Smell and Memory - IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation

IELTS Reading section tests the candidate’s reading skills through a passage and different question types. Smell and Memory - the IELTS Reading Sample Answer- consists of a total of 13 questions together with explanations and supporting statements.

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In this IELTS reading, students should provide explanations and supporting lines to locate the answer. The following question types are found in this passage:

• Matching information
• Multiple choice questions
• Summary completion

Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Smell and Memory IELTS Reading Sample

SMELLS LIKE YESTERDAY

Why does the scent of a fragrance or the mustiness of an old trunk trigger such powerful memories of childhood? New research has the answer, writes Alexandra Witze.

1. You probably pay more attention to a newspaper with your eyes than with your nose. But lift the paper to your nostrils and inhale. The smell of newsprint might carry you back to your childhood, when your parents perused the paper on Sunday mornings. Or maybe some other smell takes you back- the scent of your mother’s perfume, the pungency of a driftwood campfire. Specific odours can spark a flood of reminiscences. Psychologists call it the “Proustian phenomenon “，after French novelist Marcel Proust. Near the beginning of the masterpiece In Search of Lost Time, Proust’s narrator dunks a madeleine cookie into a cup of tea – and the scent and taste unleash a torrent of childhood memories for 3000 pages.
2. Now, this phenomenon is getting the scientific treatment. Neuroscientists Rachel Herz, a cognitive neuroscientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island， have discovered, for instance, how sensory memories are shared across the brain, with different brain regions remembering the sights, smells, tastes and sounds of a particular experience. Meanwhile, psychologists have demonstrated that memories triggered by smells can be more emotional, as well as more detailed, than memories not related to smells. When you inhale, odour molecules set brain cells dancing within a region known as the amygdala，a part of the brain that helps control emotion. In contrast, the other senses, such as taste or touch, get routed through other parts of the brain before reaching the amygdala. The direct link between odours and the amygdala may help explain the emotional potency of smells. “There is this unique connection between the sense of smell and the part of the brain that processes emotion,” says Rachel Herz.
3. But the links don’t stop there. Like an octopus reaching its tentacles outward, the memory of smells affects other brain regions as well. In recent experiments, neuroscientists at University College London (UCL) asked 15 volunteers to look at pictures while smelling unrelated odours. For instance, the subjects might see a photo of a duck paired with the scent of a rose, and then be asked to create a story linking the two. Brain scans taken at the time revealed that the volunteers’ brains were particularly active in a region known as the olfactory cortex, which is known to be involved in processing smells. Five minutes later, the volunteers were shown the duck photo again, but without the rose smell. And in their brains, the olfactory cortex lit up again, the scientists reported recently. The fact that the olfactory cortex became active in the absence of the odour suggests that people’s sensory memory of events is spread across different brain regions. Imagine going on a seaside holiday, says UCL team leader, Jay Gottfried. The sight of the waves becomes stored in one area, whereas the crash of the surf goes elsewhere, and the smell of seaweed in yet another place. There could be advantages to having memories spread around the brain. “You can reawaken that memory from any one of the sensory triggers,” says Gottfried. ’’Maybe the smell of the sun lotion, or a particular sound from that day, or the sight of a rock formation.” Or – in the case of an early hunter and gatherer ( out on a plain – the sight of a lion might be trigger the urge to flee, rather than having to wait for the sound of its roar and the stench of its hide to kick in as well.
4. Remembered smells may also carry extra emotional baggage, says Herz. Her research suggests that memories triggered by odours are more emotional than memories triggered by other cues. In one recent study, Herz recruited five volunteers who had vivid memories associated with a particular perfume, such as opium for Women and Juniper Breeze from Bath and Body Works. She took images of the volunteers’ brains as they sniffed that perfume and an unrelated perfume without knowing which was which. (They were also shown photos of each perfume bottle.) Smelling the specified perfume activated the volunteers brains the most，particularly in the amygdala, and in a region called the hippocampus，which helps in memory formation. Herz published the work earlier this year in the journal Neuropsychologia.
5. But she couldn’t be sure that the other senses wouldn’t also elicit a strong response. So in another study Herz compared smells with sounds and pictures. She had 70 people describe an emotional memory involving three items – popcorn, fresh-cut grass and a campfire. Then they compared the items through sights，sounds and smells. For instance, the person might see a picture of a lawnmower， then sniff the scent of grass and finally listen to the lawnmower’s sound. Memories triggered by smell were more evocative than memories triggered by either sights or sounds.
6. Odour-evoked memories may be not only more emotional, but more detailed as well. Working with colleague John Downes，psychologist Simon Chu of the University of Liverpool started researching odour and memory partly because of his grandmother’s stories about Chinese culture. As generations gathered to share oral histories, they would pass a small pot of spice or incense around; later, when they wanted to remember the story in as much detail as possible, they would pass the same smell around again. “It’s kind of fits with a lot of anecdotal evidence on how smells can be really good reminders of past experiences,” Chu says. And scientific research seems to bear out the anecdotes. In one experiment, Chu and Downes asked 42 volunteers to tell a life story, then tested to see whether odours such as coffee and cinnamon could help them remember more detail in the story. They could.
7. Despite such studies, not everyone is convinced that Proust can be scientifically analysed. In the June issue of Chemical Senses, Chu and Downes exchanged critiques with renowned perfumer and chemist J. Stephan Jellinek. Jellinek chided the Liverpool researchers for, among other things, presenting the smells and asking the volunteers to think of memories, rather than seeing what memories were spontaneously evoked by the odours. But there’s only so much science can do to test a phenomenon that’s inherently different for each person, Chu says. Meanwhile, Jellinek has also been collecting anecdotal accounts of Proustian experiences, hoping to find some there is a case to be made that surprise may be a major aspect of the Proust phenomenon,” he says. “That’s why people are so struck by these memories” No one knows whether Proust ever experienced such a transcendental moment. But his notions of memory, written as fiction nearly a century ago, continue to inspire scientists of today.

