劍橋雅思15Test1Passage1閱讀原文翻譯Nutmeg–a valuable spice

劍橋雅思15Test1Passage1閱讀原文翻譯Nutmeg–a valuable spice，今天中國教育在線就來為大家分析這個(gè)問題。

Nutmeg–a valuable spice

肉豆蔻壟斷地位的更迭

劍橋雅思15 Test1 Passage1閱讀原文翻譯

第1段

The nutmeg tree,Myristica fragrans,is a large evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia.Until the late 18th century,it only grew in one place in the world:a small group of islands in the Banda Sea,part of the Moluccas–or Spice Islands–in northeastern Indonesia.The tree is thickly branched with dense foliage of tough,dark green oval leaves,and produces small,yellow,bell-shaped flowers and pale yellow pear-shaped fruits.The fruit is encased in a fleshy husk.When the fruit is ripe,this husk splits into two halves along a ridge running the length of the fruit.Inside is a purple-brown shiny seed,2-3 cm long by about 2cm across,surrounded by a lacy red or crimson covering called an‘a(chǎn)ril’.These are the sources of the two spices nutmeg and mace,the former being produced from the dried seed and the latter from the aril.

肉豆蔻樹，也被稱作Myristica fragrans，是一種東南亞本土的大型常綠樹木。直到18世紀(jì)末，它在世界上都只生長于一個(gè)地方：印度尼西亞東北部班達(dá)海域的小型群島，即馬魯古群島或香料群島的一部分。這種樹木枝干繁密，覆蓋著厚厚一層堅(jiān)硬的墨綠色橢圓形樹葉，開出小小的、黃色的鈴鐺形花朵，并結(jié)出淺黃色的梨形果實(shí)。果實(shí)被包裹在肉質(zhì)外殼里。當(dāng)果實(shí)成熟時(shí)，外殼會(huì)沿著果實(shí)較長一邊的凸起分成兩半。里面是一顆紫褐色的光潔種子，長2到3厘米，寬約2厘米，包裹著一層被稱為“子衣”的紅色或者深紅色外皮。這些正是肉豆蔻和肉豆蔻種衣這兩種香料的來源。前者產(chǎn)自干燥后的種子，而后者則產(chǎn)自子衣。

第2段

Nutmeg was a highly prized and costly ingredient in European cuisine in the Middle Ages,and was used as a flavouring,medicinal,and preservative agent.Throughout this period,the Arabs were the exclusive importers of the spice to Europe.They sold nutmeg for high prices to merchants based in Venice,but they never revealed the exact location of the source of this extremely valuable commodity.The Arab-Venetian dominance of the trade finally ended in 1512,when the Portuguese reached the Banda Islands and began exploiting its precious resources.

中世紀(jì)時(shí)，肉豆蔻是歐洲飲食中一種備受珍視、價(jià)格昂貴的原料，被當(dāng)作調(diào)味料、藥品和防腐劑使用。在這一時(shí)期，阿拉伯人是將這種香料帶到歐洲的唯一進(jìn)口商。他們將肉豆蔻高價(jià)賣給駐扎在威尼斯的商人，但從來都沒有透漏過這一價(jià)值極高的商品的準(zhǔn)確來源。阿拉伯人和威尼斯人對(duì)該貿(mào)易的壟斷最終于1512年結(jié)束。當(dāng)時(shí)，葡萄牙人抵達(dá)班達(dá)群島并開始開發(fā)其寶貴的資源。

第3段

Always in danger of competition from neighbouring Spain,the Portuguese began subcontracting their spice distribution to Dutch traders.Profits began to flow into the Netherlands,and the Dutch commercial fleet swiftly grew into one of the largest in the world.The Dutch quietly gained control of most of the shipping and trading of spices in Northern Europe.Then,in 1580,Portugal fell under Spanish rule,and by the end of the 16th century the Dutch found themselves locked out of the market.As prices for pepper,nutmeg,and other spices soared across Europe,they decided to fight back.

一直處于鄰國西班牙的競(jìng)爭威脅之下，葡萄牙人開始將香料的經(jīng)銷分包給荷蘭商人。利潤開始流向荷蘭，荷蘭商用艦隊(duì)很快成長為世界上最大的艦隊(duì)之一。荷蘭人悄悄控制了歐洲北部大部分香料的運(yùn)輸和貿(mào)易。隨后，1580年，葡萄牙陷入西班牙的統(tǒng)治。到16世紀(jì)末期，荷蘭人發(fā)現(xiàn)自己被隔絕在市場(chǎng)之外。由于歐洲各地胡椒、肉豆蔻和其他香料的價(jià)格急劇上漲，他們決定還擊。

第4段

In 1602,Dutch merchants founded the VOC,a trading corporation better known as the Dutch East India Company.By 1617,the VOC was the richest commercial operation in the world.The company had 50,000 employees worldwide,with a private army of 30,000 men and a fleet of 200 ships.At the same time,thousands of people across Europe were dying of the plague,a highly contagious and deadly disease.Doctors were desperate for a way to stop the spread of this disease,and they decided nutmeg held the cure.Everybody wanted nutmeg,and many were willing to spare no expense to have it.Nutmeg bought for a few pennies in Indonesia could be sold for 68,000 times its original cost on the streets of London.The only problem was the short supply.And that’s where the Dutch found their opportunity.

