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Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a European History Class.

教授：如果我和大家说，现在很多传统的欧洲菜肴的主调味料是在最近才被发现的，而且是在欧洲人开始与北美及南美当地人做交易的时候才开始的，你们会不会很惊讶呢？

Professor: So would it surprise you to learn that many of the foods that we eat today consider traditional European dishes that their key ingredients were not even known in Europe until quite recently, until the European started trading with the native people in North and South America?

我的意思是，你们可能知道美国人为欧洲和亚洲提供食物，比如南瓜、豆角、火鸡、花生等。

I mean, you probably aware that the Americas provide Europe and Asia with foods like squash, beans, turkey, peanuts.

而意大利番茄酱、匈牙利烩牛肉或者我最喜欢的法式炸薯条呢？

But what about all those Italian tomato sauces, Hungarian goulash or my favorite, French fries?

男学生：等一下，我知道土豆来自哪里，南美是吗？

Male student: Wait. I mean I knew potatoes were from where, South America?

教授：南美，是的。安第斯山脉。

Professor: South America. Right, the Andes Mountains.

男学生：但是你还提到了西红柿？

Male student: But you are saying tomatoes, too?

因为很多意大利食物中使用番茄酱，我就如此假设一下。

I just assume since they’re used in so many Italian dishes.

教授：其实像土豆一样，西红柿也是在安第斯附近大范围生长。但是和土豆不一样的是，西红柿并不是原始培植在那里。

Professor: No, like potatoes, tomatoes grew wild in the Andes, although unlike potatoes, they weren’t originally cultivated there.

That seems to have occurred first in Central America.

即使在那时西红柿也并不是主要的食物，直到欧洲人出现。

And even then, the tomato doesn’t appear to have been very important as a food plant until the Europeans came on the scene.

大概在1550年，欧洲人将西红柿带回了欧洲。

They took it back to Europe with them around 1550.

意大利就是最初开始大面积种植西红柿作为蔬菜作物的地方。

And Italy was indeed the first place where it was widely grown as food crop.

所以某种意义来讲，其实它更像是来自于意大利，而不是美国。

So in a sense, it really is more Italian than American.

And another thing and this is true of both potato and tomato.

它们还有一个共同的特点，就是都属茄科。

Both of these plants are members of Nightshade family.

茄科包括的一系列植物有很多你们是不会实用的，如曼德拉草、颠茄甚至烟草。

The Nightshade family is a category of plants which also includes many that you wouldn’t want to eat, like mandrake, belladonna, and even tobacco.

难怪人们一度认为土豆和西红柿是不可食用的，甚至认为其有毒。

So it’s no wonder that people once considered tomatoes and potatoes to be inedible too, even poisonous.

而事实上，土豆的叶子是含有很大毒性的。

And in fact, the leaves of the potato plant are quite toxic.

因此，过了很长时间这两种作物才被欧洲所接受。甚至比它们重返北美并在那里成为流行食物的时间还要长久。

So it took both plants quite a while to catch on in Europe. And even longer before they made the return trip to North America and became popular food items here.

女学生：是的，你知道吗，我还记得我祖母告诉我她小的时候，许多人认为西红柿是有毒的呢。

Female student: Yeah, you know, I remember, I remember my grandmother telling me that when her mother was a little girl, a lot of people still thought that tomatoes were poisonous.

教授：当然了。人们知道19世纪中期才开始食用西红柿的。

Professor: Oh, sure. People didn’t really start eating them here until the mid-eighteen hundreds.

女学生：但是我听说不是汤姆杰弗逊种植的吗？

Female student: But seems like I heard... didn’t Thomas Jefferson grow them or something?

教授：嗯，是的。但是杰弗逊不仅因为是美国的第三任总统而出名，同样也是一位高瞻远瞩的学者。

Professor: Well, that’s true. But then Jefferson is known not only as the third president of the United States, but also as a scholar who was way ahead of his time in many ways.

他没有让当时的传统观念禁锢了他的思想。

He didn’t let the conventional thinking of his day restrain his ideas.

