环球英语 — 330：Food Taboos

　　Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight¹ program. I’m Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
The Fugu fish is one of the most deadly fish in the sea. When something attacks the Fugu fish, the Fugu fish fills with air, like a balloon. So people also call it the blow fish or puffer fish.
Voice 2
There is enough poison² in one Fugu fish to kill thirty [30] people. But people still eat it! However it must be prepared correctly. If a person eats a piece of incorrectly³ prepared Fugu fish, he will die.
Voice 1
Preparing Fugu is a difficult job. Before a person can prepare Fugu, she spends two years studying under a master cook. She must pass a special Fugu test. The test is very difficult. Only one out of every three people pass.
Voice 2
Fugu is unsafe to prepare and eat. It costs a lot of money. And it can have a weak taste. But Fugu is very popular. So why would so many people want to eat it? Fugu is taboo⁴.
Voice 1
Today, on Spotlight we will look at foods that are taboo. In any culture, taboos⁵ are very important. A taboo describes something that is set apart - it is held away from other things. A taboo food is a food that most people will not eat. But a food that is taboo in one culture may be acceptable⁶ in another.
Voice 2
People have strong opinions about what is good to eat. People also have strong opinions about what is not good to eat. This is true in every country. Fugu comes from Japan, but food taboos exist all around the world.
Voice 1
For example, in some countries people do not eat dogs. This is because people keep dogs as pets - as their animal friends. Or it may be for religious⁷ reasons. This is not the case in many countries. For example, in some parts of China, people eat dog meat. In these places, eating a dog would not be a taboo.
Voice 2
So where do food taboos come from? Some food taboos come from religion. What we eat is connected to what we believe. People eat cows in many parts of the world. But to Hindus in India, cows are taboo. They choose not to eat these important animals.
Voice 1
But not all food taboos come from religion. Some develop out of tradition. Food taboos can celebrate a common history and bring people together.
Voice 2
Every February, the people of Iceland hold a celebration⁸, called Thorrablot. This is a celebration of Iceland’s history and culture. And food is an important part of Thorrablot - especially taboo food. Usually, decaying¹⁰ food is an important taboo. Decayed¹¹ food can have dangerous bacteria¹². But at Thorrablot, one of the important foods is decaying shark meat.
Voice 1
These large fish eat other fish. Sometimes they even attack people! Sharks are found in many places around the world. But in Iceland, the sharks contain many particular chemicals to protect them from the freezing water. These chemicals would be harmful to people. So, to eat the shark meat, cooks must use an unusual method.
Voice 2
First the cooks cut the shark into pieces. Then, they put the pieces in boxes. The pieces begin to decay⁹. As the chemicals leak¹³ from the meat, the meat starts to smell like human liquid waste. After several months, the cooks hang the pieces of shark in the air. This speeds the decaying process. After months of decay, the shark is ready to be served and eaten. Even then, it does not smell good.
Voice 1
But the people eating the shark say it is a way to remember their history and culture. One cook said,
Voice 3
“The point is to take care of this tradition. We have fun with it. We know what it is and we do not forget it. We will not forget where we come from.”
Voice 1
Another reason people eat taboo foods is for the supposed medical effects. For example, in Asian countries, some people eat the male sex organ of a bull¹⁴, a male cow. This food taboo has a special effect. People believe it will give them a strong desire for sex.
Voice 2
This thinking is not always based on modern medicine. Instead, it is part of a long tradition that connects eating well to good health. After all, food was the first medicine.
Voice 1
Not all food taboos have a tradition that goes back many hundred years. Until 1947, India was under British rule. During this time, children with one British parent and one Indian parent were rejected by both cultures. These rejected people formed a separate¹⁵ culture. It has its own rules about food. One special food is kutti pi.
Voice 2
Kutti pi is made from a taboo food - a fetus¹⁶. A fetus is an unborn animal, taken from the body of its mother. Usually, people make kutti pi using a sheep fetus. Eating it is supposed to help pregnant¹⁷ women stay healthy. But people do not eat kutti pi often. It can only be made when a pregnant animal is killed.
Voice 1
Would you eat kutti pi? What about decaying shark meat? There is an English saying: “You are what you eat.” Food is important to us. It is easy to react¹⁸ to taboo foods with emotion. New or strange foods may be the most difficult thing to accept about a new culture. When we hear what other people eat it is easy to judge them. It is easy to believe that since they eat strange things, they must be strange people.
Voice 2
There is a story in the Bible¹⁹ about food choices. Some people were arguing about the correct way to prepare for a meal. They were concerned about being unclean. So they asked Jesus what he thought. Jesus told them:
Voice 1
“Nothing outside of you can make you dirty by going into you. It is what comes out of you that makes you dirty. What is outside does not go into the heart. It goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body.”
[Bible - Mark 7:15-22]
Voice 2
What comes out of people makes them dirty. Evil²⁰ thinking comes from the inside, from people’s hearts. So do wrong actions. Food taboos help people understand each other. But, we should remember that what people do is more important than what they eat. How they love is more important than what they cook. And the food they put in their mouth is not as important as the words that come out.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

