英语听力文摘 English Digest 583、爆米花是健康的零食？！

 　　Popcorn¹ Makes A Perfect, Healthy Snack

 

　　Dear A Moment of Science,

 

　　I love to snack, but I also want to lose weight. The problem is, I really hate vegetables and fruit, at least as snack foods. I want something with a little salt, a little crunch². So are there any salty, crunchy snacks that are actually good for me?

 

　　--secrete snack

 

　　Well, if snacking on baby carrots isn’t your bag, and crisp grapes don’t deliver the sort of crunch you’re looking for, there is one snack that may do the trick: popcorn.

 

　　Wait. I’ve always thought of popcorn as, well, as straight up junk food. Isn’t popcorn full of salt and butter and all sorts of other high fat, high-calory stuff?

 

　　Sure, if you’re talking about movie theater popcorn, or caramel corn, or the bagged, cheese sprayed junk at the grocery store. But plain, simple popcorn is not only a healthful snack but also one of the most nutritious³ foods you can eat.

 

　　Popcorn is a whole grain that’s high in fiber⁴ and low in calories. Beyond that, food researchers have found that popcorn is teeming⁵ with antioxidant molecules⁶ that help protect against cancer, heart disease and other illnesses, and repair damaged cells. In fact, like many whole grains, popcorn has more antioxidants than most fruits and vegetables.

 

　　It’s still not clear what percentage of those antioxidants is absorbed by the body. But in any case, if you air-pop popcorn and don’t douse⁷ it in butter, salt, and other less healthful things, popcorn is really a very nutritious snack.

 

 

 

　　爆米花是健康的零食？

 

　　亲爱的科学一刻节目：

 

　　我酷爱零食，但也希望减轻体重。问题在于我非常讨厌蔬菜和水果，至少作为零食而言。我想吃略带咸味的香脆食物。有没有这样少盐香脆又对我有益的食物呢？

 

　　--匿名的零食爱好者

 

　　好吧，如果小胡萝卜不合你的胃口，脆葡萄又不能带给你想象中的嘎吱脆感。那么有一种零食能符合要求：爆米花。

 

　　等等，我向来都认为爆米花是实实在在的垃圾食品。爆米花不是富含盐分，黄油，又集高脂肪、高卡路里于一身的食物吗？

 

　　如果你说的是电影院卖的那种爆米花或是焦糖玉米，抑或是食品店里出售的那种满是奶酪的垃圾食品的话，那确实如此。但普通的制作简单的爆米花不仅是一种健康的零食同时也是对你有益的最有营养的食物之一。

 

　　爆米花是一种高纤维、低卡路里的全谷物食品。除此以外，食品研究人员发现爆米花富含抗氧化分子，这种分子能帮助机体抵御肿瘤，心脏病及其它疾病的发生，并且能够修复受损细胞。事实上，同许多全谷物食品一样，爆米花所含的抗氧化物远高于水果和蔬菜。

 

　　目前人体能够吸收的抗氧化物比例尚未明确。但无论如何，如果你只是单纯的制作爆米花，不添加黄油、盐、及其他对健康无益的辅料，那爆米花的确是当之无愧的健康零食。

1 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

2 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

3 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• 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。

4 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

5 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

6 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 douse   

v.把…浸入水中，用水泼；n.泼洒

参考例句：

• Men came with buckets of water and began to douse the flames.人们提来一桶桶水灭火。
• He doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.他用灭火器把火焰扑灭。