英语口语畅谈世界文化之荷兰63:Tulips郁金香mp3

英语口语畅谈世界文化

之荷兰

63 Tulips 郁金香

M: Man            W: Woman
M：男人           W：女人

M: I want to get some flowers for my girlfriend’s birthday but she absolutely hates roses.
M：我想买些花为我女朋友庆祝生日，可是她一点也不喜欢玫瑰。

W: Have you thought about tulips?
W：你有没有想过买郁金香呢？

M: They’re from Holland, aren’t they?
M：郁金香产自荷兰，是吧？

W: They are grown in Holland, yes. But originally they came from Central Asia where they grew wild.
W：是的，它们是长在荷兰。但它们原本是长在中亚地区的野生植物。

M: Really?
M：真的吗？

W: The flower was introduced in Western Europe and the Netherlands in the 17th century by Carolus Clusius, a famous biologist from Vienna.
W：17世纪时，一位著名的维也纳生物学家卡罗拉斯•克鲁休斯把郁金香引入西欧和荷兰。

M: Oh, I see. Sounds like a good choice, they were very different to roses.
M：哦，我知道了。这样听起来买郁金香是个不错的选择，毕竟跟玫瑰很不一样。

W: Very different, some people believed they had medicinal powers.
W：区别是很大，有些人认为郁金香还有药效。

M: Well, I just need them to look pretty. They were very popular as a trading product, especially in Holland. Are your tulips very expensive?
M：哦，我只要它们看起来漂亮就行。郁金香以前作为一种商品还是很受欢迎的，尤其在荷兰。你这儿的这种花很贵吗？

W: That was years ago. Nowadays they are very reasonably priced. We have many different kinds, because botanists in the 1500s found ways to make the tulip even more decorative and tempting. Hybrids and mutations of the flower were seen as rarities and a sign of high status.
W：几年前是很贵。现在价格相当合理了。我们的郁金香有很多品种。16世纪时植物学家们发现了使郁金香变得更漂亮动人的方法。杂交和变异的郁金香被认为是稀有品种，也是高贵身份的标志。

M: OK, so that must have marked the beginning of “Tulipmania”, I think they are probably still as popular today. My parents love to go to Holland to see all of the different types growing there. I had never really considered buying them before, though.
M：所以，那肯定标志着“郁金香狂潮*”的开端。我想这样的郁金香现在仍然很受欢迎。我父母喜欢去荷兰欣赏那里种植的所有种类的郁金香。不过我以前真的从来没想过买它。

W: In those days tulips looked very different from the ones we can see today. The tulip became so popular because of its bright colours, dramatic flames and frilly petals.
W：那时候的郁金香跟我们现在所看到的大不一样。人们那么喜欢它是因为它亮丽的色彩、惊人的光芒和褶皱的花瓣。

M: Frilly petals? But these are totally smooth, I thought all tulips had smooth petals.
M：褶皱的花瓣？但这些郁金香的花瓣都很平滑啊，我一直以为所有郁金香的花瓣都是平滑的。

W: In the 20th century it was discovered that the frilly petals and dramatic flames that gave the flower its stunning look were, in fact, the symptoms of an infection by the mosaic virus.
W：20世纪时人们发现褶皱花瓣和惊人的光芒使郁金香看起来更加漂亮动人，但实际上这是它们感染了花叶病毒而引起的一种病症。

M: A virus? So that’s why today we think tulips should be solid, smooth and monotone. Where did the virus come from?
M：一种病毒？这就是为什么我们今天认为郁金香应该是花瓣厚实、平滑和单色的原因。这些病毒都是哪儿来的？

W: The virus came to the tulip from a louse living on peaches and potatoes. We can still find some varieties with frilly petals today, but they are hybrids. The diseased varieties are no longer sold.
W：这些病毒来自于桃子和土豆上的一种寄生虫。今天我们仍然可以看到很多带褶皱花瓣的郁金香变种，但它们都是杂交的。那些带病的郁金香变种不再出售了。

M: Good, because I don’t think my girlfriend would be too happy with sick flowers!
 M：很好，我想我女朋友也不会太喜欢带病的花儿。

【单词词组】
grow wild 野生
medical power 有药效
hybrid and mutation   杂交和变异
a sign of high status 有身份的象征

【背景介绍】
郁金香狂潮：郁金香在16世纪晚期从土耳其传入荷兰，起初只有富人才买得起。从17世纪30年代起，人们对郁金香的狂热开始蔓延。郁金香球茎成为投资保值的对象，人人都对其趋之若鹜。在法国，一个新娘的所有嫁妆就是一株稀有的郁金香球茎。1637年初，郁金香的价格几乎每天都在翻番。据说一个郁金香种植者因为牛吃光了他所有的存货而自杀。


郁金香学名（Tulipa），是属于百合科郁金香属的草本植物，是荷兰的国花,，荷兰人民把最接近5月15日的星期三定为全国一年一度的郁金香节。英文名：Flower of Common Tulip， Flower of Late Tulip ，中药名称：郁金香《本草拾遗》；郁香《太平御览》；红蓝花、紫述香《纲目》。

郁金香鳞茎皮纸质，内面顶端和基部有少数伏毛，叶3-5枚，条状披针形至卵状披针形，花单朵顶生，大型而艳丽，花被片红色或杂有白色和黄色，有时为白色或黄色，长5-7厘米，宽2-4厘米，6枚雄蕊等长，花丝无毛，无花柱，柱头增大呈鸡冠状，花期4-5月，原产欧洲，中国引种栽培，历史悠久，品种很多。[1]