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Section 2

Solution With Explanation 

Questions 1-5

Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-C) with opinions or deeds below.
Write the appropriate letters A-C in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once

1. Rachel Herz
2. Simon Chu
3. Jay Gottfried

(Guide: Candidates need to pick one name from the list of A to C as the answer to all the questions from 1 to 5)

1. The found pattern of different sensory memories stored in various zones of the brain.

Answer: A

Supporting Sentence: Neuroscientists Rachel Herz, a cognitive neuroscientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, have discovered, for instance, how sensory memories are shared across the brain, with different brain regions remembering the sights, smells, tastes, and sounds of a particular experience.

Keyword: found pattern, sensory memories

Keyword Location: 2nd Line, Section B

Explanation: Rachel Herz, a cognitive neuroscientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, has revealed how sensory memories are shared across the brain, with distinct brain regions recalling the sights, smells, tastes, and sounds of a specific experience.

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2. The smell brings detailed events under the smell of a certain substance.

Answer: B

Supporting Sentence: Neuroscientists Rachel Herz, a cognitive neuroscientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, have discovered, for instance, how sensory memories are shared across the brain, with different brain regions remembering the sights, smells, tastes, and sounds of a particular experience.

Keyword: detailed event, smell

Keyword Location: 2nd Line, Section B

Explanation: Rachel Herz, a cognitive neuroscientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, has revealed how sensory memories are shared across the brain, with distinct brain regions recalling the sights, smells, tastes, and sounds of a specific experience.

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3. Connection of smell and certain zones of the brain is different from that of other senses.

Answer: A

Supporting Sentence: The direct link between odors and the amygdala may help explain the emotional potency of smells. “There is this unique connection between the sense of smell and the part of the brain that processes emotion,” says Rachel Herz.

Keyword: Connection of smell, certain zone, brain

Keyword Location: Last Line, Section B

Explanation: The emotional power of odors may be explained by the direct relationship between odors and the amygdala. Rachel Herz explains, "There is this particular relationship between the sense of smell and the portion of the brain that processes emotion."

4. Diverse locations of stored information help us keep away the hazard.

Answer: C

Supporting Sentence: The sight of the waves becomes stored in one area, whereas the crash of the surf goes elsewhere, and the smell of seaweed in yet another place.

Keyword: Diverse location, stored information, hazard

Keyword Location: 9th Line, Section C

Explanation: The sight of the waves is stored in one location, while the sound of the surf is stored somewhere else, and the smell of seaweed is kept somewhere else.

5. There is no necessary correlation between smell and the processing zone of the brain.

Answer: C

Supporting Sentence: Brain scans taken at the time revealed that the volunteers’ brains were particularly active in a region known as the olfactory cortex, which is known to be involved in processing smells.

Keyword: Smell, Processing zone of the brain

Keyword Location: 4th Line, Section C

Explanation: The volunteers' brains were particularly active in the olfactory cortex, which is known to be involved in the processing of odors, according to brain scans performed at the time.

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Question 6-9

Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D.
Write your answers in boxer 6-9 on your answer sheet

(Guide: Candidates need to write the answers of question 19 to 22 by selecting the correct answers)

6. In paragraph B, what do the experiments conducted by Herz and other scientists show?

1. Women are more easily addicted to opium medicine
2. Smell is superior to other senses in connection to the brain
3. Smell is more important than other senses
4. certain part of the brain relates the emotion to the sense of smell

Answer: D

Supporting Sentence: When you inhale, odor molecules set brain cells dancing within a region known as the amygdala, a part of the brain that helps control emotion. In contrast, the other senses, such as taste or touch, get routed through other parts of the brain before reaching the amygdala.

