Question

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 plan. 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 face, 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 made 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

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.B

4.D

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述的是为什么飞机上的食物口感不好的原因，及其改进的措施。据科学家研究，在高海拔情况下，人的感觉变了，三分之一的味蕾减少了，因此，要做出口感好的食物还很困难。

1.B 推理判断题。题意：在第二段里的 “this problem” 意思是什么？A. passengers stay long in the plane乘客在飞机上待的时间长；B. food on the plane tastes bad飞机上的食物口感不好；C. passengers have no food to eat乘客没有食物吃；D. food on the plane is expensive飞机上的食物贵。这个问题是第一自然段里提到的主要内容：But it is common that they feel bad about food taste. 乘客普遍认为食物的口感不好。故选：B。

2.2】C 细节理解题。题意：航空公司做什么来解决这个问题？A. Get more customers.得到更多的顾客；B. Offer more food.提供更多的食物；C. Improve their food.改善他们的食物；D. Reduce the ticket price.降低票价。由第二段第一句：To solve this problem, airlines try hard to improve their food.可知，航空公司通常改善食物的方式来解决这个问题。故选C。

3.3】B 细节理解题。题意：随着飞机上升，气压的改变使得我们的味蕾减少了多少？A. half 一半；B. one third三分之一；C. one fourth四分之一；D. one fifth五分之一。由第三段里的：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，减少了三分之一。故选B。

4.4】D 细节理解题。题意：为什么科学家们感到使飞机上的食物可口难？A. The volunteers don’t know about food taste.志愿者不了解食物的口感；B. The volunteers don’t understand them.志愿者不理解他们；C. They can’t find enough volunteers.他们找不到足够的志愿者；D. They can’t deal with the special environment successfully.他们不能成功处理特殊的环境。由短文最后一句：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.可知因为不能成功处理特殊的环境，所以他们认为要改善飞机上的食物的口感难。故选D。

5.5】A 主旨大意题。题意：短文最好的标题是什么？A. Taste of Airplane Food飞机上食物的口感；B. Airplane Travel飞机旅行；C. Scientific Research on Noses关于鼻子的科学研究；D. The Change in Air Pressure气压的改变。短文主要讲述的是为什么飞机上的食物口感不好的原因，及其改进的措施。故选A。

考点：考查科普类短文阅读。