TED演讲：气味背后的科学(2)

 　　Now, while the smell wafts¹ over you, let me tell you the history of an idea.  现在，趁着香味还萦绕在你们周围，我来为你们介绍一个想法形成的过程。

　　Everything that you're smelling in here is made up of atoms that come from what I call the Upper East Side of the periodic² table -- a nice, safe neighborhood.  现在你所闻到的都是由这样一些原子组成的，他们来自被我称为元素周期表“上东区”的地方--一个美好而安全的街区。

　　You really don't want to leave it if you want to have a career in perfumery.  如果你想从事香水业，你一定不想离开这个地方。

　　Some people have tried in the 1920s to add things from the bad parts, and it didn't really work. 二十世纪二十年代有一些人尝试在香水中添加来自“坏街区”的原子，没有成功。

　　These are the five atoms from which just about everything that you're going to smell in real life, from coffee to fragrance³, are made of.  这五个原子可以组成从咖啡到香水，现实生活中你所能闻到的一切。

　　The top note that you smelled at the very beginning, the cut-grass green, what we call in perfumery -- they're weird⁴ terms -- and this would be called a green note,  你们最开始闻到的“前味”用香水专有名词说就是割下来青草的香味，听起来很奇怪，这一类被称为绿叶调，

　　because it smells of something green, like cut grass. 闻起来像绿色的东西，比如割下来的青草。

　　This is cis-3-hexene-1-ol.  它的成分是顺式-3-已烯-1-醇。

　　And I had to learn chemistry on the fly in the last three years.  过去的三年里，我可是在匆忙之中学的化学。

　　A very expensive high school chemistry education.  在一所十分昂贵的中学的化学课上学的。

　　This has six carbon atoms, so "hexa," hexene-1-ol.  它有六个碳原子，所以写作“hexa”，已烯-1-醇。

　　It has one double bond, it has an alcohol on the end, so it's "ol," and that’s why they call it cis-3-hexene-1-ol.  它有一个双键，在一端有一个乙醇，这是它的“醇”，这就是为什么大家称之为顺式-3-已烯-1-醇。

　　Once you figure this out, you can really impress people at parties. 一旦你弄清楚它的结构，你就可以在派对上卖弄了。

1 wafts   

n.空中飘来的气味，一阵气味( waft的名词复数 )；摇转风扇v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A breeze wafts the sweet smell of roses. 微风吹来了玫瑰花的芬芳（香味）。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A breeze wafts the smell of roses. 微风吹送玫瑰花香气。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 periodic   

adj.周期的，定期的，时而发生的

参考例句：

• Long long ago,we knew the periodic motion of a planet.很久以前，我们就知道行星的周期运动。
• These arrangements are subject to periodic reviews.这几项安排每隔一定时间须予复查。

3 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。