Each seed of barley ends in a sort of bristle, called an awn.
每个大麦粒的末端都是一根又长又硬的毛，叫做“麦芒”。
Do you remember how insects help flowers to form their seeds by carrying pollen from one blossom to another?
小朋友，还记得昆虫是怎么帮助花朵长种子的吗？ 它们把花粉从一朵花运到另一朵花。
But grasses do not need the help of insects to form their seeds. So they have no bright flowers. It is the wind that carries their pollen from one flower to another.
但是，大麦这样的植物，并不需要昆虫来帮助传粉，所以没有艳丽的花朵，而是靠“风力”把花粉从一朵花运到另一朵花的。
As the little green flowers that form each "ear" of barley grow one above another, the least breath of air is enough to blow the pollen from the flowers near the top of the ear to those lower down.
大麦的每一个麦穗上的绿色小花，上下排列着开放的时候，只需要一点儿小风，就能把麦穗顶端的花的花粉，吹到下面的花上。
The farmer sows his barley seeds in the freshly-ploughed fields in March, and the ripe grain is ready to be reaped or cut down in August.
阳历三月，农民把大麦种子播到刚刚耕过的农田里，在阳历八月，成熟的麦子就可以收割了。
After the barley has been cut down or reaped, the farmer thrashes it, to beat the grains or seeds out of the ears. Most of the barley is bought by brewers, and is made into malt. From this our ale or malt beer is made.
麦子刈下来、收割以后，农民会用力抽打麦子，让麦粒，或者大麦种子，从麦穗上脱离。大麦多数都让酿酒的人买去制作麦芽了。麦芽酒，也叫啤酒，就是用麦芽酿出来的。
Barley is a very good food when it is used in soup or broth. In some places people also make bread and cakes out of barley-flour. For this purpose the grains of barley must first be ground to a fine flour by the miller.
大麦是用来做汤的好食材。有些地方的人也用大麦粉做面包和蛋糕。为此，首先要把大麦粒磨成优质的面粉。