【有哥在】評論

第二段第一行“hunting-gathering lifestyle “為關鍵字，故答案選(A)

【加賴叫過去】評論

      Inmany languages, such as English, there is no straightforward way to talk aboutsmell. For want of dedicated odor terminology, English speakers are oftenforced to use odor-sources such as “flowery” and “vanilla”and metaphors like “sweet” and “oriental” in their descriptions ofsmell. But the difficulty with talking about smell is not universal. The Maniq,a group of hunter-gatherers in southern Thailand, can describe smells using atleast fifteen different terms, which express only smells and are not applicableacross other sensory domains. In addition to Maniq, researchers found thatthere are also a dozen words for various smells in Jahai, a language spoken bya neighboring hunter-gatherer population. Interestingly, the difficulty forEnglish speakers to translate smell directly into words seems to have verylittle to do with the nose’s actual capabilities.According to findings of a recent study, English speakers are capable ofdiscriminating more than a trillion different odors. Then, why is there a gapbetween their ability to discriminate scent and their vocabulary? Theresearchers suggest that surroundings may play a significant role.      Maniq and Jahai speakers livein tropical rainforest regions with a hunting-gathering lifestyle, and thesetwo ethnic groups evaluate their surroundings through their noses to survive innature. In an environment that is still largely untouched by humans, they aresurrounded by smells at all times. They need to use their sense of smell toidentify animals that they can hunt, and to recognize objects or events, suchas spoiled food, that can pose a danger. Unlike the Maniq and the Jahai, many English speakers inhabit thepost-industrial west and do not rely on smells to survive in their environment.This difference may explain the interesting linguistic phenomenon discussedabove.選(A)