那么土豆也在经历一个相似的被拒过程，尤其是刚开始到达欧洲的时候。

Now, potatoes went through a similar sort of ...uh... of  rejection process, especially when they were first introduced in Europe.

你们都知道土豆在光下放置太久会变绿是吧？

You know how potatoes can turn green if they are left in the light too long?

这种发绿的土豆吃起来会很苦涩，甚至会使人生病。

And that greenish skin can make the potatoes tastes bitter; even make you ill.

这就足够使人们延迟200多年的了。比尔，什么问题？

So that was enough to put people off for over 200 years. Yes, Bill?

Male student: I’m sorry, professor Jones.

美国作物可能为欧洲的烹饪这些年作出了很大的贡献，但是……

American crops have probably contributed a lot to European cooking over the years. But…

教授：但是它们是否有在欧洲历史上扮演了重要的角色是吗？

Professor: But have they really played any kind of important role in European history?

嗯，事实上，是的。我正要讲到这点呢。

Well, as a matter of fact, yes. I was just coming to that.

让我们先来讲讲北美的玉米，一般大家都这么叫。

Let’s start with North American corn or maize, as it’s often called.

那么在欧洲人与美国人有接触之前，人们基本靠谷物维生，而这些谷物经常是颗粒无收。

Now before the Europeans made contact with the Americas, they subsisted mainly on grains, grains that often suffered from crop failures.

主要是这个原因，欧洲政治力量需要在南部，也就是地中海附近集中几个世纪，就是因为那里可以更好的种植谷物。

And it’s largely for this reason that political power in Europe was centered for centuries in the South, around the Mediterranean Sea, which was where they could grow these grains with more reliability.

但是当玉米从墨西哥到达欧洲以后，这种耐寒的作物可以很容易在偏北部的气候下生长，那么中央力量就相应转移了。

But when corn came to Europe from Mexico, well, now they had a much hardier crop that could be grown easily in more northerly climates and centers of power began to shift accordingly.

然后，我刚说土豆开始并不流行。

And then, well, as I said potatoes weren’t really popular at first.

但是后来在1780年前后，土豆被爱尔兰所接受。

But when they finally did catch on which they did first in Ireland around 1780.

因为土豆有能力提供极其丰富的营养，北欧当时没有其它任何作物的含维他命量能和土豆相媲美。

Because potatoes have the ability to provide an abundant and extremely nutritious food crop, no other crop grown in North Europe at the time had anything like the number of vitamins contained in potatoes.

另外，土豆种植在单亩地上，可以为很多人提供粮食，小麦也种植在同一片地上。

Plus, potatoes grown on the single acre of land could feed many more people than say, wheat grow on the same land.

土豆很快就传播到法国及其它北欧国家。

Potatoes soon spread to France and other Northern European countries.

结果，总体人口的摄入营养都大幅度提升，而且在19世纪初人口激增，所以欧洲力量从南向北转移的现象持续下来。

And as a result, the nutrition of the general population improved tremendously and population soared in the early 1800 and so the shift of power from southern to northern Europe continued.

What does the professor imply about certain plants in the nightshade family?

What does the professor imply about Thomas Jefferson's attitude toward tomatoes?

According to the professor, what was the long-effect of the introduction of American corn and potatoes to Europe?

According to the professor, what is one of the reasons why potatoes became popular in Ireland?

What can be inferred about the professor when she says this:

