Spices托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

Spices托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、Spices托福听力原文：

Narrator:Listen to part of a lecture in a European history class.Female Professor:In order to really study the social history of the Middle Ages,you have to understand the role of spices.Now,this might sound a little surprising,even a little strange,but what seem like little things now were,back then,actually rather big things.So,first let’s define what a spice is.Technically speaking,a spice is part of an aromatic plant that is not a leaf,or herb.

Spices can come from tree bark,like,ah,cinnamon,plant roots like ginger,flower buds like cloves.And in the Middle Ages,Europeans were familiar with lots of different spices,the most important being pepper,cloves,ginger,cinnamon,mace,and nutmeg.These spices literally dominated the way Europeans lived for centuries—how they traded and,uh,even how they used their imaginations.So why this medieval fascination with spices?We can boil it down to three general ideas,briefly.

One was cost and rarity,ah,two was exotic taste and fragrance,and third,mysterious origins and a kind of mythical status.Now,for cost and rarity:Spices aren’t native to Europe,and they had to be imported.Spices only grew in the East Indies,and of course transportation costs were astronomical.So spices were incredibly valuable,even from the very beginning.

Here’s an example,um,in 408 A.D.,the Gothic general who'd captured Rome demanded payment.He wanted 5,000 pounds of gold,among other things,but he also wanted 3,000 pounds of pepper.Maybe that’ll give you an idea of exactly where pepper stood at the time.By the Middle Ages,spices were regarded as so important and expensive,they were used in diplomacy—as gifts by heads of state and ambassadors.Now,for the taste,the diet then was relatively bland compared to today’s.There wasn't much variety.Uh,especially the aristocracy,who tended to eat a lot of meat,um,they were always looking for new ways to prepare it—new sauces,new tastes,and this is where spices came in.Now this is a good point to mention one of the biggest myths about spices:

It’s commonly said that medieval Europeans wanted spices to cover up the taste of spoiled meat,but this isn’t really true.Anyone who had to worry about spoiled meat couldn't afford spices in the first place.If you could afford spices,you could definitely afford fresh meat.

We also have evidence that various medieval markets employed a kind of police,to make sure that people didn't sell spoiled food.And if you were caught doing it,you were subject to various fines,humiliating public punishments.So,what actually was true was this:In order to have meat for the winter,people would preserve it in salt—not a spice.Spices,actually,aren’t very effective as preservatives.

And,uh,throughout winter they would eat salted meat,but the taste of the stuff could grow really boring and,and depressing after a while.So the cooks started looking for new ways to improve the taste,and spices were the answer.Now the ancient Romans had a thriving spice trade,and they sent their ships to the east and back.

But when Rome collapsed in the fifth century and the Middle Ages began,um,direct trade stopped,and,uh,so did that kind of hands-on knowledge of travel and geography.Spices now came by way of the trade routes,with lots of intermediaries between the producer and the consumer.So these spices took on an air of mystery.Their origins were shrouded in exotic travels;they had the allure of the unknown,of wild places.

Myths grew up of fantasy lands,magical faraway places made entirely of food and spices.Add to that,spices themselves had always been considered special,or magical—not just for eating—and this was already true in the ancient world where legends about spices were abundant.Spices inspired the medieval imagination,they were used as medicines to ward off diseases,and mixed into perfumes,incense.

They were used in religious rituals for thousands of years.They took on a life of their own,and they inspired the medieval imagination,spurred on the age of discovery in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries:When famous explorers like Columbus and Da Gama and Magellan left Europe in their ships,they weren't looking for a new world;they were looking for spices.And we know what important historical repercussions some of those voyages had.

二、Spices托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在欧洲历史课上听一节课的一部分。女教授：为了真正研究中世纪的社会历史，你必须了解香料的作用。现在，这听起来可能有点奇怪，甚至有点奇怪，但现在看起来很小的事情，在当时，实际上是相当大的事情。那么，首先让我们定义什么是香料。从技术上讲，香料是芳香植物的一部分，而不是叶子或草本植物。

香料可以来自树皮，比如肉桂，植物根比如生姜，花蕾比如丁香。在中世纪，欧洲人熟悉许多不同的香料，最重要的是胡椒、丁香、生姜、肉桂、肉豆蔻和肉豆蔻。数百年来，这些香料实际上主宰了欧洲人的生活方式——他们的交易方式，甚至他们的想象力。那么，为什么中世纪对香料如此着迷呢？我们可以简单地将其归结为三个总体思路。

