Lesson 30 The Potato
第30课 马铃薯
Next to bread, there is perhaps nothing which is so much used for food in our country as the potato. Yet the potato was not known in Great Britain until about three hundred years ago, when it was brought from America by a great sailor.
在英国, 我们吃得最多的食物, 除了面包, 大概就是马铃薯了。可是, 直到300年前, 英国人才认识马铃薯。当时, 一位伟大的航海家把马铃薯从美洲带到了英国。
People call the potato a root, because it grows under ground. But it is not a root; it is a knob or swelling on the lower part of the stem of the plant.
人们管马铃薯叫“块根”, 因为它是长在地底下的。其实它不是“根”, 而是植物在地下的茎上的“疙瘩”或者“膨大的东西”, 学名叫“块茎”。
If we look carefully at a potato, we see little pits, or "eyes, " as they are called, on the outside. What arethese eyes? Wait till the potato is planted and you will see.
仔细看看马铃薯, 能看见外面有一些小坑, 也叫“芽眼”。这些芽眼是什么呢? 把马铃薯种下去, 你就知道了。
We plant potatoes in March or April, cutting up each potato into two or three pieces, called "sets. " There must be at least one good eye in each piece or set.
英国播种马铃薯的时间是在三四月份, 把一个马铃薯切成两三块, 英语叫set(s)。每块上至少要有一个芽眼。
Soon a little sprout grows out of each eye; so the eye of the potato is really the beginning of a leaf-bud. This grows up into a stem, which puts out green leaves and pretty white or purple flowers.
很快, 每个芽眼就会长出一个小芽来。原来, 马铃薯的芽眼, 其实是嫩芽出生的地方。嫩芽会长成茎, 茎又会生出绿叶, 也生出漂亮的白色或者紫色的小花。