VOA慢速英语 2009 015a

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Today we have the second of two reports explaining how to prepare fish by drying or smoking¹ them.

We talked last week about the first steps of cleaning and salting freshly caught fish. The directions can be found on our Web² site, voaspecialenglish.com.

To dry fish, you will need either a drying table or a place to hang them. If a table is used, it should have a top made of wire screen or thin pieces of wood with space between each piece.

Lay the cleaned and salted fish, still wet, on the table. Do not let them touch each other. Be sure that air can flow around the fish from all sides, including the top and bottom.

Build a small smoky fire under the drying table for the first day to keep the flies away. After that, you can keep the flies away by covering the fish with a thin cloth. Do not let the cloth touch the fish.

Fish taste better if they are out of bright sunlight³ while they are being dried. For best results, put the drying table under a tree. Turn the fish over every other day. Small fish will dry in about three days if the air is dry. Large fish will take a week or ten days to dry.

After the fish have dried, place them in a basket. Cover them with clean paper or large leaves. Then put the basket in a cool, dry place off the ground.

Make sure as much of the saltwater as possible is removed before you smoke the fish.

The smoking can be done in a large, round metal container. Remove the top of the drum and cut a small opening on one side at the bottom.

Cover the top with a strong wire screen. This is where you put the fish. Build a small fire in the drum by reaching in through the opening at the bottom.

Wood from fruit trees makes good fuel for your fire. The wood will give the smoked fish good color and taste. Hardwoods such as hickory, oak⁴ and ash also burn well.

It is important to keep the fire small, so it does not burn the fish. You want a lot of smoke but very little flame. One way to get a lot of smoke is to use green wood, not dried wood.

You should smoke the fish for five days or longer if you plan to store them for a long time. After you finish smoking the fish, remove them and let them cool. Then wrap⁵ them in clean paper. Put the fish in baskets and keep them in a cool, dry place off the ground. Dried fish must be kept completely⁶ dry until they are eaten.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report. Transcripts⁷, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 smoking   

n.吸烟，抽烟；冒烟

参考例句：

• He was wise to give up smoking.他戒烟是明智的。
• He has decided to cut out smoking and drinking.他已决心戒烟、戒酒。

2 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？

3 sunlight   

n.日光，阳光，日照

参考例句：

• The room was flooded with warm and golden sunlight.房间充满着温暖、金色的阳光。
• In the bright sunlight she had to narrow her eyes.在强烈阳光下她必须眯着双眼。

4 oak   

n.栎树，橡树，栎木，橡木

参考例句：

• The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
• The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。

5 wrap   

n.外套，围巾，包裹，限制，约束，秘密；vt.包装，卷，缠绕，包，裹，覆盖，遮蔽，隐藏

参考例句：

• You'd better wrap it with a piece of clean cloth.你最好用一块干净的布把它包起来。
• You can wrap the skirt around your waist.你可以把裙子围在腰间。

6 completely   

adv.完全地，十分地，全然

参考例句：

• She never completely gave up hope.她从不完全放弃希望。
• I feel completely in the dark on this question.这件事使我感到茫然。

7 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句