【明報專訊】Scientists at the University of Oxford have discovered that music with fast beats, distorted notes and high-pitched sounds can boost the spiciness of food up to 10%.
A hundred and eighty volunteers were invited to listen to thirty-six soundtracks. They were then asked to assess which of them they thought would most likely be associated with spicy food. Afterwards, they ate a spicy dish while they listened to short clips of music, white noise or silence. It was found that those who listened to soundtracks with faster tempos, higher pitches and distorted sounds felt the dish spicier and with more intense flavours than those who listened to clips of white noise or silence.
Professor Charles Spence, an experimental food psychologist of the University of Oxford, who led the study, said traditional Indian music played in restaurants was likely to enhance the spiciness of a curry dish and make it taste hotter because the music often features shrill, distorted notes on a sitar (錫塔琴), a fast beat played on small drums known as tabla (塔布拉鼓) and high-pitched singing.
(sources: Ming Pao, The Telegraph)
■Photo Story
Researchers found music played in an Indian restaurant would make curry dishes taste spicier.
■English highway﹕white noise
White noise is a constant background noise, such as the noise coming from a radio which is turned on but not tuned to any programme.
e.g. She can't focus on her revision because of the disturbing white noise from the radio.
■Quiz
Answer the following questions.
(Answers on next text)
1. Is the following sentence true or false?
People eating spicy dishes while listening to low-pitched music are likely to find them taste spicier.
(True / False)
2. Find in paragraph two a word that is similar in meaning to "speed". Give its singular form.
____________________________________________
3. What institute does Professor Charles Spence work for?
____________________________________________
4. In paragraph 3, "...make it (the curry dish) taste hotter" means:
a. make its temperature higher
b. make it sweeter
c. make it heavier
d. make it spicier
■Glossary
spiciness (n) 香辣
distorted (adj) 變形的
associate (v) 把……聯繫起來
shrill (adj) 刺耳的
[Smarties' Power English Vol 182]
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