【英语趣味课堂】蘑菇-Mushrooms

One of my friends told me she read a story in the paper today about a man who died from eating mushrooms, which I thought was quite strange because this old man lived in the mountains I think, or lived in a country area where he would have eaten mushrooms almost every day, I think, or while they were in season at least, so it made me think of when I was younger and I used to go out picking mushrooms with my granddad, so sometimes, around now, around autumn time, when it had been a very, very wet night, maybe especially that would be good for finding¹ mushrooms the next day, so we'd go out maybe, maybe three or four of us, my brother and I, and my granddad, sometimes other members of the family would come to or other children who are around to play, and we go picking mushrooms, but I don't think I ever, well, I suppose I did pick up mushrooms, but most of them, most of them were the same type so we didn't have to worry to much about poisonous mushrooms where we were cause I think there mostly they were, they were OK, but my granddad would have told us anyway which ones we could pick and which ones we couldn't, so it seems strange to me that a man who, who you know would have been really familiar with these mushrooms would actually die from it, but I haven't read the whole story, so I'm not really sure what happened but my friend seems to think that he ate these mushrooms a lot and then it was just a gradual³ build up of the poison² in his system, which is kind of an awful way to die really, especially when you are, when you live that close to nature and you're eating all the food that nature offers you, that nature always offered us.

 

It does seem a bit unfair really, but yeah, there are lots of foods I suppose that can do you more harm in the long run, but in Ireland⁴ as well, my mother was really surprised that I started eating raw mushrooms, so while I was in Australia we used to have raw mushrooms and sandwiches, which I never had before, but I thought was quite tasty, so when I went home I'd made some sandwiches with raw mushrooms but my mother was really surprised and was wondering what the hell⁵ I was doing eating raw mushrooms because we never ate them, unless they were cooked so I suppose that was one way as well as insuring⁶ that they were safe to eat, that maybe well my mother seemed to think anyway that raw mushrooms were, would be quite dangerous, also one of my colleagues⁷ this morning asked me if I'd ever eaten a pine mushroom, so I'd never heard of before but, he was telling me that, that they're a delicacy⁸ here in Japan and that I should really try one, even though they are very expensive, he said between 3 and 5 thousand yen⁹, I think they cost, so I'm not really sure, what the taste is but maybe they're something like I don't know. I think, he said something like that there was a really strong smell, so maybe a similar smell to truffles in France or Italy maybe. I'm not to sure, but sounds interesting anyway. 

学习内容：

in season

 

He would have eaten mushrooms almost every day, I think, or while they were in season at least.

When a food is 'in season' it means¹⁰ that it is the time when it is the ripest and freshest. The season for a fruit or vegetable is the time when it naturally grows.

Notice the following:

 

When you eat food that is in season you always get a tasty meal. 

The apples are in season now as it is late summer. 

familiar

 

It seems strange to me that a man who would have been really familiar with these mushrooms would actually die from it.

If you are 'familiar' with something it means that you have a lot of experience with it, it's not something new for you.

Notice the following:

 

Do I know you? You look familiar. 

The song is very familiar, I think my mum used to sing it to me when I was younger. 

build up

 

It was just a gradual build up of the poison in his system.

When there is a 'build up' of something it means that the level gradually¹¹ increases. 

Notice the following:

 

The money in my account¹² really started to build up when I saved my money. 

When you eat unhealthy food your fat levels can build up. 

long run

 

There are lots of foods I suppose that can do you more harm in the long run.

The phrase¹³ 'in the long run' refers to effect something will have over a long amount of time. 

Notice the following:

 

If you persist¹⁴ at something it will pay off in the long run. 

In the long run healthy eating means that you will live longer. 

delicacy

 

They're a delicacy here in Japan.

A 'delicacy' means that the food is considered special in a particular culture. Delicacies¹⁵ are usually foods that are uncommon¹⁶ and expensive.

Notice the following:

 

When I go to new countries I like to try the delicacies. 

If you order the delicacies of the country then you get a good idea of their culture. 

1 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

2 poison   

n.毒药；毒害；vt./vi.毒害；投毒

参考例句：

• The bottle is labelled "Poison".瓶上标明“有毒”。
• Don't allow evil thoughts to poison young people's minds.不允许邪念毒害青年。

3 gradual   

adj.逐渐的，渐增的，徐徐的；n.赞美诗

参考例句：

• The doctor noticed a gradual improvement in his patient.医生注意到病人在逐渐恢复健康。
• To learn a language we must follow the principle of gradual improvement.学习语言必须遵循循序渐进的原则。

4 Ireland   

n.爱尔兰(西欧国家)；爱尔兰岛(西欧)

参考例句：

• Ireland lies to the west of England.爱尔兰位于英格兰之西。
• Dublin is the capital of Ireland.都柏林是爱尔兰的首都。

5 hell   

n.地狱，阴间；用以咒骂或表示愤怒，不满

参考例句：

• It's a hell of a hike from Sydney to Perth.从悉尼到珀斯的徒步旅行简直苦死了。
• The boss really gave me hell today.老板今天着实数落了我一通。

6 insuring   

保证( insure的现在分词 )； 确保； 为…保险； 投保

参考例句：

• Now he was much struck with his father's negligence in not insuring South's life. 可现在，由于父亲当年疏忽，没有给苏斯作人寿保险，他要遭受巨大的打击了。
• I shall not rest satisfied with merely employing my capital in insuring ships. 光是在船舶保险上投资我才不满意呢。

7 colleagues   

n.同事，同僚( colleague的名词复数 )；同人

参考例句：

• He wanted to confer with his colleagues before reaching a decision. 他想与他的同事先商议一下再作出决定。
• She is held in high esteem by her colleagues. 她深受同事的敬重。

8 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

9 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

10 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

11 gradually   

adv.逐渐地

参考例句：

• The roaring sea gradually calmed down.咆哮的大海逐渐平静下来。
• Gradually he became silent.渐渐地他变得沉默寡言了。

12 account   

n.叙述；帐目；帐户

参考例句：

• She left out an important item in her account.她的账目漏掉了一个重要的项目。
• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account.他从银行账户上提了几次款。

13 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

14 persist   

v.持续，存留；坚持不懈，执意

参考例句：

• The bad weather will persist all over the country.这种坏天气将在全国各地持续下去。
• His strength of will enabled him to persist.他的意志力使他能坚持下去。

15 delicacies   

n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到

参考例句：

• Its flesh has exceptional delicacies. 它的肉异常鲜美。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After these delicacies, the trappers were ready for their feast. 在享用了这些美食之后，狩猎者开始其大餐。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗

16 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。