背诵为王 第 二 册 第 45 课

Lesson45 Chocolate
We now think of chocolates as sweet， but once it was bitter¹． Today wethink of it as a candy， but once it was a medicine． Chocolate is a productof a cocoa² tree． Its beans taste bitter． Workers must first dry and thenroast them in order to remove the bitter taste．The word “chocolate” comes from a Mayan word． The Mayas were an ancientpeople who once lived in Mexico． They valued the cocoa tree． Some used thebeans for money， while otherscrushed them to make a drink． When the Spaniards came to Mexico in thesixteenth century， they started drinking cacao too． Because the drink wasstrong and bitter， they thought itwas medicine． No one had the idea of adding sugar． The Spaniards took somebeans back to Europe and opened cafes．Wealthy people drank cocoa and said it was good for the digestion³．In the1800s the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugarremoved the bitter taste of cocoa． It quickly became a cheap and populardrink． Soon afterward⁴， a factory made the first solid⁵ block of sweetenedchocolate． Later on， another factory mixed milk and chocolate together．People like the taste of milk chocolate even better．

Maya 玛雅
Mayan 玛雅的，玛雅人的
crush  压碎，磨碎
Spaniard  西班牙人
digestion 消化

巧克力
现在我们认为巧克力是甜的，但它曾经是苦的。现在我们认为它是一种糖果，但它曾经是药。巧克力是可可树上的产物。它的豆是苦的，工人们必须先将其弄干，然后经烘烤才能去除苦味。
“巧克力”这个词来源于玛雅文字。玛雅是一个曾经居住在墨西哥的古老民族。玛雅人非常珍视可可树。一些人用可可豆当成货币，而另一些人将其磨碎做成饮料。16世纪西班牙人来到了墨西哥，他们也开始喝可可饮料。由于这种饮料味道浓而苦，他们认为它是药。没有人想到去加糖。西班牙人把一些可可豆带回欧洲，并开了咖啡馆。有钱人喝可可并声称它有助消化。
19世纪一家英国巧克力厂的老板发现糖可以去除可可的苦味。可可立即成为了一种便宜、受欢迎的饮料。不久以后，一家工厂率先生产出了固体块状的甜味巧克力。后来，另一家工厂将牛奶和巧克力混合起来。人们更加喜欢牛奶巧克力的味道。

1 bitter   

adj.激烈的，苦涩的，辛酸的，厉害的，悲痛的；n.辛酸，苦味，苦酒

参考例句：

• The bitter winter was coming.寒冬到了。
• The two countries fell out in a bitter wrangle over imports.这两个国家在有关进口问题的激烈争吵中闹翻了。

2 cocoa   

n.可可粉，可可饮料，可可色

参考例句：

• They always had a cup of cocoa last thing at night.他们总是在临睡前喝杯可可饮料。
• Steam rose from her mug of cocoa.水汽从她那杯可可饮料里升起。

3 digestion   

n.消化，吸收

参考例句：

• This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
• This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。

4 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

5 solid   

adj.固体的，结实的，可靠的，实心的；n.固体，实心；adv. 一致地

参考例句：

• Water may change from a liquid to a solid.水可以由液体变为固体。
• I know that James is a solid type of person.我知道詹姆斯是个可信赖的人。