轻松快报:咖啡起源的美丽传说
日期:2010-01-11 18:47

(单词翻译:单击)

背景介绍

【背景】

概述

咖啡的主要成分

  咖啡因:有特别强烈的苦味,刺激中枢神经系统、心脏和呼吸系统。适量的咖啡因亦可减轻肌肉疲劳,促进消化液分泌。由于它会促进肾脏机能,有利尿作用,帮助体内将多余的钠离子排出体外。但摄取过多会导致咖啡因中毒。
  丹宁酸:煮沸后的丹宁酸会分解成焦梧酸,所以冲泡过久的咖啡味道会变差。
  脂肪:其中最主要的是酸性脂肪及挥发性脂肪。
  酸性脂肪:即脂肪中含有酸,其强弱会因咖啡种类不同而异。
  挥发性脂肪:是咖啡香气主要来源,它是一种会散发出约四十种芳香物质。
  蛋白质:卡路里的主要来源,所占比例并不高。咖啡末的蛋白质在煮咖啡时,多半不会溶出来,所以摄取到的有限。
  糖:咖啡生豆所含的糖分约8%,经过烘焙后大部分糖分会转化成焦糖,使咖啡形成褐色,并与丹宁酸互相结合产生甜味。
  纤维:生豆的纤维烘焙后会炭化,与焦糖互相结合便形成咖啡的色调。
  矿物质:含有少量石灰、铁质、磷、碳酸钠等。

摘自百度百科

英文原文

【原文】

Some people cannot imagine starting the day without a cup of coffee. From the most fashionable cafes of Paris to the breakfast stands lining the streets of Taipei, coffee has firmly established itself as one of the world's favorite beverages. For such a well-loved drink, however, few people are aware of its curious origins.

As legend goes, coffee berries were first discovered in 850 by an Ethiopian goat herder who noticed his goats were much friskier after having eaten the red berries of a local bush. After trying the berries himself, the goat herder felt much more energetic than usual. He disseminated the news about the wonderful berry, and soon monks were hailing it as an elixir and drinking the brew to stay awake during evening prayers.

Although coffee originated on the plateaus of Ethiopia, it was the Arabs who first cultivated it around 1100. They were also the first people to roast it and boil it. By 1475, people in Constantinople were enjoying a cup of coffee in the world's first coffee shop. Coffee spread to Europe around 1600 and to the New World seven years later.

These days, it seems you can get a cup of coffee just about everywhere you go. Every year, coffee lovers consume more than 400 billion cups of one of the world's biggest commodities-second only to oil.

中文译文

【中文译文】

有些人难以想象,不喝一杯咖啡怎么能开始一天的生活。从巴黎最流行的咖啡厅到台北街头林立的早餐店,咖啡已跻身世界最受欢迎的饮料行列。像这样广受喜爱的饮料,却很少有人明白它奇妙的起源。

传说咖啡的果实是公元850年一个埃塞俄比亚牧羊人发现的:他注意到山羊吃了当地某种灌木的红色果实之后便活蹦乱跳起来。他自己尝了一下,发现比平常更精力充沛。他到处去说这种神奇果子的消息,没多久,僧侣们就将其奉为仙丹,晚祷时喝它的酿造物而不会入睡。

咖啡原产于埃塞俄比亚高原,但首先培植咖啡树的却是公元1100年左右的阿拉伯人。他们也是第一个烘焙、烹煮咖啡的人。到了公元1475年,君士坦丁堡人就在全世界第一家咖啡馆里享用起了一杯咖啡。咖啡约于西元1600年传到欧洲,七年后再传入新大陆。

现在,无论你身在何方,咖啡似乎都唾手可得。爱喝咖啡的人每年要喝掉四千亿杯咖啡。咖啡俨然成为世界最大宗的商品──仅次于石油。

词汇讲解

【词汇讲解】

1.frisky adj. 活泼的,快活的

如:The morning fresh air makes me feel quite frisky.
早晨清新的空气使我感到十分愉快。

I feel quite frisky this morning.
我今天上午觉得精神挺足。

2.disseminate vt. 散播,公开,宣传

如:They use the press to disseminate right-wing views.
他们利用报刊来传播右翼观点。

3.hail vt. 向 ... 欢呼,致敬,招呼

如:An old friend hailed me from the other side of the street.
一个老朋友从街的对面喊我。

The boy's breaking of window glasses caused a hail of abuse.
这个男孩打碎了窗户玻璃,招致了一阵恶骂。

4.berry n. 浆果

coffee berry n. 咖啡豆

如:Tomorrow we'll go to pick berries.
明天我们去采浆果。

5.elixir n. 长生不老药,仙丹妙药

如:A medieval chemical philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity.
炼金术,炼丹术中世纪的一种化学哲学。其声称的目标是将一些基本金属转变为金子,发现万灵药及制备长生不老药


(可可英语版权所有,未经允许请勿转载)

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重点单词
  • disseminatevt. 散播,公开,宣传
  • establishedadj. 已被确认的,确定的,建立的,制定的 动词est
  • abusen. 滥用,恶习 vt. 滥用,辱骂,虐待
  • spreadv. 伸展,展开,传播,散布,铺开,涂撒 n. 伸展,传
  • longevityn. 长寿
  • cultivatedadj. 栽植的,有教养的 动词cultivate的过去
  • medievaladj. 中世纪的
  • berryn. 浆果
  • basen. 基底,基础,底部,基线,基数,(棒球)垒,[化]碱
  • panacean. 万灵药,灵丹妙药