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Gingerbread: The Holiday Cookie 节庆来临 姜饼人驾到

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Once upon a time, Queen Elizabeth I of England treated her noble dinner guests to a special dessert. Each guest was presented with a gingerbread cookie, which was shaped in their own likeness. Her Majesty’s playful gesture caught on with many Europeans. Before long, the gingerbread man became a holiday icon for the masses.

从前，英国女王伊丽莎白一世曾以一种特别的点心招待晚宴的贵族宾客，即每位宾客都被赠与一块以自己肖像制成的姜饼。女王陛下如此开玩笑的举动很快就在欧洲人之间流行起来，不久之后，姜饼人成为了大众认可的一个节日图像。

Gingerbread is a baked cookie, which is flavored with ginger and sweetened with molasses. Spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon are commonly included in stronger-tasting recipes. Europeans discovered the recipe in the 10^th century, but it was rare and expensive at that time. Therefore baking gingerbread was reserved for holiday celebrations, and eventually became associated with Christmas.

姜饼是一种烘烤过的饼干，以姜来提味并用糖浆增加甜度，而肉豆蔻和肉桂等都是重口味烘焙时的常见香料。欧洲人在10世纪时发现了这个制作法，但由于姜饼在当时甚为稀有和昂贵，因此烘焙姜饼被留给节庆时刻，而最终与圣诞节连结在一起。

Over the years, gingerbread culture has flourished. During the holidays, bakers construct entire edible scenes with animals, trees, and houses like the famous one in “Hansel and Gretel.” Yet, since gingerbread cookies are easy to bake and decorate, many people make them at home. The only hard part is resisting the temptation to devour the cookies before you get to show them off.

经历了这些年，姜饼文化已蓬勃发展。在圣诞节庆时，面包师傅会筑起一整个可食用的造景，里头有动物、树木及状似著名「糖果屋」故事中的房屋。然而，因姜饼容易烘焙及装饰，很多人也会在家制作；最难的部分仅仅在于向别人炫耀之前，要克制想将它一口吞下的诱惑。

－by Geoffrey Trager

单词发音

Vocabulary

gesture [ˋdʒɛstʃɚ] 举动; 表现

Giving a bottle of wine to the host of a party is a typical gesture of kindness.

masses [ˋmæsɪz] n. 平民；群众

Television allows the masses to all enjoy the same entertainment.

rare [rɛr] adj. 稀有的，罕见的

Gold is a rare material, so it is quite valuable.

reserve [rɪˋzɝv] v. 预订; 保留

(reserve-reserved-reserved)

This table by the window is reserved, but you can sit somewhere else.

edible [ˋɛdəb!] adj. 可食的，食用的

The hikers found some edible plants and mushrooms in the forest.

resist [rɪˋzɪst] v. 抵抗

High walls were built around the city to resist any attack by the enemy.

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likeness [ˋlaɪknɪs] n. 画像；照片; 外观，模样

Her Majesty 尊称陛下或女皇陛下

catch on 变得流行

molasses [məˋlæsɪz] n. 糖蜜；糖浆

nutmeg [ˋnʌt͵mɛg] n. 肉豆蔻

cinnamon [ˋsɪnəmən] n. 肉桂

be associated with 和...联系在一起

flourish [ˋflɝɪʃ] v. 繁荣，兴旺

temptation [tɛmpˋteʃən] n. 诱惑

devour [dɪˋvaʊr] v. 狼吞虎咽地吃，吃光

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