If I ask you to shut your eyes and gave you a piece of apple to eat, would you be able to tell me what it is just by tasting it? Of course, you could. Your tongue is covered with tiny “taste buds” which help you know what different foods taste like. Do you know that foods would taste different if you did not have a nose? This experiment shows how important your nose is when you taste things.

What You Need:

• a friend to help

• small pieces of any food like carrot, orange, banana

• small pieces of apple, raw(生的) potato, and onion

What You Do:

There are actually three different experiments. You and your friend should take turns to try them on each other.

Experiment 1:

Have your friend close her eyes and open her mouth.

Give her a piece of the food and ask her to taste it.

Then, ask her what she thinks it is. She will probably guess correctly.

Experiment 2:

While your friend has her eyes closed, give her a piece of the raw potato. At the same time, hold a piece of apple right under her nose. Ask her to eat the potato (but don’t call it by name) and tell you what she thinks it is. She will say it is a piece of apple!

Experiment 3: (for the brave)

Take a piece of raw onion. You don’t have to close your eyes this time. Squeeze your nose closed with your other hand so that no smells can get into your nose. Now take a nibble of the onion. Surprise! As long as you hold your nose, you will not be able to taste the onion.

The Science Secret

You already know the science secret. Your nose and your tongue work together to make food taste the way it does. Your tongue, however, can taste only certain flavors like salty, bitter, sour, and sweet. All of the other “tastes” are actually “smells,” and you need your nose to “taste” them. Oh, and you might use this science secret the next time you are told to eat something you don’t like the taste of. If you hold your nose while you eat it, you won’t “taste” it at all.

1.According to this article, what could a reader know about food?

A. People hold their noses to eat onions.           

B. If you can smell potatoes, you will taste apples.

C. People need a sense of smell to taste some food.  

D. If you close your eyes, food will taste better.

2.What is the most likely reason Experiment 3 is called “for the brave”?

A. You keep your eyes open.                           B. You have to eat a raw onion.

C. You have to squeeze your nose.                   D. You do the experiment alone.

3.What’s the best title of the passage?

A. Your Eyes Knows                               B. Your Nose Knows  

C. Your Mouth Knows                             D. Your Tongue Knows

If I ask you to shut your eyes and gave you a piece of apple to eat, would you be able to tell me what it is just by tasting it? Of course, you could. Your tongue is covered with tiny “taste buds” which help you know what different foods taste like. Do you know that foods would taste different if you did not have a nose? This experiment shows how important your nose is when you taste things.

What You Need:

• a friend to help

• small pieces of any food like carrot, orange, banana

• small pieces of apple, raw(生的) potato, and onion

What You Do:

There are actually three different experiments. You and your friend should take turns to try them on each other.

Experiment 1:

Have your friend close her eyes and open her mouth.

Give her a piece of the food and ask her to taste it.

Then, ask her what she thinks it is. She will probably guess correctly.

Experiment 2:

While your friend has her eyes closed, give her a piece of the raw potato. At the same time, hold a piece of apple right under her nose. Ask her to eat the potato (but don’t call it by name) and tell you what she thinks it is. She will say it is a piece of apple!

Experiment 3: (for the brave)

Take a piece of raw onion. You don’t have to close your eyes this time. Squeeze your nose closed with your other hand so that no smells can get into your nose. Now take a nibble of the onion. Surprise! As long as you hold your nose, you will not be able to taste the onion.

The Science Secret

You already know the science secret. Your nose and your tongue work together to make food taste the way it does. Your tongue, however, can taste only certain flavors like salty, bitter, sour, and sweet. All of the other “tastes” are actually “smells,” and you need your nose to “taste” them. Oh, and you might use this science secret the next time you are told to eat something you don’t like the taste of. If you hold your nose while you eat it, you won’t “taste” it at all.

1. According to this article, what could a reader know about food?

A. People hold their noses to eat onions.            B. If you can smell potatoes, you will taste apples.

C. People need a sense of smell to taste some food.   D. If you close your eyes, food will taste better.

2.What is the most likely reason Experiment 3 is called “for the brave”?

A. You keep your eyes open.                           B. You have to eat a raw onion.

C. You have to squeeze your nose.                   D. You do the experiment alone.

3.What’s the best title of the passage?

A. Your Eyes Knows                               B. Your Nose Knows  

C. Your Mouth Knows                             D. Your Tongue Knows

Are you ready for the coming festive season? What gifts will you give to make your friends feel special? Here teenagers share their ideas for gifts and look forward to the ones they'll get.

Hu Ziwei, 15, Nanjing Foreign Language School

My class will have a gift exchange party, during which we will put on a small talent show. Many of us had our gifts ready a week ago. I believe that the boys will give magic tools, stationary （文具） or sweets, while girls are likely to give dolls or mobile accessories （挂件）.

