第95課 面粉與面包
Let us buy a pound of flour at the baker's.
我們去面包房買上一磅面粉。
The baker will give us the flour in a nice paper bag, and it will only cost about twopence.
他們會將面粉裝在精致的紙袋中, 而且一磅面粉只需兩便士。
When we open the bag, we see that the flour is a fine white powder.
打開袋子, 就能看到面粉是一種細致的白色粉末。
Where did the flour come from, and how was it made?
面粉從何而來? 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.
面粉的種類有很多, 例如燕麥粉、大麥粉、米粉、玉米粉。
But most of the flour used in Great Britain is wheat-flour.
然而, 英國使用的大部分面粉都是小麥粉。
Wheat-flour, of course, comes from the plant called "wheat. "
小麥粉當然就是由一種名叫“小麥”的植物制成。
The farmer sows the wheat in his ploughed fields in the late autumn or in the early spring.
晚秋或早春時分, 農(nóng)民們在犁過的農(nóng)田里種下小麥。
When the wheat plant comes up, it looks like a little blade of grass.
小麥破土而出時, 看起來就像是野草一樣。
During the summer the plant grows tall, with a long, hollow stem, and a head or ear of little green scaly flowers.
到了夏天, 小麥就已經(jīng)長得很高了, 帶著一個長長的中空莖干以及一簇或一穗綠色的鱗狀小花。
They do not look much like flowers, as they have no brightly-coloured leaves.
它們看起來并不像花朵, 因為沒有顏色明亮的花瓣。
Each flower turns into a seed or grain, which becomes hard and round as it ripens. When it is ripe, it turns yellow.
每一個花朵都會長成種子或谷粒, 一旦成熟, 就會變得又硬又圓, 而顏色則會泛黃。
Then the farmer cuts it down, or "reaps" it.
隨后, 農(nóng)民們就會將其割下, 或者說是“收”麥子。
He carries the wheat to his barn, and there he thrashes it, or beats all the grains of corn out of the ears.
農(nóng)民將麥子運到谷倉并打谷, 也就是將谷粒從麥穗中敲打出來。
The corn is then put into sacks and sold to a man called a miller.
隨后, 農(nóng)民將這些谷物捆裝在麻袋中販賣給磨坊主。
The miller grinds the corn between two large fiat stones which are called mill-stones, or between steel rollers.
磨坊主使用兩塊扁平的石頭(磨石)或鋼輥對這些谷物進行碾磨。
The husks or skins of the grains of corn are first rubbed off, and then the white inside or kernel of each grain is ground down to a fine powder.
谷物的外皮首先掉落下來, 然后, 里面的白色谷粒就被碾磨成了精細的粉末。
英語美文