Why Does My Food Have Less Flavor?
为何我食之无味?
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.
它们带着骇人的橘黄色从哗哗作响的、印着火焰状商标的包装袋里滚出。吃第一片时你可能会联想到盐矿和化工厂，但是——天哪这些炸玉米片可真香!不过，这也许只是你还能够品得出滋味罢了。因为遗憾的是：随着年龄增长，没准儿有那么一个时刻，我们会发现吸引自己的已不再是品质高端或口感上佳的美食，而是任何有点儿味道的能吃的东西。
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。你也许怨错了对象，但可供抱怨的味蕾数(约9000个)比更似真凶的——鼻子——要多得多。“当人们谈及味觉时，他们实际上说的是气味而非口感。”密西西比大学(University of Mississippi)医学中心耳鼻喉科主任(Scott P. Stringer)医生说。
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. 纽约时
味觉随年龄逐渐衰退时，味蕾确实会消减，女性通常从40到50岁开始，而男性从50到60岁开始(男性为何迟一些的原因尚不清楚)。而那些剩下的味蕾，可以说并不会挑起大梁弥补它们阵亡战友的工作。是的，不能，因为它们也开始萎缩。60岁上下的某一时刻，人们会意识到自己丧失了一些味觉感受，一般从咸和甜的味觉开始，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.
不过，真正起作用的还是鼻子里的变化。斯特林格医生(他还是美国耳鼻喉科学会-头颈外科[American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery]的会员)介绍说， 鼻腔的变化包括了捕捉气味的感觉细胞数量下降。这些细胞规律性地死亡，而后被更替。但在老年人体内，更替过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.)
同时减少的还有向大脑传递信号的神经，以及处理这些信号的嗅球。除此之外，气味感受的衰退还与鼻内黏液分泌量下降(鼻黏膜变薄，激素水平变化)相关。另外，疾病、头部创伤、某些药物也会影响气味感受能力。
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.
气味与口感的感觉能力下滑是慢慢发生的，所以很多人意识不到发生了什么。有些人压根终生都没感觉到变化。研究者曾发现，受试者声称自己的味觉没问题，而实际上他们已经不能识别一些气味了。
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.
有时，气味感受丧失过度，会给人带来重大威胁。2006年发表在《衰老科学知识环境》(Science of Aging Knowledge Environment)上的一项研究显示，45%的老年受试者闻不到天然气中的警告气体(有刺激性气味，加在危险气体中起警告作用的气体——译注);食物亦变得寡然无味，有些老年人因此食量减少，从而出现营养问题。
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.
另外也有人为了寻求味觉刺激，可能对高盐高糖食物更加心向往之。这样会恶化一些健康问题。至于因为吃玉米片，手指头被染成鲜艳的橘黄色，那只是个小问题了。
口译： 翻译资格考试二级口译模拟题
笔译： 翻译资格考试二级笔译模拟题
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