一是成本和稀有，啊，二是异国情调和香味，三是神秘的起源和一种神秘的身份。现在，出于成本和稀有性考虑：香料并非原产于欧洲，必须进口。香料只在东印度群岛生长，当然运输成本是天文数字。所以香料是非常有价值的，即使从一开始。

这里有一个例子，嗯，公元408年，占领罗马的哥特式将军要求付款。除其他外，他想要5000磅黄金，但他还想要3000磅胡椒。也许这会让你知道pepper当时的确切位置。到了中世纪，香料被视为如此重要和昂贵，它们被国家元首和大使用作外交礼物。现在，就口味而言，与今天相比，当时的饮食相对平淡，种类不多。呃，尤其是贵族，他们往往吃很多肉，嗯，他们总是在寻找新的方法来准备新的酱汁，新的口味，这就是香料的来源。现在，这是一个很好的观点，可以提及关于香料的最大神话之一：

人们常说，中世纪的欧洲人想要用香料来掩盖变质肉的味道，但事实并非如此。任何一个不得不担心变质肉的人，一开始都买不起香料。如果你买得起香料，你肯定买得起鲜肉。

我们也有证据表明，中世纪的各个市场都雇佣了一种警察，以确保人们不会出售变质的食物。如果你被发现这样做，你会受到各种罚款，侮辱性的公开惩罚。所以，事实上是这样的：为了过冬，人们会把肉放在盐里，而不是放在香料里。实际上，香料作为防腐剂不是很有效。

而且，呃，整个冬天他们都会吃咸肉，但过了一段时间，咸肉的味道会变得非常乏味和压抑。因此，厨师们开始寻找新的方法来改善口味，香料就是答案。现在，古罗马人的香料贸易十分兴盛，他们将船只开往东部，然后再返回。

但是，当罗马在五世纪崩溃，中世纪开始，嗯，直接贸易停止了，而且，嗯，旅行和地理方面的实际知识也停止了。香料现在是通过贸易路线来的，在生产者和消费者之间有许多中间人。因此，这些香料呈现出一种神秘的气氛。他们的起源被异国旅行所掩盖；它们具有未知的、荒野的魅力。

神话起源于幻想之地，完全由食物和香料构成的神奇遥远的地方。除此之外，香料本身一直被认为是特殊的，或者说是神奇的，而不仅仅是为了食用，这在关于香料的传说非常丰富的古代世界已经是事实了。香料激发了中世纪的想象力，它们被用作防病药物，并混合成香水、熏香。

数千年来，它们被用于宗教仪式。他们开始了自己的生活，激发了中世纪的想象力，激发了十五世纪和十六世纪的发现时代：当哥伦布、达伽马和麦哲伦等著名探险家乘船离开欧洲时，他们并不是在寻找一个新世界；他们在找香料。我们也知道其中一些航行会产生什么重要的历史影响。

三、Spices托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What is the main purpose of the lecture?

A.To explore the use of spices in cooking in the Middle Ages

B.To explain the significance of spices for medieval society

C.To describe how the spice trade evolved in medieval Europe

D.To examine changes in the role that spices played in the Middle Ages

Q2:2.Based on the lecture,indicate whether each of the following is true about spices in medieval Europe.[Click in the correct boxes.]

Q3:3.What two factors explain why medieval Europeans did not use spices to cover the taste of spoiled meat?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.Fresh meat was less expensive than spices were.

B.Spices were mainly used in incense and perfume.

C.The sale of spoiled food was prohibited.

D.Salt was cheaper than most spices were.

Q4:4.Why does the professor mention the collapse of the Roman Empire?

A.To indicate that the spice trade became more direct

B.To explain why the price of pepper suddenly increased

C.To indicate that spices were not available in Europe for centuries

D.To explain why the origins of spices became more mysterious

Q5:5.What does the professor say about European explorers during the age of discovery?

A.Their discoveries caused the price of certain spices to increase.

B.They were responding to the demand for spices.

C.They did not expect to find spices during their explorations.

D.Their main goal was to discover unknown lands.

Q6:6.Why does the professor say this.

A.To indicate that pepper was commonly used as payment.

B.To indicate where pepper could be found at the time.

C.To emphasize the high value of pepper at the time.

D.To suggest that pepper was nearly as plentiful as gold.

四、Spices托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：B

A2:正确答案：AABAB

A3:正确答案：AC

A4:正确答案：D

A5:正确答案：B

A6:正确答案：C