Reading Comprehension 4 + Answers

Reading Comprehension

Read the following passage and answer the questions below.

 

(Part 1)

Your abilities to smell and taste are closely related. If you can’t smell your food, it is more difficult to recognise the taste. You may have noticed this when you have had a bad cold with a stuffed up nose.

            Your nose is your organ for smelling. Smells are mixed into the air around you. They enter your nose when you breathe.

            In the upper part of your nose, there are special smell sensors. They pick up the smells and send messages to your brain. The brain then decides what it is you are smelling.

 

(Part 2)

            Smelling can be pleasant. Sometimes smells can remind you of a person and place. For instance, have you ever smelled a particular scent and then suddenly thought about your grandmother’s house?

            Smelling can also be quite unpleasant. But this, too, is important. By smelling food you can tell if it is spoiled and not fit to eat. Besides, your sense of smell can sometimes warn you of danger. For instance, coal gas manufacturers add some sulphur compounds into coal gas. The unpleasant smell can warn you when there is a leak in the supply lines or gas appliances.

            The sense of smell tires out more quickly than your other senses. This is why you get used to some everyday smells and no longer notice them after a while.

 

(Part 3)

            Tasting is the work of your tongue. All over your tongue are tiny taste sensors called taste buds. If you look at your tongue in a mirror, you can see the small groups of taste buds. They are what give your tongue its rough appearance. Each taste bud has a small opening in it. Tiny pieces of food and drink enter this opening. There, taste sensors gather information about the taste and send messages to your brain. Your brain decides what the taste is.

            Taste buds located in different areas of your tongue recognise different tastes.

There are only four tastes that your tongue can recognise: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. All other flavours are a mixture of taste and smell. Smell can also make you feel hungry. In fact, your sense of smell is linked very closely to your sense of taste. Without your sense of smell, you would not taste food so strongly.

 

A.     Find words or phrases from the passage which mean much the same as the following.

 

1.      hard (Part 1)

2.      fragrance or perfume (Part 2)

3.      make someone aware of a possible danger or problem. (Part 2)

4.      become familiar with (Part 2)

5.      uneven (Part 3)

 

 

 

B.     Fill in the blanks with words from the passage. Change the word forms if necessary.

 

1.      I hadn’t seen her for 20 years, but I ________ her immediately. (Part 1)

2.      Under her bed they found a bag _________ with money. (Part 1)

3.      The new tax law will affect everyone, ______ those on a low income. (Part 2)

4.      We __________ at Queen’s Pier and took a coach to Stanley to have our class picnic. (Part 3)

5.      The children like chocolate-__________ ice-cream. (Part 3)

Answer:

 

 

A

 

1.      difficult

2.      (a) scent

3.      warn

4.      get used to

5.      rough

 

B

 

1.      recognised

2.      stuffed

3.      particularly

4.      gathered

5.      flavoured