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 incorrectly   

adv.错误地

参考例句：

• The oral message was incorrectly transmitted.口信传达错了。
• I'v filled in this form incorrectly.Can I have another blank?我把表格填错了。再给我一张空白的，可以吗？

4 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

5 taboos   

禁忌( taboo的名词复数 )； 忌讳； 戒律； 禁忌的事物（或行为）

参考例句：

• She was unhorsed by fences, laws and alien taboos. 她被藩蓠、法律及外来的戒律赶下了马。
• His mind was charged with taboos. 他头脑里忌讳很多。

6 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

7 religious   

adj.宗教性的，虔诚的，宗教上的；n.修道士，出家人

参考例句：

• She is very religious person who goes to church every Sunday.她十分虔诚，每个星期天都上教堂。
• It is hard for me to reject religious beliefs.要我抛弃自己的宗教信仰是困难的。

8 celebration   

n.庆祝，庆祝会；典礼

参考例句：

• The celebration passed off successfully.庆祝活动圆满结束。
• The celebration of Christmas is a custom.庆祝圣诞节是一种习俗。

9 decay   

vi.腐烂，衰落；n.腐烂，腐朽，衰败状态

参考例句：

• The vegetables have begun to decay.那些蔬菜已开始腐烂。
• Our powers decay in old age.我们的体力在老年时就衰退。

10 decaying   

v.（使）腐烂，腐朽( decay的现在分词 )；衰败，衰退，衰落

参考例句：

• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

11 decayed   

a.腐败的，被蛀的

参考例句：

• New Shoreham, now sadly decayed, has barely 100 inhabitants. 如今已经衰落的新肖勒姆仅有100 名居民，很令人伤感。
• The place stank of decayed fish. 那地方有烂鱼的臭味。

12 bacteria   

n.(单数bacterium)细菌

参考例句：

• Bacteria are invisible to the naked eye.细菌是肉眼看不见的。
• The biology of bacteria can be quite hard to understand.细菌生物学有时会很难理解。

13 leak   

vi.漏，渗；泄漏；vt.使渗漏，使泄漏；n.漏洞，漏隙；泄漏，漏出

参考例句：

• There is a leak in the roof.房顶上有个漏洞。
• There has been a leak of information.走漏了风声。

14 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

15 separate   

n.分开，抽印本；adj.分开的，各自的，单独的；v.分开，隔开，分居

参考例句：

• Are they joined together or separate?它们是合在一起还是分开的？
• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering.洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。

16 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

17 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

18 react   

vi.起反应，起作用；反抗，起反作用

参考例句：

• She didn't look up or react in any way.她既不抬头，也没有任何反应。
• How did he react to your suggestion?他如何对待你的建议？

19 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

20 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。