1. extraordinary
2. recognise
3. synthetic
4. natural
Read the article. Then complete the headings for paragraphs A-C with the words in the box.
distance food memory nose smell |
A. Scent and …............................
B. Training a …............................
C. Life without .............................
Follow your nose...
Meet three people whose sense of smell has made a difference to their lives.
A. Helen Keller - a famous activist - was deaf and blind herself. With an extraordinary sense of smell, she could identify people's jobs by the odour on their clothes. ‘When a person passes’, she said, 'I get a scent impression of where he has been’. For her, a smell can remind us of another time and place.
B. James Bell has worked for a perfume company for over twenty years. He says, 'To develop a superior sense of smell, you must train it, like a concert pianist’. After passing a 'smell test', James studied perfumery in France, where he learned to recognise about 2,800 synthetic and 140 natural materials. Since then he has helped to create the world's favourite fragrances.
C. Journalist Lucy Mangan has been anosmic since birth. So she can't smell anything, even the fragrances of roses. She has never tried different perfumes in a shop. As 75-95% of the food flavour comes from its smell, meals haven't had much flavour. Although she can feel the different textures of lasagne, steak or fish, they're all quite tasteless.
VOCABULARY PLUS. Use a dictionary to check the meaning of the words in blue in the text.
odour scent perfume fragrances flavour textures
Read and listen to the article again and write true or false. Correct the false sentences.
1. Helen Keller had a good sense of smell.
2. She says there's a connection between smells and memory.
3. A person with a normal sense of smell can become a professional perfumer.
4. James Bell failed his first 'smell test' at the perfume company.
5. Lucy could smell everything when she was a baby.
USE IT! Talk about which objects and places smell best to you. Which of them bring back memories?
Example: I love the smell of bánh xèo. It really reminds me of my grandma's house. It brings back memories of visiting her house when I was little.
What smells can you remember from when you were younger? Is there a connection between smells and memory?
