美国国家公共电台 NPR Do Showers Make Oranges Taste Better? NPR Investigates

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Every once in a while here at the show, we read about something that makes us go, what?

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Like eating an orange in the shower. We read about this in VICE¹.

CORNISH: Now, apparently² this is a thing. It has its own active Reddit sub-thread, and it is called Shower Orange.

SHAPIRO: You can read about how this idea got started someplace else. Right now, we want to get straight to the claim that apparently many people make that eating oranges in the shower will change your life.

CORNISH: Of course we had to try it.

SHAPIRO: So three men, three showers and a bowl of oranges.

SAM SANDERS, BYLINE³: OK, Sam Sanders here in the NPR locker⁴ room with my colleagues Scott Horsley and Geoff Brumfiel. And we are about to eat oranges in the shower because why not, OK? Let's go.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Cool.

GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE: Cool.

HORSLEY: You know, Sam, I actually have worked both in California and in Florida, the two big orange-producing states in the country, and there's a little bit of trash talk between the growers in those two regions. The...

SANDERS: Oh, really?

HORSLEY: ...Floridians say you could run over a California orange with a steamroller, and you don't even wet the pavement. But the California growers say if you want to eat a Florida orange, you ought to get into a bathtub. So this kind of reminds me of that.

SANDERS: Well, we're close right now, yeah. I have one that I'm going to bite into right at this moment. Here I go.

HORSLEY: It's kind of sticky, but you know, it doesn't really matter because we're in the show.

BRUMFIEL: Yeah.

SANDERS: Peeling it, it smells great.

BRUMFIEL: I do have to say it smells kind of different to me in here.

SANDERS: Like, better or worse?

BRUMFIEL: Stronger.

HORSLEY: More intense, yeah.

BRUMFIEL: Oh, there goes the peel on the floor.

SANDERS: Where does go the peel go? This is what I'm cautious about. Like, I'm worried about making a mess in the shower.

BRUMFIEL: Is kind of an anything goes thing. All right, I'm ready for my first bite here.

SANDERS: Oh.

BRUMFIEL: Oh.

SANDERS: The orange tastes good.

BRUMFIEL: Hey, guys, yeah, I think actually this does taste better. I've eaten a lot of oranges in my life. I'm noticing a difference.

SANDERS: This is making a mess.

HORSLEY: Geoff is - what are the physics going on here?

BRUMFIEL: OK, so I actually did check in with some scientists about this. They all think we're making it up, but...

(LAUGHTER)

BRUMFIEL: I asked them to give us a theory. The best theory they could come up with was that oranges release a lot of aerosols⁵. Somehow the humidity of the shower boosts all that.

SANDERS: I just - what I don't understand is why anyone needs to do this. Like, oranges and eating oranges is not that hard.

BRUMFIEL: Sam, I've got to disagree.

SANDERS: Ok.

BRUMFIEL: I'm very down with this. This is cool.

SANDERS: Well, I just, like, spilled some orange on the shower curtain. Are there going to be seeds down...

HORSLEY: You're in the shower, Sam.

SANDERS: No, but, like, are there going to be seeds down the drain?

BRUMFIEL: I have no questions. I just have another, even larger orange that I'm going to try opening now.

SANDERS: Sam Sanders here in the NPR locker room saying, I think this is dumb.

BRUMFIEL: (Laughter).

HORSLEY: I think this is a great way to eat an orange. I would not try this with a blood orange unless you want to sort of recreate the shower scene in "Psycho."

SANDERS: (Laughter).

BRUMFIEL: Great, well I got to finish my shower, so...

SANDERS: (Laughter).

BRUMFIEL: You guys just, you know, do your thing. I'm good.

SANDERS: (Laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHNNY CASH SONG, "ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL")

SHAPIRO: That is three of NPR's finest - Sam Sanders - count him a skeptic⁶ - White House correspondent Scott Horsley, shower orange fan and science editor Geoff Brumfiel. His life has changed.

CORNISH: And if you want to try this at home, please don't send photos.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

CORNISH: But please do tell us about it. We're @npratc on Twitter.

SHAPIRO: And if you would like to let me and Audie know privately⁷, I'm on Twitter @AriShapiro.

CORNISH: And I'm @nprAudie.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL")

JOHNNY CASH: (Singing) Bringing my baby back.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

5 aerosols   

n.气溶胶( aerosol的名词复数 )；喷雾剂；（气体中的）浮粒；喷雾器

参考例句：

• Aerosols are present throughout the atmosphere. 气溶胶存在于整个大气层。 来自辞典例句
• Deodorants are available as aerosols or roll-ons. 除臭剂有喷雾装或滚抹装。 来自辞典例句

6 skeptic   

n.怀疑者，怀疑论者，无神论者

参考例句：

• She is a skeptic about the dangers of global warming.她是全球变暖危险的怀疑论者。
• How am I going to convince this skeptic that she should attention to my research?我将如何使怀疑论者确信她应该关注我的研究呢？

7 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。