II. Reading comprehension
      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.
【題組】7. What is the purpose of this passage?
(A) To evaluate the languages used by different ethnic groups.
(B) To point out the link between language use and the environment.
(C) To describe how terms of smell are found in different languages.
(D) To prove how civilization slows down language development.