Passage 26(2018天津)
Many people travel to different places in the world by air. Usually it takes a long time, perhaps half a day, for passengers to stay in the plane. So airlines(航空公司) offer passengers food. But it is common that they feel bad about food taste. Do you agree?
To solve this problem, airlines try hard to improve their food. They would like to do so because they don't want to lose customers.
However, according to scientific research, part of the reason why plane food tastes bad is that at high altitude(海拔) we can not taste things as well as we do on the ground. Also scientists have found that our noses become very dry even before a plane takes off. As the plane moves up, the change in air pressure(气压) reduces one third of the sensibility(感觉) of our taste buds(味蕾). So our taste buds become senseless. The sad fact, however, is that our noses don't know it.
All of these help explain why food on the plane tastes so bad. They also help explain why airlines choose to offer passengers salty and spicy(辛辣的) food. Without doing so, the food would be tasteless.
Now there are many researches on this. According to one of them, some volunteers are asked to lie with their feet higher than their heads for weeks. And scientists write down their feelings about food taste.
Though scientists try their best, it is not as easy as they thought. Because they can't deal with the special environment successfully, such as the change in air pressure, making food taste good is still hard for them.
( )1. In Paragraph 2, “this problem” means ________．
A. passengers stay long in the plane
B. food on the plane tastes bad
C. passengers have no food to eat
D. food on the plane is expensive
( )2. What do airlines do to solve this problem?
A. Get more customers. B. Offer more food.
C. Improve their food. D. Reduce the ticket price.
( )3. As the plane moves up, the change in air pressure reduces ________ of the sensibility of our taste buds.
A. half B. one third C. one fourth D. one fifth
( )4. Why do scientists feel it hard to make food on the plane taste good?
A. The volunteers don't know about food taste.
B. The volunteers don't understand them.
C. They can't find enough volunteers.
D. They can't deal with the special environment successfully.
( )5. What is the best title of the passage?
A. Taste of Airplane Food
B. Airplane Travel
C. Scientific Research on Noses
D. The Change in Air Pressure
【主旨大意】本文是一篇说明文，文章讲述了为什么我们会觉得飞机上的食物不好吃的原因。
1.B【解析】词义猜测题。题干意为：在第二段中“this problem”指的是。根据第一段的最后两句“But it is common that they feel bad about food taste. Do you agree? ”可知答案。故选B。
2.C【解析】细节理解题。题干意为：航空公司是如何解决这个问题的？根据文中第二段第一句“To solve this problem, airlines try hard to improve their food.”可知选C。
3.B【解析】细节理解题。题干意为：随着飞机的上升，气压的改变降低我们味蕾敏感度的。根据文中第三段第三句“As the plane moves up, the change in air pressure(气压) reduces one third of the sensibility(感觉) of our taste buds(味蕾)．”可知选B。
4.D【解析】细节理解题。题干意为：为什么科学家认为把飞机上的食物味道变好很困难？根据文中最后一段最后一句“Because they can't deal with the special environment successfully, such as the change in air pressure, making food taste good is still hard for them.”可知选D。
5.A【解析】标题归纳题。题干意为：文章最好的标题是什么？A项：飞机上食物的味道；B项：飞机旅行；C项：关于鼻子的科学研究；D项：飞机气压的变化。通读本文可知主要讲述的是飞机上食物的味道，故选A。
Many people travel to different places in the world by air. Usually it takes a long time, perhaps half a day, for passengers to stay in the plane. So airlines(航空公司) offer passengers food. But it is common that they feel bad about food taste. Do you agree?
To solve this problem, airlines try hard to improve their food. They would like to do so because they don't want to lose customers.
However, according to scientific research, part of the reason why plane food tastes bad is that at high altitude(海拔) we can not taste things as well as we do on the ground. Also scientists have found that our noses become very dry even before a plane takes off. As the plane moves up, the change in air pressure(气压) reduces one third of the sensibility(感觉) of our taste buds(味蕾). So our taste buds become senseless. The sad fact, however, is that our noses don't know it.
All of these help explain why food on the plane tastes so bad. They also help explain why airlines choose to offer passengers salty and spicy(辛辣的) food. Without doing so, the food would be tasteless.
Now there are many researches on this. According to one of them, some volunteers are asked to lie with their feet higher than their heads for weeks. And scientists write down their feelings about food taste.
Though scientists try their best, it is not as easy as they thought. Because they can't deal with the special environment successfully, such as the change in air pressure, making food taste good is still hard for them.
( )1. In Paragraph 2, “this problem” means ________．
A. passengers stay long in the plane
B. food on the plane tastes bad
C. passengers have no food to eat
D. food on the plane is expensive
( )2. What do airlines do to solve this problem?
A. Get more customers. B. Offer more food.
C. Improve their food. D. Reduce the ticket price.
( )3. As the plane moves up, the change in air pressure reduces ________ of the sensibility of our taste buds.
A. half B. one third C. one fourth D. one fifth
( )4. Why do scientists feel it hard to make food on the plane taste good?
A. The volunteers don't know about food taste.
B. The volunteers don't understand them.
C. They can't find enough volunteers.
D. They can't deal with the special environment successfully.
( )5. What is the best title of the passage?
A. Taste of Airplane Food
B. Airplane Travel
C. Scientific Research on Noses
D. The Change in Air Pressure
【主旨大意】本文是一篇说明文，文章讲述了为什么我们会觉得飞机上的食物不好吃的原因。
1.B【解析】词义猜测题。题干意为：在第二段中“this problem”指的是。根据第一段的最后两句“But it is common that they feel bad about food taste. Do you agree? ”可知答案。故选B。
2.C【解析】细节理解题。题干意为：航空公司是如何解决这个问题的？根据文中第二段第一句“To solve this problem, airlines try hard to improve their food.”可知选C。
3.B【解析】细节理解题。题干意为：随着飞机的上升，气压的改变降低我们味蕾敏感度的。根据文中第三段第三句“As the plane moves up, the change in air pressure(气压) reduces one third of the sensibility(感觉) of our taste buds(味蕾)．”可知选B。
4.D【解析】细节理解题。题干意为：为什么科学家认为把飞机上的食物味道变好很困难？根据文中最后一段最后一句“Because they can't deal with the special environment successfully, such as the change in air pressure, making food taste good is still hard for them.”可知选D。
5.A【解析】标题归纳题。题干意为：文章最好的标题是什么？A项：飞机上食物的味道；B项：飞机旅行；C项：关于鼻子的科学研究；D项：飞机气压的变化。通读本文可知主要讲述的是飞机上食物的味道，故选A。
