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Does Happiness Have a Pleasant Smell?
When someone is happy, can you smell it?
You can usually tell when someone is happy based on seeing them smile, hearing them laugh or perhaps from receiving a big hug. But can you also smell their happiness? Surprising new research suggests that happiness does indeed have a pleasant smell, and that the experience of happiness can be transmitted (传播) through smell.
For the study, 12 young men were shown videos meant to bring about a variety of emotions while researchers collected sweat samples (样本) from them. All of the men were healthy and none of them were drug users or smokers, and all were asked to abstain from drinking or eating smelly foods during the study period.
Those sweat samples were then given to 36 equally healthy young women to smell, while researchers observed their reactions. Only women were selected to smell the samples, obviously because previous research has shown that women have a better sense of smell than men and are also more sensitive to emotional signaling.
“When a person is happy, his sweat brings about a state similar to happiness in somebody who breathes this smell,” said study co-author Gun Semin, a professor at Koc University in Turkey.
This is a fascinating finding because it not only means that happiness does have a pleasant smell, but that the smell is able to pass the emotion to others. The study also found that other emotions, such as fear, seem to carry a smell too. This ensures previous research suggesting that some negative emotions have a smell, but it is the first time this has proved to be true of positive feelings.
Researchers have not isolated (分离) exactly what the chemical compound for the happiness smell is, but you might imagine how to make use of such a finding. Happiness perfumes, for instance, could be invented. Scent therapies (香味疗法) could also be developed to help people through depression or anxiety.
21. What is the main find ing of the new research?
A. Men produce more sweats.
B. Negative emotions have a smell.
C. Pleasant feelings can be smelt out.
D. Women have a better sense of smell.
22. The underlined part “abstain from” in Paragraph 3 probably means ‘‘ ”.
A. avoid B. practice C. continue D. try
23. What is the application value of the new research?
A. Perfumes could help people understand each other.
B. Some smells could be developed to better our mood.
C. Perfumes could be produced to cure physical diseases.
D. Some smells could be created to improve our appearance.
24. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Happiness comes from a scent of sweat.
B. Men have a better sense of smel l than women.
C. Positive feelings have not been proved to have a smell before.
D. Researchers have developed happiness perfumes and scent therapies.
