The Flavour of Pleasure - IELTS Reading Answers

Spend twenty minutes successfully answering questions 1 through 13 after reading the material below.

Paragraph 1

In order to really appreciate a flavour, our mouth, tongue, and nose must all work together, regardless matter how much we chat about how much we love our favourite flavours. Most people pay scrutiny to the way food tastes, feels, and looks, but scientists term this “retronasal smell,” a little burst of the air we get as we’re chewing it. 

Paragraph 2

Assuredly, taste buds are positioned in our mouths and tongues, where the five primary taste receptors can be found: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savour, which is mostly specified as umami. However, we’ve noticed certain irregularities in our taste buds when it comes to food. For quick identification of toxins, which are frequently bitter or acidic in nature, they developed only a few basic tastes.

Paragraph 3

Everything about flavour’s depth, refinement, and gratification is dependent on the nose’s secondary sense of smell. When we inhale and exhale the aromas of our meal, a type of alchemy takes place. Unlike the hound’s skull, which developed expressly to detect exterior odours, human nostrils evolved to sense interior odours. Primates are experts at savouring the millions of flavour combinations that they can concoct for their tongues.

Paragraph 4

Recognising flavours lacking retronasal scent is difficult. Recently, headed by Yale University’s Gordon Shepherd, neuroscience has begun to shed light on the workings of the sense of smell, which has been the least known of the five. Shepherd coined the term ‘neurogastronomy’ to connect the discipline of food science, neurology, psychology, and anthropology with the savoury aspects of eating, one of the most cherished human experiences.

Paragraph 5

In many respects, he is realising that smelling is akin to recognising faces. Patterns of light and dark are detected by the visual system, and the brain builds a spatial map based on previous experiences. People and locations can be identified by analysing the patterns and drawing inferences based on their interrelationships. Patterns and ratios help us distinguish between new and old tastes in the same manner. The air molecules in our food are detected by specialised receptors at the back of the nose when we chew. The brain interprets odours as complicated spatial patterns based on data received from the receptors. It develops the concept of distinct flavours using these as well as information from the other senses.

Paragraph 6

This ability to enjoy certain fragrances turns out to be fundamental to the pleasure we derive from eating, similar to how our ability to distinguish persons is fundamental to the pleasures of social life. The process is so deeply ingrained in our brains that our sense of smell is essential to our overall enjoyment of life. Recent studies show that people who lose their social anxiety and their general sense of well-being take a nosedive.

Paragraph 7

Food scientists, psychologists, and cooks remarkably similar are interested in discovering the function of scent in flavour. Particularly, the relatively new field of molecular gastronomy focuses on knowing the mechanics of fragrance in order to alter flavour for optimal effect. In this field, chefs employ their knowledge of the chemical reactions that occur during cooking to create “extraordinary” culinary delights.

Paragraph 8

But while molecular gastronomy is mostly interested in the molecules of the food or “smell,” neurogastronomy is more interested in the molecules of the receptors and the brain’s spatial image of the smell. Shepherd calls the memories we remember when we smell them “odour objects,” and this has a direct link to how we feel. The brain makes pictures of smells it doesn’t know by comparing them to smells it does know. Back in the day, when visual clues were few and far between, we turned to our ability to smell to help us identify potential prey, much like most animals do today.

Paragraph 9

Thus, the flavour-recognition system of the brain is a very complicated perceptual process that engages all five senses in varied combinations. Visual and auditory clues, such as crunching, and tactile sensations, such as the texture and feel of food on our lips and in our mouths, all play a role. Inhalation activates the taste receptors, followed by the olfactory receptors. Imagining some of the diverse facial expressions evoked by various cuisines – many of which are hardwired into our brains from birth – is a simple way to convey the emotional engagement of humans. Consider the reaction to the acidity of the lemon and compare it to the face that welcomes the smooth marvel of chocolate.

Paragraph 10

The flavour-sensing system, every receptive to new combinations, helps us to keep our brains active and flexible. In addition to this, it can mould our aspirations and, eventually, our bodies. The potential for neuro-gastronomy to have a positive impact in the form of beneficial applications, such as the manipulation of flavour to control appetites, is on the horizon.

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Questions 1-5

Complete the sentences below.

Write no more than two words from the passage.

1. According to the scientists, the term ……………… characteristics the most critical factor is appreciating flavour.

2. ‘Savoury’ is a better-known word for …………….

3. The tongue was originally developed to recognise the unpleasant taste of ………………

4. Human nasal cavities recognise ……………. much better than external ones.

5. Gordon Shepherd uses the word ‘neuro-gastronomy’ to draw together a number of ……………. related to the enjoyment of eating.

Questions 6-9

Complete the table below. 

Write no more than two words from the passage.

Questions 10-13

• Answer the questions below.

Choose no more than one word from the text for each answer.

