Why Does My Food Have Less Flavor?
為何我食之無味?
They are a ghastly orange color when they tumble out of their crinkly package with its flamelike logo, and salt mines and chemical plants may come to mind when you eat the first one, but, man, those tortilla chips are tasty. Or maybe it’s just that you can actually taste them. Because sorry, Charlie: as we get older, there may come a time when we find ourselves drawn not to food with good taste or food that tastes good but simply to food that has any flavor at all.
它們帶著駭人的橘黃色從嘩嘩作響的、印著火焰狀商標(biāo)的包裝袋里滾出。吃第一片時你可能會聯(lián)想到鹽礦和化工廠，但是——天哪這些炸玉米片可真香!不過，這也許只是你還能夠品得出滋味罷了。因為遺憾的是：隨著年齡增長，沒準(zhǔn)兒有那么一個時刻，我們會發(fā)現(xiàn)吸引自己的已不再是品質(zhì)高端或口感上佳的美食，而是任何有點兒味道的能吃的東西。
Blame your aging taste buds, if you want. You’ll probably be wrong, but there are a lot more of them (about 9,000) to point the finger at than the likely real culprit, your nose. “When people talk about their taste, they’re really talking about the smell rather than the taste,” said Dr. Scott P. Stringer, chairman of the otolaryngology department at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
要怨，就怨你的味蕾吧。你也許怨錯了對象，但可供抱怨的味蕾數(shù)(約9000個)比更似真兇的——鼻子——要多得多。“當(dāng)人們談及味覺時，他們實際上說的是氣味而非口感�！泵芪魑鞅却髮W(xué)(University of Mississippi)醫(yī)學(xué)中心耳鼻喉科主任(Scott P. Stringer)醫(yī)生說。
As it happens, taste buds do diminish as people get older, usually starting at 40 to 50 in women and 50 to 60 in men (why later for them is unknown). And those that remain do not, so to speak, step up to the plate to make up for their departed colleagues. No, they begin to atrophy, and sometime around age 60, people may notice that they have lost some taste sensation, usually beginning with salty and sweet tastes and then bitter and sour ones. 紐約時
味覺隨年齡逐漸衰退時，味蕾確實會消減，女性通常從40到50歲開始，而男性從50到60歲開始(男性為何遲一些的原因尚不清楚)。而那些剩下的味蕾，可以說并不會挑起大梁彌補它們陣亡戰(zhàn)友的工作。是的，不能，因為它們也開始萎縮。60歲上下的某一時刻，人們會意識到自己喪失了一些味覺感受，一般從咸和甜的味覺開始，然后是苦和酸。
But it is the changes in the nose that really matter. Among them, said Dr. Stringer, a member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, are a decrease in the number of sensor cells that detect aromas. These cells routinely die out and are replaced, but in older people the replacement process does not work as well.
不過，真正起作用的還是鼻子里的變化。斯特林格醫(yī)生(他還是美國耳鼻喉科學(xué)會-頭頸外科[American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery]的會員)介紹說， 鼻腔的變化包括了捕捉氣味的感覺細(xì)胞數(shù)量下降。這些細(xì)胞規(guī)律性地死亡，而后被更替。但在老年人體內(nèi)，更替過程就做得不是那么好了。
There are also declines in the nerves that carry the signals to the brain, and in the olfactory bulb, which processes them. Beyond that, the sense of smell may also be diminished by a reduction in the amount of mucous that is produced, a thinning of the nose lining and hormonal changes. (Some diseases, injuries to the head and some medicines may also affect smell.)
同時減少的還有向大腦傳遞信號的神經(jīng)，以及處理這些信號的嗅球。除此之外，氣味感受的衰退還與鼻內(nèi)黏液分泌量下降(鼻黏膜變薄，激素水平變化)相關(guān)。另外，疾病、頭部創(chuàng)傷、某些藥物也會影響氣味感受能力。
The decrease in the sense of smell and taste occurs gradually, and many people do not realize what is happening. Some never realize any change at all, researchers have found after studying subjects who said their sense of smell was fine but were unable to detect some aromas.
氣味與口感的感覺能力下滑是慢慢發(fā)生的，所以很多人意識不到發(fā)生了什么。有些人壓根終生都沒感覺到變化。研究者曾發(fā)現(xiàn)，受試者聲稱自己的味覺沒問題，而實際上他們已經(jīng)不能識別一些氣味了。
In some cases, if the loss of smell is severe enough, it can pose serious risks. A study published in 2006 in Science of Aging Knowledge Environment found that 45 percent of the elderly subjects tested could not detect the warning odor in natural gas. Food may also become less appealing, leading to nutrition problems among older people who stop eating as much as they should.
有時，氣味感受喪失過度，會給人帶來重大威脅。2006年發(fā)表在《衰老科學(xué)知識環(huán)境》(Science of Aging Knowledge Environment)上的一項研究顯示，45%的老年受試者聞不到天然氣中的警告氣體(有刺激性氣味，加在危險氣體中起警告作用的氣體——譯注);食物亦變得寡然無味，有些老年人因此食量減少，從而出現(xiàn)營養(yǎng)問題。
Then there are those who, in a quest for flavor, may seek out foods higher in salt and sugar. This can make other health conditions worse. To say nothing about those orange fingertips.
另外也有人為了尋求味覺刺激，可能對高鹽高糖食物更加心向往之。這樣會惡化一些健康問題。至于因為吃玉米片，手指頭被染成鮮艷的橘黃色，那只是個小問題了。
口譯： 翻譯資格考試二級口譯模擬題
筆譯： 翻譯資格考試二級筆譯模擬題
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