英语听力文摘 English Digest 452、吃菠菜长肌肉？

菠菜,我要吃菠菜.菠菜给予我力量.每次被狂揍之后,某一个瞬间,大力水手Popeye以迅雷不及掩耳之势吞下一罐菠菜.随后,肱二头肌开始急剧的膨胀,膨胀到与体型极其不对称.摆几个健美造型后,把反动人物打的落花流水.当然,这是动画片大力水手的情节.那菠菜究竟有没有那么神奇呢?一起来看看吧...

 

The Strength of Spinach¹?

Don: Yaël, have you ever heard of Popeye the Sailorman? Whenever he is getting beaten up he eats some spinach and becomes really strong. His muscles² bulge³ out and everything.

Yaël: I do burst⁴ your bubble⁵ Don. But eating spinach has nothing to do with strength.

D: Popeye is a lie?

Y: Not a lie, exactly. See, some time in the 1920s it was reported that a half cup of cooked spinach has thirty-four milligrams of iron⁶, which is a lot. Iron is important because it carries oxygen in the blood. We need oxygen for energy; without enough of it people become weak and tired.

D: So spinach does make you strong, or at least puts extra pep in your step.

Y: Well, it might if it did have much iron. It turns out that the thirty-four milligrams was a typo. A half cup of cooked spinach really has only three point four milligrams of iron. Plus, spinach is actually worse than other iron-containing vegetables because it has a chemical that blocks most of its iron from being absorbed by the blood.

But when the typo was published the idea caught on that spinach was a muscle-building vegetable. That’s where the idea for Popeye came from.

D: So now I have to came up with another point.

Y: Or, how about just being happy with who you are!

D: Or, maybe I'll learn koradji.

Y: Whatever!

菠菜的神力？

Don: 你有听说过大力水手波沛吗？每次他被痛打的时候，他就会吃菠菜，吃完了之后他就变得非常强壮——肌肉凸出，一切的一切,变得好强壮啊！

Yaël: Don，我可就要打破你的幻想了！吃菠菜与变得强壮根本就没什么联系。

D: 波沛是一个谎言？

Y: 确切地说，不是谎言。在上世纪20年代，有报道称，每半杯已烹饪菠菜含有34毫克铁元素，含量相当的高。由于在血液中的运氧功能，铁元素颇为重要。氧是人类的动力之源——一旦缺氧，人类便会变得虚弱、易疲乏。

D: 因而，菠菜确实能让人强壮——至少能积存下多余的精力。

Y: 嗯，如果铁元素的含量很多的时候确实如此。事实证明，那34毫克的铁元素是排版的错误——每半杯已烹饪菠菜仅含3.4毫克铁元素。再者，事实上菠菜还不如其他含铁的蔬菜好。原因在于，菠菜含有一种化学物质会大大的阻碍铁元素被血液吸收。

但是，当34毫克的“版本”出来的时候，人们就认定了菠菜有助于肌肉的塑成。这就是大力水手波沛的得来呐！

D: 那么也就是说，我得重去找其他的方法啦！

Y: 抑或，就高高兴兴的做你自己！

D: 或者，我还可以去学巫术！

Y: 这个就要看你自己啦！

 

1 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

2 muscles   

n.肌肉( muscle的名词复数 )；（操纵他人的）力量；权力；肌肉组织

参考例句：

• I must take some exercise and loosen up my muscles. 我必须活动活动使肌肉放松些。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gosh! My muscles is going to ache all over tomorrow. 哎呀！明天我全身肌肉都会痛了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 bulge   

n.突出，膨胀，激增；vt.突出，膨胀

参考例句：

• The apple made a bulge in his pocket.苹果把他口袋塞得鼓了起来。
• What's that awkward bulge in your pocket?你口袋里那块鼓鼓囊囊的东西是什么？

4 burst   

vi.（burst，burst）爆炸；爆破；爆裂；爆发；vt.使…破裂；使…炸破；n.突然破裂；爆发

参考例句：

• We all held our breath till the bomb burst.我们屏住呼吸直到炸弹爆炸。
• She suddenly burst into song.她突然唱起歌来。

5 bubble   

n.泡，水泡，气泡；泡影，妄想；v.(使)起泡

参考例句：

• The water begins to bubble.水开始起泡了。
• Their hopes of success have burst like a bubble.他们成功的希望已经成了泡影。

6 iron   

n.铁，熨斗，坚强，烙铁，镣铐；vt.烫平，熨，用铁包；vi. 烫衣服

参考例句：

• The iron has lost its magnetic force.这块铁已失去了磁力。
• We need an electrician to mend the iron.我们要请电工修理熨斗。