英国学生科学读本 第95期:面粉与面包(1)

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　　Let us buy a pound of flour at the baker¹'s. 我们去面包房买上一磅面粉。

　　The baker will give us the flour in a nice paper bag, and it will only cost about twopence. 他们会将面粉装在精致的纸袋中, 而且一磅面粉只需两便士。

　　When we open the bag, we see that the flour is a fine white powder. 打开袋子, 就能看到面粉是一种细致的白色粉末。

　　Where did the flour come from, and how was it made? 面粉从何而来? 又是如何制成的呢?

　　There are several kinds of flour—such as oat-flour, barley-flour, rice-flour, and maize-flour or corn-flour. 面粉的种类有很多, 例如燕麦粉、大麦粉、米粉、玉米粉。

　　But most of the flour used in Great Britain is wheat-flour. 然而, 英国使用的大部分面粉都是小麦粉。

　　Wheat-flour, of course, comes from the plant called "wheat. " 小麦粉当然就是由一种名叫“小麦”的植物制成。

　　The farmer sows the wheat in his ploughed fields in the late autumn or in the early spring. 晚秋或早春时分, 农民们在犁过的农田里种下小麦。

　　When the wheat plant comes up, it looks like a little blade of grass. 小麦破土而出时, 看起来就像是野草一样。

　　During the summer the plant grows tall, with a long, hollow stem, and a head or ear of little green scaly² flowers. 到了夏天, 小麦就已经长得很高了, 带着一个长长的中空茎干以及一簇或一穗绿色的鳞状小花。

　　They do not look much like flowers, as they have no brightly-coloured leaves. 它们看起来并不像花朵, 因为没有颜色明亮的花瓣。

　　Each flower turns into a seed or grain, which becomes hard and round as it ripens³. When it is ripe, it turns yellow. 每一个花朵都会长成种子或谷粒, 一旦成熟, 就会变得又硬又圆, 而颜色则会泛黄。

　　Then the farmer cuts it down, or "reaps" it.  随后, 农民们就会将其割下, 或者说是“收”麦子。

　　He carries the wheat to his barn, and there he thrashes it, or beats all the grains of corn out of the ears. 农民将麦子运到谷仓并打谷, 也就是将谷粒从麦穗中敲打出来。

　　The corn is then put into sacks and sold to a man called a miller⁴. 随后, 农民将这些谷物捆装在麻袋中贩卖给磨坊主。

　　The miller grinds the corn between two large fiat⁵ stones which are called mill-stones, or between steel rollers. 磨坊主使用两块扁平的石头（磨石）或钢辊对这些谷物进行碾磨。

　　The husks or skins of the grains of corn are first rubbed off, and then the white inside or kernel⁶ of each grain is ground down to a fine powder. 谷物的外皮首先掉落下来, 然后, 里面的白色谷粒就被碾磨成了精细的粉末。

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