When we eat food, our perceptions of the flavors are highly subjective

When we eat food, our perceptions of the flavors are highly subjective, and are influenced by far more than simply our senses of taste and smell. Our visual, tactile, and even auditory senses all play a role in signaling to our brains how we enjoy food. The more brightly colored that produce is, the more that we associate it with the quality of being fresh. As a result, some chefs prepare food in order to maximize the color of the produce, manipulating other ingredients in order to obtain the desired flavors of the dish. With respect to how our auditory senses affect our experience of food, studies have shown that diners experiencing their food to the backdrop of soothing music enjoyed their food more than diners who did not.

Unlike everyday diners, food critics are trained to consider their experiences of food by evaluating them through the lens of each of their various senses, and consider how their various perceptions give rise to the aggregate dining experience. They are aware of the visual, tactile and even auditory elements, yet able to experience the smell and taste of food independently of those senses. While some people may make the mistake of underestimating the acumen involved in assessing the quality of food, it is truly an art form that few are capable of performing. However, with the rapid expansion of online news sources, it is becoming increasingly easy for any person to create a blog or column and offer his or her two cents on rising restaurants or new cuisine. While some might see this development as more egalitarian, others see it as tainting what was before a highly selective field of food critics and writers.

1. The primary purpose of this passage is to __________.

A. shed light on a complex issue that may never be truly understood.
B. persuade the reader that only trained food critics should be able to evaluate dining experiences.
C. criticize the way that people in general tend to experience food.
D. inform the reader about the complexities of evaluating food quality and the implications of being a food critic.
E. argue that we are never able to taste food without being biased to some extent.


2. The author’s tone in the passage is best described as __________.

A. unhappy
B. dogmatic
C. thoughtful
D. skeptical
E. critical


3. The author would likely agree with all of the following statements except?

A. Chefs sometimes rely on appealing to our senses of sight and sound in order to make food taste better than it might otherwise.
B. It is difficult to isolate how we experience the senses of smell and taste from our other senses.
C. For a diner to truly experience how food tastes without being influenced by outside influence, all other senses should be blocked out.
D. Different people will experience the textures of foods differently based on their exposure to other types of foods.
E. Playing unpleasant music is likely to make food seem to taste worse.