单选题
Some People Do Not Taste Salt Like Others

Low-salt foods may be harder for some people to like than others, according to a study by a Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences food scientist. The research indicates that genetic factors influence some of the difference in the levels of salt we like to eat.
Those conclusions are important because recent, well-publicized efforts to reduce the salt content in food have left many people struggling to accept fare that simply does not taste as good to them as it does to others, pointed out John Hayes, assistant professor of food science, who was lead investigator on the study.
Diets high in salt can increase the risk of high blood pressure and stroke. That is why public health experts and food companies are working together on ways to help consumers lower salt intake through foods that are enjoyable to eat. This study increases understanding of salt preference and consumption.
The research involved 87 carefully screened participants who sampled salty foods such as soup and chips, on multiple occasions, spread out over weeks. Test subjects were 45 men and 42 women, reportedly healthy, ranging in age from 20 to 40 years. The sample was composed of individuals who were not actively modifying their dietary intake and did not smoke cigarettes. They rated the intensity of taste on a commonly used scientific scale, ranging from barely detectable to strongest sensation of any kind.
"Most of us like the taste of salt. However, some individuals eat more salt, both because they like the taste of saltiness more, and also because it is needed to block other unpleasant tastes in food," said Hayes. "Supertasters, people who experience tastes more tensely, consume more salt than nontasters do. Snack foods have saltiness as their primary flavor, and at least for these foods, more is better, so the supertasters seem to like them more. "
However, supertasters also need higher levels of salt to block unpleasant bitter tastes in foods such as cheese, Hayes noted. "For example, cheese is a wonderful blend of dairy flavors from fermented, milk, but also bitter tastes from ripening that are blocked by salt," he said. "A supertaster finds low-salt cheese unpleasant because the bitterness is too pronounced".
Hayes cited research done more than 75 years ago by a chemist named Fox and a geneticist named Blakeslee, showing that individuals differ in their ability to taste certain chemicals. As a result, Hayes explained, we know that a wide range in taste acuity exists, and this variation is as normal as variations in eye and hair color.
"Some people, called supertasters, describe bitter compounds as being extremely bitter, while others, called nontasters, find these same bitter compounds to be tasteless or only weary bitter," he said. "Response to bitter compounds is one of many ways to identify biological differences in food preference because supertasting is not limited to bitterness."
单选题 In paragraph 2,John Hayes points out that ______.
  • A. it is good to health to eat food without salt
  • B. many people reject low-salt food completely
  • C. many people accept low-salt tasteless food reluctantly
  • D. food with reduced salt tastes better
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第二段内容“recent，well-publicized efforts to reduce the salt content in food have left many people struggling to accept fare that simply does not taste as good to them as it does to others”可知，最近广泛地减少食物中盐含量的努力已经让很多人很难接受品尝起来和原来味道不一样的食物，由此可知答案为C。
单选题 The fourth paragraph describes briefly ______.
  • A. how to select subjects and what to do in the research
  • B. how to identify supertasters and nontasters
  • C. why to limit the number of subjects to 87 persons
  • D. why to select more male subjects than female ones
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第四段内容可知，研究调查包括45名男士和42名女士，身体健康，年龄从20岁到40岁，根据科学尺度把他们的味觉密度分级，从淡口味到重口味，由此可知，本段主要讲解如何选择调查对象以及在研究中应该做的事情，所以选A。
单选题 The article argues that supertasters ______.
  • A. like the taste of saltiness to block sweet tastes in food
  • B. like snack foods as saltiness is their primary flavor
  • C. consume less salt because they don't like intensive tastes
  • D. like to share salty cheese with nontasters
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第五段内容“Snack foods have saltiness as their primary flavor, and at least for these foods, more is better, so the supercasters seem to like them more”可知，快餐盐味重，是他们的首选，并且这些食物成度越高味道越好，所以他们似乎非常喜欢吃，由此可知，答案为A。
单选题 Which of the following applies to supertasters in terms of bitter taste?
  • A. They like bitterness in foods as well as saltiness.
  • B. They like high-salt cheese as it has intense bitter taste.
  • C. They prefer high-salt cheese, which tastes less bitter.
  • D. They prefer high-salt cheese as it is good to health.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第六段第一句“However, supertasters also need higher levels of salt to block unpleasant bitter tastes in foods such as cheese,”可知，他们也喜欢含盐量高的食物，如奶酪，以阻挡食物中的苦涩的味道，由此可知答案为C。
单选题 What message do the last two paragraphs carry?
  • A. Taste acuity is genetically determined.
  • B. Taste acuity is developed over time after birth.
  • C. Taste acuity is related to one's eye and hair color.
  • D. Taste acuity is still a mysterious subject in science.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据最后两段内容可知，味觉度的广泛度是存在的，并且这种变量像眼睛和头发颜色一样正常，对苦涩混合物的反应是辨别食物偏好中生物差异的方法之一，因为超重口味者并不只限于苦涩味道。由此可知，味觉度是有基因决定的。