有声英文阅读-饮咖啡也要思源

Wake up and Smell the Coffee
饮咖啡也要思源

Some people cannot imagine starting the day without a cup of coffee. From the most fashionable cafes of Paris to the breakfast stands lining¹ the streets of Taipei, coffee has firmly established itself as one of the world's favorite beverages². For such a well-loved drink, however, few people are aware of its curious origins.

As legend goes, coffee berries were first discovered in 850 by an Ethiopian goat herder who noticed his goats were much friskier³ after having eaten the red berries of a local bush. After trying the berries himself, the goat herder felt much more energetic than usual. He disseminated⁴ the news about the wonderful berry, and soon monks⁵ were hailing it as an elixir⁶ and drinking the brew⁷ to stay awake during evening prayers.

Although coffee originated on the plateaus of Ethiopia, it was the Arabs who first cultivated it around 1100. They were also the first people to roast it and boil it. By 1475, people in Constantinople were enjoying a cup of coffee in the world's first coffee shop. Coffee spread to Europe around 1600 and to the New World seven years later.

These days, it seems you can get a cup of coffee just about everywhere you go. Every year, coffee lovers consume more than 400 billion cups of one of the world's biggest commodities-second only to oil.

有些人难以想象，不喝一杯咖啡怎么能开始一天的生活。从巴黎最流行的咖啡厅到台北街头林立的早餐店，咖啡已跻身世界最受欢迎的饮料行列。像这样广受喜爱的饮料，却很少有人明白它奇妙的起源。

传说咖啡的果实是公元850年一个埃塞俄比亚牧羊人发现的：他注意到山羊吃了当地某种灌木的红色果实之后便活蹦乱跳起来。他自己尝了一下，发现比平常更精力充沛。他到处去说这种神奇果子的消息，没多久，僧侣们就将其奉为仙丹，晚祷时喝它的酿造物而不会入睡。

咖啡原产于埃塞俄比亚高原，但首先培植咖啡树的却是公元1100年左右的阿拉伯人。他们也是第一个烘焙、烹煮咖啡的人。到了公元1475年，君士坦丁堡人就在全世界第一家咖啡馆里享用起了一杯咖啡。咖啡约于西元1600年传到欧洲，七年后再传入新大陆。

现在，无论你身在何方，咖啡似乎都唾手可得。爱喝咖啡的人每年要喝掉四千亿杯咖啡。咖啡俨然成为世界最大宗的商品──仅次于石油。

1 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

2 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

3 friskier   

adj.活泼的，闹着玩的( frisky的比较级 )

参考例句：

4 disseminated   

散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
• Berkovitz had contracted polio after ingesting a vaccine disseminated under federal supervision. 伯考维茨在接种了在联邦监督下分发的牛痘疫苗后传染上脊髓灰质炎。

5 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 elixir   

n.长生不老药，万能药

参考例句：

• There is no elixir of life in the world.世界上没有长生不老药。
• Keep your mind awake and active;that's the only youth elixir.保持头脑清醒和灵活便是保持年轻的唯一灵丹妙药。

7 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。