Question

extract from an article about master perfumers by scott suyare gary marr entered the perfume trade without the customary sense of romance. in the 1970s, he was playing bass guitar in a band when, in need of some money, he took a job mixing chemicals. he had never heard of a “nose”, but he had a knack for remembering chemicals by their colours, and his employer, a fragrance company, offered to train him to make scents of his own. marr is a master perfumer at firmenich, a swiss company that is one of the fragrance industry’s four big firms. fine fragrance is the most prestigious work these companies do – they create scents for the everyday side of the business, brands, but they do plenty besides. marr makes scents for the everyday side by designer fragrances and, in many ways, more demanding assignment. “i have always said that fine fragrances are relatively easy, said marr. it is all about making nice, harmonious, round fragrances whereas your care or body care – the fragrances have to perform. dishwashing scents must come to home when they hit water, but also slide off immediately, so your tableware does not leave your food smelling of perfume. bleach can be made to smell nice, but it also tends to destroy everything it touches. perhaps is far more present in our lives than is often acknowledged. the substances we use to clean our homes and our bodies are perfumed, as are plant fertilisers and hotels and, it is widely speculated the electronics manufactured by apple. airlines shops and theatres, with the artificial scent of popcorn. the fragrance and flavour industry brings in an estimated $50 billion each year. firmenich claims that its products reach more than half the world’s population every day. it is a common misconception, in marr’s view, that one must have a refined nose to be a perfumer. sensitivity comes with training. (early on, he noticed the sharpening of his sense of smell on the machinery). he found he could tell, with his windows closed, whether a driver ahead of him was smoking, even if the driver’s windows were closed too. most people’s sense of smell be normal, she must smell what her clients smell. no two noses are exactly alike. marr does not, some people find that coriander smells of soap. despite his democratic nose, marr goes example, he is occasionally obliged to design products he hates. he finds one of his air - freshener scents, an artificial raspberry aroma, offensive to the point of pain: “it actually hurts my nose,” he told me. responses to odour vary by person and by culture. europeans are largely indifferent to maple syrup and repelled by concord grapes and root beer, all of which north americans tend to love. familiarity is a strong predictor of approval. southern europeans like the smell of lavender in their laundry, products. americans like laundry products that are advertised as lavender, but smell like vanilla. recently, i visited marr at firmenich’s laboratories in new jersey. amongst the buildings is a factory manufacturing all sorts of fragrances, and i was met in the car park by a cloud of sweet and rich, perhaps initially, of pine freshener, but then seemed to morph into something else, the smell reminded me of a candle shop at christmas. companies are constantly adjusting the perfumes in their products. when a company discovers that a competitor’s scent is out - selling one of their own, they turn to the fragrances. they are engaged in a permanent, low - grade perfumery war. among the many (h) state the exact meaning of the following five words as they are used in the material: (i) indifferent (line 32) 1 (ii) repelled (line 33) 1 (iii) morph (line 39) 1 (iv) consensus (line 46) 1 (v) droning (line 52) 1 total: 25

Explanation:

Each definition is derived directly from the context of the article:

1. "indifferent" (line 32) describes Europeans' neutral, uninterested reaction to certain scents.
2. "repelled" (line 33) means North Americans feel disgusted by those scents.
3. "morph" (line 39) refers to the scent changing its form/character over time.
4. "consensus" (line 46) means a general agreement that perfumers' sense of smell is normal.
5. "droning" (line 52) describes the continuous, dull sound of the air freshener scent.

Answer:

(i) indifferent: Having no particular interest or sympathy; unconcerned/neutral
(ii) repelled: Filled with disgust or aversion; repulsed
(iii) morph: To change smoothly from one form to another
(iv) consensus: A general agreement among a group
(v) droning: A continuous, low, dull monotonous sound/sensation