia is activeonly during the first months of their infancy, while this ability remains forever in certain individuals.
【題組】31
(A) This consistency serves as a proof that synesthesia is real.
(B) Meanwhile, environmental influences seem to shape a person’s synesthesia.
(C) People with synesthesia used to be accused of making their experiences up.
(D) Some studies even show that people may all be synesthetic to some degree.