Passage 3

In your dreams, you may clearly see something or hear someone talking. But what about smells? Can you ever remember smells from your dreams?

A study published in 1896 looked at different sensory experiences in dreams. It found that visual experience mainly controls one’s dreams. It takes up about 85 percent, while auditory (听觉的) experience makes up 69 percent, and smell only 7 percent.

But why? Scientists from the University of Illinois, US, have a theory based on what is known about the brain.

In our brain, there is a special part called the cerebral cortex (大脑皮层). It is linked to our feelings. As much as two-thirds of the cerebral cortex works in vision. So vision appears often in dreams. Auditory experience is closely tied to language, and language is processed entirely in the cerebral cortex.

Smell, on the other hand, has little to do with the cerebral cortex. It connects directly to the memory and emotional systems. That is why a smell can sometimes bring back a distant memory.

Another possibility is that perhaps smell is not easily affected by our imagination. For example, close your eyes and imagine your favorite dish. What do you get? It is easy to think about what it looks like. But it is not as easy to imagine its smell.

The vision and auditory senses are part of a complex process inside the brain. But smell is a direct measurement of chemicals in the air. There is less imagination involved in smell. Therefore, smell might be less influenced by the brain activity that happens while dreaming. It is similar to taste and touch. That is why you don’t usually have the experience of taste and touch in your dreams.

1. Which experience mainly controls one’s dreams, according to the 1896 study?

A. Smell.   B. Vision.    C. Hearing.   D. Taste and touch.

2. Which of the following is TRUE about the US scientists’ brain theory?

A. Less than half of the cerebral cortex works in vision

B. Auditory experience is not tied to language.

C. Smell has almost nothing to do with the cerebral cortex.

D. It’s difficult to imagine what things in your dreams look like.

3. According to paragraphs 6 and 7, its easier to imagine a dish’s ______.

A. look than its smell    B. smell than its look    C. taste than its smell    D. smell than its taste

4. What is the best title for the story?

A. How does the cerebral cortex work.

B. Why can’t you smell in your dreams.

C. What experience happens most often in dreams.

D. Why can’t you remember smells from your dreams.