英语听力文摘 English Digest 680 有名的西红柿辩论

 

The Great Tomato Debate

In 1893, the U.S. Supreme¹ Court heard a case that hinged on whether the tomato was a fruit or a vegetable.

Defining A Vegetable

According to botanists², most of the edible³ parts of a plant are vegetables. Vegetables can be a root, stem, leaf, or flower. Even bulbs, like onions, and buds like brussels sprouts⁴ are vegetables.

Defining Fruits

A fruit, on the other hand, is always the matured ovary of a flowering plant. Fruit is formed when pollen⁵, which carries sperm⁶, lands on the sticky part of the flower.

The sperm travel from the pollen grain into the ovary then into the ovule where one fertilizes⁷ the egg. Once the egg is fertilized⁸, the ovule becomes a seed, and the whole ovary becomes a fruit. This is why fruits usually contain seeds.

An Unlikely Fruit

Of course, when we generally think of fruit we think of sweet fruits like apples and pears that are eaten raw or baked in dessert. We don’t think of tomatoes or cucumbers as fruit, although they are fruit because they develop from the ovary of the plant.

Scandalous!

Back to the 1893 court case. The Supreme Court declared that tomatoes were vegetables because they are usually eaten cooked like vegetables. The decision allowed the court to uphold a tax on imported tomatoes because, at that time, vegetables were taxed but fruits were not.

有名的西红柿辩论

1893年，美国最高法院有一场关于西红柿到底是水果还是蔬菜的案子。

蔬菜的定义

根据植物学家的观点，一种植物中，可以吃的部分大都称为蔬菜。蔬菜可以是根、茎、叶或者花。甚至球根植物，如洋葱，芽类如球芽甘蓝都是蔬菜。

水果的定义

另一方面，水果通常是一种花类植物的成熟子房。当花粉携带精子着落在花朵粘性的部分，水果就形成了。

精子从花粉颗粒进入子房，然后进到受精的地方--胚珠。一旦受精卵形成，胚珠就变成一颗种子，整个子房就变成一个水果。这就是为什么水果通常都包含种子的原因。

不可能的水果

当然，我们通常认为水果是我们想象中的那种甜味的水果，像苹果和梨子，可以生吃或烘焙作为餐后甜点。我们不认为西红柿或黄瓜是水果，尽管他们确实是水果，因为他们是由植物的子房发育而来的。

丑闻!

回到1893年的案子，最高法院判定，西红柿是蔬菜，因为西红柿通常用烹饪蔬菜那样的方法来吃。这个决定允许法庭对进口西红柿征税，因为那时候，蔬菜是要收税的，但水果不用。

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 botanists   

n.植物学家，研究植物的人( botanist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Botanists had some difficulty categorizing the newly found plant. 植物学家们不大容易确定这种新发现的植物的种类。 来自辞典例句
• Botanists refer this flower to the rose family. 植物学家将这花归入蔷薇科。 来自辞典例句

3 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

4 sprouts   

n.新芽，嫩枝( sprout的名词复数 )v.发芽( sprout的第三人称单数 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• The wheat sprouts grew perceptibly after the rain. 下了一场雨，麦苗立刻见长。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The sprouts have pushed up the earth. 嫩芽把土顶起来了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

6 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

7 fertilizes   

n.施肥( fertilize的名词复数 )v.施肥( fertilize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The male sperm fertilizes the female egg. 雄性的精子使雌性的卵子受精。 来自辞典例句
• When the male reproductive cell fertilizes the female reproductive cell a zygote is formed. 当男性生殖细胞与女性生殖细胞发生受精时，就形成了一个合子。 来自辞典例句

8 Fertilized   

v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
• Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。