III. Cloze     Aside from cultural factors affecting our food choices, there exists evidence that geneticmakeup, geography, and globalization determine how we experience taste. First and foremost,the basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami are detected when the chemicals thatproduce those flavors   11   certain receptors on our tongues. We all have different amountsof these various receptors, depending on our DNA, and research has shown that sensitivity toone particular bitter compound varies widely between different countries. In some parts of Asia,South America and Africa, as much as 85% of native populations are highly sensitive tasters.Ethnic Europeans sit at the lower end of the scale. On top of that, the way people perceivecertain flavors is programmed according to how people usually consume them in differentgeographical regions. For instance, traditional European   12   is all about pairing foods thatshare flavors, but a 2011 study found that Asian cooking does the opposite and avoidscombining similar flavors. Furthermore, people’s food preferences have also been altered to acertain extent by globalization. As the world shrinks, regional preferences will surely besubject to increasing   13   . On the one hand, you can see Italians shunning their local vino infavor of American-style beer. On the other hand, multinational fast-food corporations adapttheir existing products just enough to   14   consumers’ tastes in various regional markets.For example, in China in addition to spicy chicken, KFC’s menus offer rice dishes, soy milkdrinks, egg tarts, fried dough sticks, wraps with local sauces, and fish and shrimp burgers on freshbuns. So, are people’s food preferences   15   or learned? It turns out that it might just be alittle bit of both. Behind any individual’s food choices hides a mix of biological, geographicaland global influences.
【題組】11.
(A) hold off
(B) frame up
(C) bind with
(D) account for