2024年12月英语六级听力真题 卷二录音三

Recording Three

录音三

We all know that the sense of smell is powerful. The delicious scent of bread, for example, can act like a time machine.

我们都知道嗅觉的力量很强大。例如，面包的香味可以像时光机一样，让人回到多年前的记忆。

One sniff can bring back a memory from many years ago. Indeed, scent particles, in general,can revive memories that have been long forgotten.

一闻到某种气味，就能唤起多年以前的记忆。实际上，气味分子通常可以唤醒那些已经遗忘很久的记忆。

But why do smells sometimes trigger powerful memories, especially emotional ones?

但为什么气味有时会触发强烈的情绪记忆呢？

The short answer is that the brain regions that handle smells,memories and emotions are linked.

简短的答案是处理气味、记忆和情绪的大脑区域是相互连接的。

A scent is a chemical particle that floats in through the nose and into the region of the brain responsible for smell, where the sensation is first processed into a form that the brain can read.

气味是一种化学粒子，它通过鼻子飘进大脑负责嗅觉的区域，在那里首先被处理成大脑能够解读的形式。

Brain cells then carry that information to the area of the brain where emotions are processed, and then to an adjacent area of the brain where learning and memory formation take place.

然后，脑细胞将这些信息传递到处理情绪的大脑区域，再传递到大脑中负责学习和记忆形成的相邻区域。

Scents are the only sensations that travel such a direct path to the emotional and memory centers of the brain.

气味是唯一一种直接通往大脑情感和记忆中心的感觉。

That results in an intimate connection between emotions,memories and scents, which is why memories triggered by scents are experienced as more emotional than those triggered by sight or sound.

这就导致了情感、记忆和气味之间的一种亲密联系，这也是为什么由气味触发的记忆比由视觉或听觉触发的记忆更具有情感性。

Let's take a closer look at how those memories are activated.

让我们更仔细地观察这些记忆是如何被激活的。

Usually, when a person smells something that's connected to a meaningful event in their past, they'll first have an emotional response to the sensation and then a memory might follow.

通常情况下，当一个人闻到与他们过去某个有意义事件相关联的气味时，他们会首先对这种感觉产生情感反应，然后可能会跟随着记忆的浮现。

But sometimes, the memory doesn't come to the surface.

但有时候，记忆并不会浮现到表面。

The person might feel the emotion of something that happened in the past but won't remember what they experienced.

这个人可能会感受到过去发生事情的情绪，但不会记得他们经历了什么。

What causes this baffling phenomenon?

是什么导致了这种令人困惑的现象呢？

The explanation is context. Imagine this scenario-a person is walking down the street, smelling a scent that they first encountered decades ago, which activates an emotional response.

解释是情境。想象这样一个场景——一个人走在街上，闻到了他们几十年前第一次遇到的气味，这激活了情感反应。

If the person had first come across that smell in a very different context, it will be much more difficult to recover the associated memory, because the brain uses the context to give meaning to the information and find that memory.

如果这个人最初是在一个截然不同的背景下遇到那种气味的，那么恢复与之相关的记忆将会更加困难，因为大脑使用情境来赋予信息意义并找到那个记忆。

The special nature of memories brought back by scents notwithstanding, they have the same drawbacks as other memories.

尽管由气味带回的记忆具有特殊的性质，但它们和其他记忆一样也有缺点。

They aren't always accurate, and they can change over time. In fact, each time we remember something, that memory can become distorted.

它们并不总是准确的，而且随着时间的推移它们可能会改变。实际上，每次我们回忆起某件事时，那个记忆都可能变得扭曲。

But,because of the strong emotional associations these memories evoke, people who remember something due to a scent are often convinced that the memories are accurate, even when they aren't.

但是，由于这些记忆唤起了强烈的情感联想，因此那些因为气味而记住某些事情的人通常确信记忆是准确的，即使它们并不准确。

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.

问题22到25是基于你刚才听到的录音。

Question22.What question does the speaker try to answer in this talk?

问题22. 在这次演讲中，演讲者试图回答什么问题？

Question23. What is said to result in an intimate connection between emotions, memories and scents?

问题23. 据说是什么导致了情感、记忆和气味之间的密切联系？

Question24.What does the brain use to give meaning to information and find a memory?

问题24. 大脑使用什么来赋予信息意义并找到记忆？

Question25. What drawback do memories of scents share with other memories?

问题25. 气味的记忆与其他记忆共享什么缺点？

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