Spices托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

Spices托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

一、Spices托福聽力原文：

Narrator:Listen to part of a lecture in a European history class.Female Professor:In order to really study the social history of the Middle Ages,you have to understand the role of spices.Now,this might sound a little surprising,even a little strange,but what seem like little things now were,back then,actually rather big things.So,first let’s define what a spice is.Technically speaking,a spice is part of an aromatic plant that is not a leaf,or herb.

Spices can come from tree bark,like,ah,cinnamon,plant roots like ginger,flower buds like cloves.And in the Middle Ages,Europeans were familiar with lots of different spices,the most important being pepper,cloves,ginger,cinnamon,mace,and nutmeg.These spices literally dominated the way Europeans lived for centuries—how they traded and,uh,even how they used their imaginations.So why this medieval fascination with spices?We can boil it down to three general ideas,briefly.

One was cost and rarity,ah,two was exotic taste and fragrance,and third,mysterious origins and a kind of mythical status.Now,for cost and rarity:Spices aren’t native to Europe,and they had to be imported.Spices only grew in the East Indies,and of course transportation costs were astronomical.So spices were incredibly valuable,even from the very beginning.

Here’s an example,um,in 408 A.D.,the Gothic general who'd captured Rome demanded payment.He wanted 5,000 pounds of gold,among other things,but he also wanted 3,000 pounds of pepper.Maybe that’ll give you an idea of exactly where pepper stood at the time.By the Middle Ages,spices were regarded as so important and expensive,they were used in diplomacy—as gifts by heads of state and ambassadors.Now,for the taste,the diet then was relatively bland compared to today’s.There wasn't much variety.Uh,especially the aristocracy,who tended to eat a lot of meat,um,they were always looking for new ways to prepare it—new sauces,new tastes,and this is where spices came in.Now this is a good point to mention one of the biggest myths about spices:

It’s commonly said that medieval Europeans wanted spices to cover up the taste of spoiled meat,but this isn’t really true.Anyone who had to worry about spoiled meat couldn't afford spices in the first place.If you could afford spices,you could definitely afford fresh meat.

We also have evidence that various medieval markets employed a kind of police,to make sure that people didn't sell spoiled food.And if you were caught doing it,you were subject to various fines,humiliating public punishments.So,what actually was true was this:In order to have meat for the winter,people would preserve it in salt—not a spice.Spices,actually,aren’t very effective as preservatives.

And,uh,throughout winter they would eat salted meat,but the taste of the stuff could grow really boring and,and depressing after a while.So the cooks started looking for new ways to improve the taste,and spices were the answer.Now the ancient Romans had a thriving spice trade,and they sent their ships to the east and back.

But when Rome collapsed in the fifth century and the Middle Ages began,um,direct trade stopped,and,uh,so did that kind of hands-on knowledge of travel and geography.Spices now came by way of the trade routes,with lots of intermediaries between the producer and the consumer.So these spices took on an air of mystery.Their origins were shrouded in exotic travels;they had the allure of the unknown,of wild places.

Myths grew up of fantasy lands,magical faraway places made entirely of food and spices.Add to that,spices themselves had always been considered special,or magical—not just for eating—and this was already true in the ancient world where legends about spices were abundant.Spices inspired the medieval imagination,they were used as medicines to ward off diseases,and mixed into perfumes,incense.

They were used in religious rituals for thousands of years.They took on a life of their own,and they inspired the medieval imagination,spurred on the age of discovery in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries:When famous explorers like Columbus and Da Gama and Magellan left Europe in their ships,they weren't looking for a new world;they were looking for spices.And we know what important historical repercussions some of those voyages had.

二、Spices托福聽力中文翻譯：

旁白：在歐洲歷史課上聽一節(jié)課的一部分。女教授：為了真正研究中世紀的社會歷史，你必須了解香料的作用?，F(xiàn)在，這聽起來可能有點奇怪，甚至有點奇怪，但現(xiàn)在看起來很小的事情，在當時，實際上是相當大的事情。那么，首先讓我們定義什么是香料。從技術(shù)上講，香料是芳香植物的一部分，而不是葉子或草本植物。

香料可以來自樹皮，比如肉桂，植物根比如生姜，花蕾比如丁香。在中世紀，歐洲人熟悉許多不同的香料，最重要的是胡椒、丁香、生姜、肉桂、肉豆蔻和肉豆蔻。數(shù)百年來，這些香料實際上主宰了歐洲人的生活方式——他們的交易方式，甚至他們的想象力。那么，為什么中世紀對香料如此著迷呢？我們可以簡單地將其歸結(jié)為三個總體思路。