1602年，荷蘭商人成立了VOC貿(mào)易公司。它更廣為人知的名字是荷蘭東印度公司。到了1617年時(shí)，VOC已經(jīng)是世界上最富有的商業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)。公司在全球范圍內(nèi)擁有50000名員工，還配備一只由30000人組成的私人軍隊(duì)和一支由200艘船只組成的艦隊(duì)。同時(shí)，歐洲各地正有數(shù)千人死于瘟疫，一種具有極高傳染性和致死率的疾病。醫(yī)生迫切尋找一種能夠阻止該疾病擴(kuò)散的方法，而他們認(rèn)為肉豆蔻中藏有解藥。每個(gè)人都想要肉豆蔻，許多人愿意傾家蕩產(chǎn)得到它。在印度尼西亞只用幾便士就可以買到的肉豆蔻在倫敦街頭可以被賣到初始價(jià)格的68000倍。唯一的問題就是供應(yīng)短缺，而荷蘭人正是在這里找到了他們的機(jī)會(huì)。

第5段

The Banda Islands were ruled by local sultans who insisted on maintaining a neutral trading policy towards foreign powers.This allowed them to avoid the presence of Portuguese or Spanish troops on their soil,but it also left them unprotected from other invaders.In 1621,the Dutch arrived and took over.Once securely in control of the Bandas,the Dutch went to work protecting their new investment.They concentrated all nutmeg production into a few easily guarded areas,uprooting and destroying any trees outside the plantation zones.Anyone caught growing a nutmeg seedling or carrying seeds without the proper authority was severely punished.In addition,all exported nutmeg was covered with lime to make sure there was no chance a fertile seed which could be grown elsewhere would leave the islands.There was only one obstacle to Dutch domination.One of the Banda Islands,a sliver of land called Run,only 3 km long by less than 1 km wide,was under the control of the British.After decades of fighting for control of this tiny island,the Dutch and British arrived at a compromise settlement,the Treaty of Breda,in 1667.Intent on securing their hold over every nutmeg-producing island,the Dutch offered a trade:if the British would give them the island of Run,they would in turn give Britain a distant and much less valuable island in North America.The British agreed.That other island was Manhattan,which is how New Amsterdam became New York.The Dutch now had a monopoly over the nutmeg trade which would last for another century.

當(dāng)時(shí)班達(dá)群島處于本地蘇丹人的統(tǒng)治之下。他們對(duì)外國勢(shì)力秉持中立的貿(mào)易政策。這使得他們可以避免葡萄牙或西班牙軍隊(duì)踏上其土地，但這也讓他們不受保護(hù)的暴露于其他入侵者面前。1621年，荷蘭人來到這里，進(jìn)行接管。牢牢控制住班達(dá)群島之后，荷蘭人文章來自 雅思立刻開始著手保護(hù)他們的最新投資。他們將所有的肉豆蔻生產(chǎn)集中在少數(shù)幾個(gè)容易守衛(wèi)的區(qū)域，將種植區(qū)外的樹木連根拔起并摧毀。任何未經(jīng)許可種植肉豆蔻幼苗或攜帶種子的人被發(fā)現(xiàn)之后都會(huì)受到嚴(yán)厲的懲罰。除此之外，所有出口的肉豆蔻都被撒上石灰，以確保離開島嶼的種子沒有任何機(jī)會(huì)在其他地方生根發(fā)芽。荷蘭人的統(tǒng)治只有一個(gè)障礙。班達(dá)群島中一座被稱為Run的狹長島嶼位于英國人的控制之下。它只有3公里長，不到1公里寬。在數(shù)十年為爭奪該彈丸小島控制權(quán)的斗爭之后，荷蘭人和英國人達(dá)成妥協(xié)，于1667年簽訂Breda協(xié)議。為了確保自己對(duì)每一個(gè)生長肉豆蔻島嶼的控制，荷蘭人提出以下交易：如果英國人讓出Run島，那么他們會(huì)在遙遠(yuǎn)的北美給予英國人一座價(jià)值遠(yuǎn)不及Run島的島嶼。英國人同意了。那個(gè)另外的島嶼是曼哈頓，新阿姆斯特丹就這樣變成了紐約。荷蘭人現(xiàn)在壟斷了肉豆蔻貿(mào)易，這種壟斷地位還會(huì)繼續(xù)延續(xù)一個(gè)世紀(jì)。

第6段

Then,in 1770,a Frenchman named Pierre Poivre successfully smuggled nutmeg plants to safety in Mauritius,an island off the coast of Africa.Some of these were later exported to the Caribbean where they thrived,especially on the island of Grenada.Next,in 1778,a volcanic eruption in the Banda region caused a tsunami that wiped out half the nutmeg groves.Finally,in 1809,the British returned to Indonesia and seized the Banda Islands by force.They returned the islands to the Dutch in 1817,but not before transplanting hundreds of nutmeg seedlings to plantations in several locations across southern Asia.The Dutch nutmeg monopoly was over.

1770年，一名叫做Perre Poivre的法國人成功將肉豆蔻植株走私到毛里求斯的安全地帶。那是一座位于非洲海岸線外的島嶼。其中一些隨后被出口到加勒比地區(qū)。它們?cè)谀抢镒聣殉砷L，尤其是在格林納達(dá)島上。隨后，1778年，班達(dá)地區(qū)的火山爆發(fā)引起海嘯，毀掉了那里一半的肉豆蔻植株。最終，1809年，英國人回到印度尼西亞，用武力控制了班達(dá)群島。他們?cè)?817年將島嶼還給荷蘭人，但在此之前已經(jīng)將上百株肉豆蔻幼苗轉(zhuǎn)移到了散布在東南亞的幾個(gè)種植園中。荷蘭人對(duì)肉豆蔻的壟斷自此結(jié)束。

第7段

Today,nutmeg is grown in Indonesia,the Caribbean,India,Malaysia,Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka,and world nutmeg production is estimated to average between 10,000 and 12,000 tonnes per year.

如今，肉豆蔻被廣泛種

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