Keyword: Herz and other scientists

Keyword Location: 4th Line, Section B

Explanation: When you inhale, scent molecules cause brain cells in the amygdala, a section of the brain that helps control emotion, to dance. Taste and touch, on the other hand, are routed through other areas of the brain before reaching the amygdala.

7. What does the second experiment conducted by Herz suggest?

1. Result directly conflicts with the first one
2. Result of her first experiment is correct
3. Sights and sounds trigger memories at an equal level
4. Lawnmower is a perfect example in the experiment

Answer: B

Supporting Sentence: She couldn't be sure, though, that the other senses wouldn't generate a strong response as well. In a separate investigation, Herz matched odors to noises and images.

Keyword: Second experiment, Herz

Keyword Location: 1st Line, Section E

Explanation: But she couldn’t be sure that the other senses wouldn’t also elicit a strong response. Do in another study Herz compared smells with sounds and pictures.

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8. What is the outcome of an experiment conducted by Chu and Downes?

1. smell is the only functional under Chinese tradition
2. half of the volunteers told detailed stories
3. smells of certain odors assist storytellers
4. odors of cinnamon are stronger than that of coffee

Answer: C

Supporting Sentence: In one experiment, Chu and Downes asked 42 volunteers to tell a life story, then tested to see whether odors such as coffee and cinnamon could help them remember more detail in the story. They could.

Keyword: Chu and Downes

Keyword Location: Last Line, Section F

Explanation: Chu and Downes recruited 42 volunteers to recount a life storey and then examined if scents like coffee and cinnamon could help people remember more details in the story. They have a chance.

9. What is the comment of Jellinek to Chu and Downes on the issue of Chemical Senses:

1. Jellinek accused their experiment of being unscientific
2. Jellinek thought Liverpool is not a suitable place for experiment
3. Jellinke suggested that there was no further clue of what specific memories aroused
4. Jellinek stated that the experiment could be remedied

Answer: C

Supporting Sentence: In the June issue of Chemical Senses, Chu and Downes exchanged critiques with renowned perfumer and chemist J. Stephan Jellinek. Jellinek chided the Liverpool researchers for, among other things, presenting the smells and asking the volunteers to think of memories, rather than seeing what memories were spontaneously evoked by the odors.

Keyword: Jellinek, Chu, and Downes, issue of chemical senses

Keyword Location: 2nd Line, Section G

Explanation: Chu and Downes debated with famous perfumer and chemist J. Stephan Jellinek in the June issue of Chemical Senses. The Liverpool researchers were chastised by Jellinek for, among other things, presenting the smells and requesting the volunteers to recall memories rather than seeing what recollections were spontaneously elicited by the odors.

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Questions 10-13

Summary
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.

In the experiments conducted by UCL, participants were asked to look at a picture with the scent of a flower, then in the next stage, everyone would have to 10………………………..for a connection. A method called 11………………………suggested that specific area of the brain named 12…………………….were quite active. Then in another paralleled experiment about Chinese elders, storytellers could recall detailed anecdotes when smelling a bowl of 13………………….. or incense around.

(Guide: Candidates need to answer the summary by picking the correct word from the passage)

10. Answer: create a story

Supporting Sentence: In recent experiments, neuroscientists at University College London (UCL) asked 15 volunteers to look at pictures while smelling unrelated odors. For instance, the subjects might see a photo of a duck paired with the scent of a rose, and then be asked to create a story linking the two.

Keyword: UCL

Keyword Location: 3rd Line, Section C

Explanation: Neuroscientists at University College London (UCL) asked 15 people to gaze at photographs while smelling unrelated odors in recent tests. For example, the subjects might be shown a photo of a duck next to the aroma of a rose and instructed to make up a tale that connects the two.

11. Answer: brain scans

Supporting Sentence: Brain scans taken at the time revealed that the volunteers’ brains were particularly active in a region known as the olfactory cortex, which is known to be involved in processing smells.

Keyword: Connection

Keyword Location: 4th Line, Section C

Explanation: The volunteers' brains were particularly active in the olfactory cortex, which is known to be involved in the processing of odors, according to brain scans performed at the time.

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12. Answer: olfactory cortex

Supporting Sentence: Brain scans taken at the time revealed that the volunteers’ brains were particularly active in a region known as the olfactory cortex, which is known to be involved in processing smells.

Keyword: quite active

Keyword Location: 4th Line, Section C

Explanation: The volunteers' brains were particularly active in the olfactory cortex, which is known to be involved in the processing of odors, according to brain scans performed at the time.

13. Answer: spice

Supporting Sentence: As generations gathered to share oral histories, they would pass a small pot of spice or incense around; later, when they wanted to remember the story in as much detail as possible, they would pass the same smell around again.

Keyword: smelling a bowl

Keyword Location: 3rd Line, Section F

Explanation: Generations would carry a tiny pot of spice or incense around when they gathered to share oral history; afterward, when they wished to remember the story in as much detail as possible, they would pass the same smell around again.