【英语时差8,16】芦笋-上

Hey Don, do you like asparagus? Yep, I love it Yael, can't get enough. But don't you notice there's a certain problem after you've eaten it? Problem? Yeah, everybody knows that eating asparagus can cause a rather unpleasant smell in your urine. I didn't know that. Oh, that's right. Not everybody is an excretor of the odoriferous compound. And not everybody can perceive the odor, either. Both those traits are genetic¹. But what causes it? well, that's a good question. No one’s really sure. We do know that the pungent² chemical is some kind of sulfur³ based compound. But scientists have been trying to find the exact identity of it since the 1890s.More recently, researchers found out that the smell is actually caused by a malodorous cocktail⁴ of six sulfur containing compounds.

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 pungent   

adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a pungent style.文章写得泼辣。
• Its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts.它的刺激性气味会令恐怖分子窒息，迫使他们从藏身地点逃脱出来。

3 sulfur   

n.硫，硫磺（=sulphur）

参考例句：

• Sulfur emissions from steel mills become acid rain.炼钢厂排放出的硫形成了酸雨。
• Burning may produce sulfur oxides.燃烧可能会产生硫氧化物。

4 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。