The Meaning and Power of Smell
Research into smell has never ended and in fact, there are so many interesting findings with regard to this sensation. Everyone knows that smell can cause strong emotional responses. In a survey, people were asked to report how they feel about a particular smell. Commonly, a smell connected with a good experience can please us, while an odour (气味) bonded with a bad memory may disgust us. Such associations can be so powerful that odours generally labeled unpleasant become agreeable, and those generally considered sweet become disagreeable for particular individuals.
One respondent believes there is no true emotional bonding without smelling a loved one. Infants recognize their mothers' odours soon after birth. Individuals were able to distinguish by the smell of clothing worn by their partners from similar clothing worn by other people.
Despite its importance to our emotional and sensory lives, smell is probably the most undervalued sense. While our olfactory (嗅觉的) powers are not as fine as those of certain animals, they are remarkably sensitive.
Odours, unlike colours, can't be named in many languages because the specific vocabulary simply doesn't exist. "It smells like. . . , we have to say when describing an odour, struggling to express our olfactory experience.
Smells considered offensive in some cultures may be acceptable in others. Therefore, our sense of smell is a means of interacting with the world. The study of the cultural history of smell is indeed an investigation into the essence of human culture.
A. Odours are also essential signals in social bonding.
B. Besides, odours are granted different cultural values.
C Human's perception of smell facilitates the spread of human culture.
D. Our noses can perceive odours present in extremely small quantities.
E. Nor can odours be recorded: there is no effective way to capture or store them over time.
F. Some people's preference for a particular odour was influenced by their emotional wellbeing.
G. Yet, many people noted that their olfactory (嗅觉的) preferences were based on emotional associations.
