英国学生科学读本 第30期:马铃薯(2)

 　　Below the ground the stem is swelling¹ out into little beads² that will grow into new potatoes for us. The earthmust be piled up round the stems, so as to cover the potatoes and keep them from the light.

　　地下的茎会长出小珠子一样的东西, 小珠子又会长成新的马铃薯给我们吃。地下茎周围一定要堆上土, 盖住马铃薯, 不让它们见光。

　　In August the stem and the leaves wither³. After that we can dig up the potatoes, and we shall find that each set has given us perhaps eight or ten.

　　八月, 马铃薯的茎和叶子就会枯萎, 之后我们就可以把马铃薯挖出来了, 每一个种下的马铃薯块大概会长出8–10个马铃薯。

　　But does the potato plant bear no fruit? Yes; when the flowers drop off, we see little green balls, which we call "potato apples. " These "potato apples" are real fruits, with seeds inside them.

　　但是马铃薯不长果实吗? 长。花落了以后, 我们会看见很小的绿球, 这些绿球叫“马铃薯果”。这些马铃薯果是真正的果实, 里面含有种子。

　　But if we sow these seeds, we shall only get small plants. The potatoes grown from these seeds will be no larger than marbles.

　　但是如果种下这些种子, 只能得到很小的马铃薯。种子长出来的马铃薯, 顶多也只有玻璃球那么大。

　　What is the potato made of? There is a great deal of water in it, and the solid part is nearly all starch⁴. You can easily make potato starch by grating down a potato in a basin of water. Strain the white water through some muslin, and let it stand till all the tiny white grains of starch sink to the bottom. Then pour away the water, and dry the starch in a saucer.

　　马铃薯的成分是什么呢? 里面有很多水分, 固体的部分几乎全是淀粉。要得到马铃薯淀粉很容易：把一个马铃薯在一盆水里磨碎, 把白色的水用细棉布过滤一遍, 放置一段时间, 直到细小的淀粉碎屑都沉到底下。把水倒掉, 再将淀粉在碟子里晾干就行了。

1 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

2 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

3 wither   

vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡

参考例句：

• She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
• In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天，树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。

4 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。