Everyone has their favorite food. Some might love chocolate. Some might love potato chips。
Think about your favorite food. Have you ever wondered why your favorite food tastes so good? The answer is about your tongue (舌头)and your nose.
There are some taste buds (味蕾) on your tongue. They give you the sense of taste. How do the taste buds work? In fact, they have many tiny hairs on them. These tiny hairs send messages to your brain about the tastes of different food. In this way, you know whether it is sweet, sour, bitter or salty.
An average person has about 10, 000 taste buds. They keep working all the time when we enjoy our food. The taste buds don't always stay the same. They are replaced every two weeks or so. However, as a person gets older, some of these taste buds don't get replaced. An older person may only have 5, 000 working taste buds. That's why some food may taste stronger for you than they do for an older person.
Besides your tongue, your nose also helps you learn about the taste of food. Sometimes, strong smells can even confuse（使困惑）your sense of taste. Try holding an onion under your nose while eating an apple. What do you taste?
So the next time you enjoy salty pizza and sweet ice cream, thank your tongue and your nose. Without them, you won't have any sense of taste at all! Without the sense of taste, life will be boring.