Narrator: 
Listen to part of a lecture in a European History Class. 
W: So would it surprise you to learn that many of the foods that we today consider traditional European dishes that their key ingredients were not even known in Europe until quite recently? Until the European started trading with the native peoples of north and south America? I mean, you probably aware that the Americas provided Europe and Asia with foods like squash, beans, turkey, peanuts, but what about all those Italian tomato sauces, Hungarian goulash, or my favorite French fries, those yummy fried potatoes. 
Male student: wait, I mean I knew the potatoes were from… well, south America? 
W: South America, right, the Andes Mountains. 
Male student: But you are saying tomatoes too? I just assumed it’s used in so many Italian dishes. 
W: No, like potatoes, tomatoes grew wild in the Andes. Although unlike potatoes, they weren’t originally cultivated there. That seems first in central America. And even then, the tomato doesn’t appear to obtain very important as a food plant until the Europeans come on the scene. They took it back to Europe with them around 1550. And Italy was indeed the first place where it was wildly grown as a food crop. So in a sense, it really is more Italian than American. And another thing, and this is the true of both potato and tomato. Both of these plants are members of the night shade family. 
The night shade family is the category of plants which also includes many that you would not want to eat, like mandrake, belladonna and even tobacco. So it’s no wonder that people once consider potato and tomatoes to be uneatable too, even poisonous. And in fact, the leaves of potato plants are quite toxic. So we took both plants quite a while to catch on in Europe. And even longer before they made a return trip to America, and become popular food items here. 
Woman student: yeah, you know, I remember, I remember my grandmother telling me that when her mother was a little girl, a lot of people still thoughts tomatoes were poisonous. 
W: oh sure, people didn’t really start eating them here until the mid-eighteen hundred. 
Women student: but um… seems like I heard didn’t Thomas Jefferson grow them or something? 
W: well, that’s true. But then Jefferson is known not only the 3rd president of United States but also a scholar who was way ahead of his time in many ways. He didn’t let the conventional thinking of his day restrain his ideas. Now, potatoes went through a similar sort of a rejection process, especially when they were first introduced in Europe. You know how potatoes can turn green if they are left in the light too long? And that greenish skin can make the potato taste bitter, even make you will. So that’s enough to put people off for over 200 years. Yes, Bill? 
Male student: I am sorry professor Jones. But I mean yeah, OK, American crops have probably contributed a lot to European cooking over the years. But… 
W: but have they really played any kind of important role in European history. Well, as a matter of fact, yes. I was just coming to that. Let’s… let’s start with North American corn, or maze as it’s often called. Now before the Europeans made contact with the Americas, they subsisted mainly on grains, grains that often suffered from crop failures. And it is largely for this reason that the political power in Europe were centered for centuries in the south, around the Mediterranean Sea, which was where they can grow these grains with more reliability. 
But when corn come to Europe from Mexico, well now they have a much hardier crop that could be grown easily in more northerly climates, and the centers of power began to shift accordingly. And then as I said potatoes were really popular at first. But when they finally did catch on, which they first did in Ireland around 1780, well, what do you suppose to happen? Because potatoes had the ability to provide an abundant and extremely nutritious food crop, no other crop grown in north Europe at the time had anything like the number of vitamin that contained in potatoes. Plus, potatoes grown on a single egg of land could feed many people than wheat grown on the same land. Potato soon spreads to France and other northern European countries, and as a result, the nutrition of the general population improved tremendously. And population soared in the 1800. And so the shift of power from southern to northern Europe continued. 
But when corn come to Europe from Mexico, well now they have a much hardier crop that could be grown easily in more northerly climates, and the centers of power began to shift accordingly. And then as I said potatoes were really popular at first. But when they finally did catch on, which they first did in Ireland around 1780, well, what do you suppose to happen? Because potatoes had the ability to provide an abundant and extremely nutritious food crop, no other crop grown in north Europe at the time had anything like the number of vitamin that contained in potatoes. Plus, potatoes grown on a single egg of land could feed many people than wheat grown on the same land. Potato soon spreads to France and other northern European countries, and as a result, the nutrition of the general population improved tremendously. And population soared in the 1800. And so the shift of power from southern to northern Europe continued. 
Male student: I am sorry professor Jones. But I mean yeah, OK, American crops have probably contributed a lot to European cooking over the years. But… 
W: but have they really played any kind of important role in European history. Well, as a matter of fact, yes. I was just coming to that. Let’s… let’s start with North American corn, or maze as it’s often called. Now before the Europeans made contact with the Americas, they subsisted mainly on grains, grains that often suffered from crop failures. And it is largely for this reason that the political power in Europe were centered for centuries in the south, around the Mediterranean Sea, which was where they can grow these grains with more reliability.