10. In what form does the brain store ‘odour objects’?

11. When seeing was difficult, what did we use our sense of smell to find?

12. Which food item illustrates how flavour and positive emotion are linked?

13. What could be controlled in the future through flavour manipulation?

Also, Read: Coastal Archaeology of Britain IELTS Reading Answers

Answers 1-5

1. (retronasal) smell

Taken From

Paragraph 1: Most people pay scrutiny to the way food tastes, feels, and looks, but scientists term this “retronasal smell,” a little burst of the air we get as we’re chewing it.

Explanation

The text states that most individuals pay close attention to the way food looks, feels, and tastes. It further states that this small burst of air we experience when we chew is what scientists call the "retronasal smell."

2. Umami

Taken From

Paragraph 2: Assuredly, taste buds are positioned in our mouths and tongues, where the five primary taste receptors could be found: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savour, which is mostly specified as umami.

Explanation

The paragraph describes how our lips and tongues include taste buds, home to the five main flavour receptors: umami. (sweet), salty, sour, bitter, and sour.

3. Toxins

Taken From

Paragraph 2: For quick identification of toxins, which are frequently bitter or acidic in nature, they developed only a few basic tastes.

Explanation

The passage mentions that they just learned a few fundamental tastes to recognise poisons rapidly. It also states that the poisons are often acidic or bitter.

4. Internal scents/smells

Taken From

Paragraph 3: When we inhale and exhale the aromas of our meal, alchemy takes place. Unlike the hound’s skull, which developed expressly to detect exterior odours, human nostrils evolved to sense interior odours.

Explanation

The paragraph goes on to say that alchemy happens as we breathe in and out the scents of our food. It goes on to say that the human nose evolved to detect inner odours, in contrast to the hound's cranium, which evolved to detect external odours.

5. Disciplines

Taken From

Paragraph 4: Shepherd coined the term ‘neuro-gastronomy’ to connect the discipline of food science, neurology, psychology, and anthropology with the savoury aspects of eating, one of the most cherished human experiences.

Explanation 

According to the paragraph, the shepherd created the word "neuro-gastronomy" to link the fields of anthropology, neurology, psychology, and food science with the delicious parts of eating, one of the most treasured human experiences.

Answers 6-9

6. Spatial map

Taken From

Paragraph 5: Patterns of light and dark are detected by the visual system, and the brain builds a spatial map based on previous experiences.

Explanation

The paragraph describes how the brain creates a spatial map based on prior experiences and how the visual system recognises patterns of light and dark.

7. Social life

Taken From

Paragraph 6: This ability to enjoy certain fragrances turns out to be fundamental to the pleasure we derive from eating, similar to how our ability to distinguish persons is fundamental to the pleasures of social life.

Explanation 

It is said in the text that one of the essential components of the pleasure we get from eating is our capacity to appreciate various scents. It further clarifies that it is comparable to our capacity for individual recognition, which is a prerequisite for the pleasures of social interactions.

8. Air (molecules)

Taken From

Paragraph 5: Patterns and ratios help us distinguish between new and old tastes in the same manner. The air molecules in our food are detected by specialised receptors at the back of the nose when we chew.

Explanation 

According to the text, comparable patterns and ratios aid in our ability to discriminate between new and old flavours. It further says that as we chew, specific sensors at the back of our noses pick up on the air molecules in our meals.

9. Flavours

Taken From

Paragraph 5: The brain interprets odours as complicated spatial patterns based on data received from the receptors. It develops the concept of distinct flavours using these and information from the other senses.

Explanation

According to the text, the brain uses information from the receptors to interpret smells as complex spatial patterns. It then uses information from the other senses to build the notion of various flavours.

Answers 10-13

10. Memories

Taken From

Paragraph 8: Shepherd calls the memories we remember when we smell them “odour objects,” and this has a direct link to how we feel. The brain makes pictures of smells it doesn’t know by comparing them to smells it does know.

Explanation

The shepherd refers to the memories we associate with scents as "odour objects," a term that relates to our emotions, as the text explains. It also states that the brain uses comparison to form mental images of unfamiliar odours.

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11. Prey

Taken From

Paragraph 8: Back in the day, when visual clues were few and far between, we turned to our ability to smell to help us identify potential prey, much like most animals do today.

Explanation 

As most animals do today, the paragraph notes that in the past, when visual cues were scarce, humans relied on our sense of smell to help us locate possible prey.

12. Chocolate 

Taken From

Paragraph 9: Consider the reaction to the acidity of the lemon and compare it to the face that welcomes the smooth marvel of chocolate.

Explanation

According to the text, chocolate is a food associated with optimism or happiness. It also says that chocolate instantaneously lifts one's spirits.

13. Appetites

Taken From

Paragraph 10: The potential for neuro-gastronomy to have a positive impact in the form of beneficial applications, such as the manipulation of flavour to control appetites, is on the horizon.

Explanation

The paragraph mentions the potential positive influence of neuro-gastronomy on useful applications. It goes on to say that uses like controlling cravings through flavour manipulation will soon be possible.

In conclusion, with regular preparation, IELTS students may attain the maximum score in the Reading Module. You must know how to approach and answer the Reading module questions to receive high marks.

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