The biggest fun about these parties is not knowing from whom you'll receive a gift and who will receive your gifts. The computer will decide everything! Our teacher hopes the activity will help us get to know each other better – you see, we've only known each other for three months. I'm looking forward to my surprise gift!

Liu Wei, 17,Beijing No 8 High School

Although my birthday was in November, I'll get a special birthday gift from my classmates this week. A．collective （集体的） birthday party is scheduled for all the students who had birthdays fall in the last six months.

My classroom has been decorated with colorful ribbons and Christmas balls. Someone told me that there will be a huge birthday cake and that a personalized gift sent with best wishes from other students is being prepared for each birthday student. I'm sure we will treasure this event and I'm so looking forward to the big moment!

Yin Zhaohua, 19, Jixi No 1 High School in Heilongjiang

I'm still enjoying the gifts I received on Christmas Eve. Nowadays traditional greeting cards are being replaced with apples and sweets, which symbolize （象征） hope for the year ahead. I got more than 20 apples this Christmas, which means I sent a similar number of apples out. I think apples are healthier, more environmentally and friendly gifts than cards sent through the post.

Wu Shang, 16, Mianyang High School in Sichuan

These last two weeks have been filled with every kind of exam so the atmosphere（气氛） on campus is not at all like a holiday. I miss the days when I got handwritten cards.

In fact, I haven't received or sent holiday cards since the Internet became popular. It's so fast and easy to send an e-card. Also, text messages are fun and convenient （方便的）. I'll send warm hugs to my best friends on New Year's D．ay to let them know that I'll be always there for them.

1. Where is Yin Zhaohua from?

A．He is from the east of China                   B．He is from the capital of China

C．He is from the north of China                  D．He is from the west of China

2. Before the gift exchange party, Hu Ziwei knows _____________

A．from whom she'll receive a gift           B．who will receive her gifts.

C．what gift she will send to her classmates    D．that she may get a magic tool

3. In Liu Wei’s classroom we can’t see _____________ during the collective birthday party.

A．some colorful ribbons                              B．some Christmas balls

C．a huge birthday cake                               D．some mobile accessories

4. On New Year’s D．ay Wu Shang will _____________.

A．have an important exam                   B．send some handwritten cards

C．meet and hug her best friends warmly       D．send some text messages to her friends

5. From the passage we can infer _____________

A．the kids share the same ideas about gifts  

B．the kids will receive and send expensive gifts

C．apples are sent as gifts to keep young kids healthy

D．the kids are trying to show their wishes in different ways

If I ask you to shut your eyes and gave you a piece of apple to eat, would you be able to tell me what it is just by tasting it? Of course, you could. Your tongue is covered with tiny “taste buds” which help you know what different foods taste like. Do you know that foods would taste different if you did not have a nose? This experiment shows how important your nose is when you taste things.

What You Need:

• a friend to help

• small pieces of any food like carrot, orange, banana

• small pieces of apple, raw(生的) potato, and onion

What You Do:

There are actually three different experiments. You and your friend should take turns trying them on each other.

Experiment 1:

Have your friend close her eyes and open her mouth.

Give her a piece of the food and ask her to taste it.

Then, ask her what she thinks it is. She will probably guess correctly.

Experiment 2:

While your friend has her eyes closed, give her a piece of the raw potato. At the same time, hold a piece of apple right under her nose. Ask her to eat the potato (but don’t call it by name) and tell you what she thinks it is. She will say it is a piece of apple!

Experiment 3: (for the brave)

Take a piece of raw onion. You don’t have to close your eyes this time. Squeeze your nose closed with your other hand so that no smells can get into your nose. Now take a nibble of the onion. Surprise! As long as you hold your nose, you will not be able to taste the onion.

The Science Secret

You already know the science secret. Your nose and your tongue work together to make food taste the way it does. Your tongue, however, can taste only certain flavors like salty, bitter, sour, and sweet. All of the other “tastes” are actually “smells,” and you need your nose to “taste” them. Oh, and you might use this science secret the next time you are told to eat something you don’t like the taste of. If you hold your nose while you eat it, you won’t “taste” it at all.

1What is this article mostly about?

A. Why different foods can smell the same.

B. How smell changes the way people see.

C. How smell affects the way food tastes.

D. Why some things smell better than others.

2 What is the most likely reason Experiment 3 is called “for the brave”?

A. You keep your eyes open.          B. You have to eat a raw onion.

C. You have to squeeze your nose.      D. You do the experiment alone.

3 According to this article, what could a reader conclude about food?

A. People hold their noses to eat onions.

B. If you can smell potatoes, you will taste apples.

C. People need a sense of smell to taste some food.

D. If you close your eyes, food will taste better.

4 What’s the best title of the passage?

A. Your Eyes Knows        B. Your Nose Knows

C. Your Mouth Knows       D. Your Tongue Knows