我们尝出一种食物的味道考的是嘴巴、舌头、味蕾。可是据调查显示，肺部也有味觉，真的很奇特。具体是怎么一回事儿呢。?今天，北京新航道托福频道要和大家分享一篇托福课外阅读：肺部有味觉，在阅读中不断提神自身能力，一起看看去吧。

　　Take a deep breath. Taste anything? Actually, your lungs may. Because scientists have discovered that the same receptors that exist on the tongue to taste bitter substances are also found on the smooth muscle of the lungs.

　　Researchers were studying the receptors on smooth lung muscles that regulate contraction and relaxation of theairways. That’s when they made the discovery—which was so unexpected that the researchers themselves were skeptical.

　　Finally, they became convinced that the receptors were really there, though not clustered in taste buds as they are on the tongue. The scientists then exposed human and mouse airways to various bitter compounds to gauge the effects.来源：北京新航道托福培训

　　Many toxic compounds are bitter, so the researchers expected the lung muscle to tense up and contract—to compel the breather to move away from whatever was bitter and perhaps toxic. But, in a second surprise, bitter compounds relaxed and opened airways better than any existing asthma drug. The study is in the journal Nature Medicine. [Deepak Deshpande et al., "Bitter taste receptors on airway smooth muscle bronchodilate by localized calcium signaling and reverse obstruction"]

　　Researchers will continue to search for the role of the receptors. Meanwhile, the work represents a surprising new lead in the search for drugs to treat asthma, emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

　　—Cynthia Graber

　　上面就是一篇课外托福阅读材料，关于肺部有味觉。希望大家通过阅读锻炼自己的阅读速度，掌握的词汇、短语和知识，为考试做好充足的准备。

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