一是成本和稀有，啊，二是異國情調(diào)和香味，三是神秘的起源和一種神秘的身份?，F(xiàn)在，出于成本和稀有性考慮：香料并非原產(chǎn)于歐洲，必須進口。香料只在東印度群島生長，當然運輸成本是天文數(shù)字。所以香料是非常有價值的，即使從一開始。

這里有一個例子，嗯，公元408年，占領(lǐng)羅馬的哥特式將軍要求付款。除其他外，他想要5000磅黃金，但他還想要3000磅胡椒。也許這會讓你知道pepper當時的確切位置。到了中世紀，香料被視為如此重要和昂貴，它們被國家元首和大使用作外交禮物。現(xiàn)在，就口味而言，與今天相比，當時的飲食相對平淡，種類不多。呃，尤其是貴族，他們往往吃很多肉，嗯，他們總是在尋找新的方法來準備新的醬汁，新的口味，這就是香料的來源。現(xiàn)在，這是一個很好的觀點，可以提及關(guān)于香料的最大神話之一：

人們常說，中世紀的歐洲人想要用香料來掩蓋變質(zhì)肉的味道，但事實并非如此。任何一個不得不擔心變質(zhì)肉的人，一開始都買不起香料。如果你買得起香料，你肯定買得起鮮肉。

我們也有證據(jù)表明，中世紀的各個市場都雇傭了一種警察，以確保人們不會出售變質(zhì)的食物。如果你被發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣做，你會受到各種罰款，侮辱性的公開懲罰。所以，事實上是這樣的：為了過冬，人們會把肉放在鹽里，而不是放在香料里。實際上，香料作為防腐劑不是很有效。

而且，呃，整個冬天他們都會吃咸肉，但過了一段時間，咸肉的味道會變得非常乏味和壓抑。因此，廚師們開始尋找新的方法來改善口味，香料就是答案。現(xiàn)在，古羅馬人的香料貿(mào)易十分興盛，他們將船只開往東部，然后再返回。

但是，當羅馬在五世紀崩潰，中世紀開始，嗯，直接貿(mào)易停止了，而且，嗯，旅行和地理方面的實際知識也停止了。香料現(xiàn)在是通過貿(mào)易路線來的，在生產(chǎn)者和消費者之間有許多中間人。因此，這些香料呈現(xiàn)出一種神秘的氣氛。他們的起源被異國旅行所掩蓋；它們具有未知的、荒野的魅力。

神話起源于幻想之地，完全由食物和香料構(gòu)成的神奇遙遠的地方。除此之外，香料本身一直被認為是特殊的，或者說是神奇的，而不僅僅是為了食用，這在關(guān)于香料的傳說非常豐富的古代世界已經(jīng)是事實了。香料激發(fā)了中世紀的想象力，它們被用作防病藥物，并混合成香水、熏香。

數(shù)千年來，它們被用于宗教儀式。他們開始了自己的生活，激發(fā)了中世紀的想象力，激發(fā)了十五世紀和十六世紀的發(fā)現(xiàn)時代：當哥倫布、達伽馬和麥哲倫等著名探險家乘船離開歐洲時，他們并不是在尋找一個新世界；他們在找香料。我們也知道其中一些航行會產(chǎn)生什么重要的歷史影響。

三、Spices托福聽力問題：

Q1:1.What is the main purpose of the lecture?

A.To explore the use of spices in cooking in the Middle Ages

B.To explain the significance of spices for medieval society

C.To describe how the spice trade evolved in medieval Europe

D.To examine changes in the role that spices played in the Middle Ages

Q2:2.Based on the lecture,indicate whether each of the following is true about spices in medieval Europe.[Click in the correct boxes.]

Q3:3.What two factors explain why medieval Europeans did not use spices to cover the taste of spoiled meat?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.Fresh meat was less expensive than spices were.

B.Spices were mainly used in incense and perfume.

C.The sale of spoiled food was prohibited.

D.Salt was cheaper than most spices were.

Q4:4.Why does the professor mention the collapse of the Roman Empire?

A.To indicate that the spice trade became more direct

B.To explain why the price of pepper suddenly increased

C.To indicate that spices were not available in Europe for centuries

D.To explain why the origins of spices became more mysterious

Q5:5.What does the professor say about European explorers during the age of discovery?

A.Their discoveries caused the price of certain spices to increase.

B.They were responding to the demand for spices.

C.They did not expect to find spices during their explorations.

D.Their main goal was to discover unknown lands.

Q6:6.Why does the professor say this.

A.To indicate that pepper was commonly used as payment.

B.To indicate where pepper could be found at the time.

C.To emphasize the high value of pepper at the time.

D.To suggest that pepper was nearly as plentiful as gold.

四、Spices托福聽力答案：

A1:正確答案：B

A2:正確答案：AABAB

A3:正確答案：AC

A4:正確答案：D

A5:正確答案：B

A6:正確答案：C

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