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The Passion Fruit is Passionately Yours! 百吃不厌的百香果

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

The ripe passion fruit looks grumpy and geriatric with its battered purple skin. Appearances, in this case, are very misleading because the best time to delve into a passion fruit is actually when it looks its worst. Once spilt open, the wrinkled shell reveals a yolk-colored pulp dotted with crunchy edible seeds. The fruit’s inner pulp has a luscious sweetness balanced perfectly by a bold tartness. Originally native to Brazil, it is now grown commercially in many tropical and subtropical countries around the world.

成熟的百香果果皮呈紫色干扁状，看起来像个乖戾的糟老头。就百香果这个例子而言，外表是很会误导人的，因为百香果最好吃的时候就是它看起来最丑的时候。切开百香果时，它皱皱的外壳上有蛋黄色的果肉，上面布满吃起来脆脆的可食用种子。百香果的内层果肉甜美多汁，但又有一股酸得可以的味道平衡得恰到好处。百香果原来种在巴西，现在世界各地许多热带及亚热带国家都有以商业买卖为目的地栽种百香果。

Despite the passion fruit’scrunchy, sensual flavor, its name originally had nothing to do with pleasure and everything to do with pain. To the sixteenth-century missionaries who arrived in Brazil, the passion fruit’s flower seemed a beautiful symbol of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. These days, though, most people associate “passion” with the fruit’s unmistakable sweet and sour taste.

尽管百香果的风味既芳香又迷人，它的名字原来与愉悦一点关系都没有，但却与痛苦有密切的关系。对那些十六世纪到巴西的传教士来说，百香果花似乎是耶稣受钉刑的完美象征，然而，近来大部分的人还是会把百香果的「香」跟它特有酸酸甜甜的味道联想在一起。

Passion fruit is generally eaten fresh, but the fruit’s pulp is powerful enough to flavor cocktails, sauces, or baking. In Australia, it is popular to stir the fruit (seeds and pulp) into a fruit salad. For particular special occasions, try a passion fruit mimosa: a few drops of the fruit’s pulp mixed with 100 cc of orange juice and topped off with your favorite champagne. Now that’s passionate!

百香果一般都是直接吃，但是它的果肉味道强烈到可以用来做鸡尾酒、酱料或糕饼等的调味料。澳洲很流行将百香果的种子和果肉打成水果色拉。遇到非常特别的场合时，来喝看看百香果香槟鸡尾酒：几滴百香果的浆汁加上100毫升的柳橙汁，最后再配上你最爱的香槟。那才叫「香」艳刺激！

Vocabulary

单词发音

grumpy [ˋgrʌmpɪ] adj. 性情乖戾的, 脾气暴躁的 annoyed and irritable                

geriatric [͵dʒɛrɪˋætrɪk] adj.【非正式】老朽的; 老年的 of or relating to geriatrics or to elderly people

battered [ˋbætɚd] adj. 打扁了的 damaged by blows or hard usage

delve [dɛlv] into  (something) 探究，钻研；搜索  to examine or study something carefully; to enter into the examination or study of something

yolk [jok] n. 蛋黄

pulp [pʌlp] n. 果肉；果泥

crunchy [ˋkrʌntʃɪ] adj. 脆的

luscious [ˋlʌʃəs] adj. 甘美多汁的；美味的；味香的  sweet and pleasant to taste or smell

bold [bold] adj.  显着的 clear and distinct

tartness [tɑrt] n. 酸；酸味  a sharp sour taste      

sensual [ˋsɛnʃʊəl] adj. 感官的

missionary [ˋmɪʃən͵ɛrɪ] n. 传教士

crucifixion [͵krusəˋfɪkʃən] n.  钉死于十字架

unmistakable [͵ʌnməˋstekəb!] adj. 不会弄错的；清楚的；明显的

mimosa [mɪˋmosə] n.【植】含羞草       

top off〔完成一个行动或增加最后一点细节从而〕圆满地完成〔某事〕; 给…最后装饰 to fill up (a container), especially when it is almost full to begin with

Sentence of the Day

Looks can be deceiving.

不可以貌取人。

课文讲解

Manuel and his wife Sybil are chatting over a bag of fruit:  马纽尔和他老婆西碧儿一面吃着一袋水果一面聊天。

M: The passion fruit really is very similar to the pomegranate, isn’t it?

百香果跟石榴真的很像，对不对？

S: Funnily enough, the Spanish name for the fruit is granadilla, which means “little pomegranate.”

有趣的是，百香果的西班牙文是“granadilla”，意思是「小石榴」。

M: You know, the fruit comes from the passion flower vine, not from a tree.

你知道吗，百香果是长在藤蔓上，不是长在树上。

S: Trivia aside, let’s see if I can actually work out how to eat this thing first.

撇开这些生活小常识，先来看看我到底能不能想出吃这种水果的方法。

M: Just cut it down the center and spoon out the pulp. What a mess!

只要从中间切开，把果肉挖出来就好了。真是一团乱！

S: Mmm. This would taste good in a fruit salad.

嗯，加在水果色拉吃起来口感一定不错。

M: This advertising pamphlet I picked up at the supermarket says passion fruit is an excellent source of vitamin A and C, as well as potassium and iron.

我在超市拿的这本广告小册子说，百香果是很好的维他命Ａ和Ｃ、及钾与铁的来源。

S: I heard Native Brazilians use passion flower leaves to make a calming tea.

我听说巴西原住民会用百香果叶来泡具有镇静效果的茶。

M: That’s true. Specialists in holistic medicine claim the plant has sedative and anti-inflammatory properties.

没错，全人医学专家声称，百香果这种植物具有镇静及消炎的特性。

S: So, if I had a bruise on my arm, I could treat it with the flower’s crushed leaves?

所以如果我手臂有瘀伤，我可以用捣碎的百香果叶来医治？

M: Yeah. Herbalists even suggest insomniacs drink a brew made from the leaves just before bedtime to induce sleep.

可以。草药医生甚至建议失眠病患在睡前喝杯百香果叶泡的茶以帮助睡眠。

S: Nature really does have all the answers. There’ll be no more sleeping pills for me!

大自然真的能解决所有的问题，我以后不用再吃安眠药了！

－by Nick Wheeler & Iain Ferguson

Vocabulary

单词发音

pomegranate [ˋpɑmɪ͵grænɪt] n.【植】石榴；石榴树

trivia [ˋtrɪvɪə] n. 琐事; 微不足道的细节

work out 能够解决 to develop in a satisfactory way

pamphlet [ˋpæmflɪt] n. 小册子

potassium [pəˋtæsɪəm] n.【化】钾

holistic [hoˋlɪstɪk] adj. 整体（论）的﹐ 全面的

sedative [ˋsɛdətɪv] adj. 使安静的；使镇静的 having a soothing, calming, or tranquilizing effect; reducing or relieving anxiety, stress, irritability, or excitement

anti-inflammatory 抗炎的；消炎的 preventing or reducing inflammation

insomniac [ɪnˋsɑmnɪæk] n. 不眠症患者 one who suffers from insomnia

brew [bru] n. 酿制饮料

Sentence of the Day

Need to catch some z’s? Try some passion flower tea.

要睡觉吗？喝点百香果花茶吧！