考研英语时文赏读（69）：美味的皮蛋“不适合人类食用”？

　　摘要：考研英语作为一门考研公共课，虽然大家都学了英语十几年，却仍经常有总分过线挂在英语上的情况，因此英语复习不单单是单词、做题。阅读作为考研英语的大头，仅仅做考研真题或许没法满足你的阅读量，因此帮帮之后会不定时推出一篇英文美文，这些文章都与考研英语阅读同源，多读必有好处。

　　Many of you would have probably seen century eggs. Some of you may even eat them on a daily basis. But what if this Chinese delicacy is actually unfit for human consumption?

　　可能许多人都见过松花蛋，可能你们还会经常食用这种食物。但这种充满了中国式优雅精致的食物真的不适合人类食用吗？

　　The Carabinieri of the Catania NAS have seized, in two distinct ethnic trade activities in the Catania area – 800 eggs of cooked ducks – partly of illicit origin and others due to lack of traceability.

　　意大利卡塔尼亚警方在该地区两起民族贸易活动中查获了800颗经食品加工后的鸭蛋，理由是原产地不合法以及缺乏可追踪性。

　　Among the eggs seized are so-called (century eggs) “of the hundred years”, a specialty of Chinese cuisine. They have been prohibited in Italy because they are imported in violation of specific EU directives.

　　这些被查获的鸭蛋中包括“百年老蛋”（松花蛋），这是一种中国的特产食品。这种食品因不符合欧盟规定而被禁止进口。

　　The two subjects, of Chinese nationality, were reported to the Health Authority which, promptly intervened, judged the goods unfit for human consumption.

　　这两种中国食品被送交卫生机构审查并很快被判定不适合人类食用。

　　South China Morning Post attributed the comment specifically to Italian Health Ministry. What are century eggs? If you haven’t seen or tried a century egg, it is a preserved duck egg that looks like this. Century eggs are made by wrapping duck eggs with salt, lime, and ash in rice husks for 100 days. Yes, it wasn’t preserved for a hundred years as its name suggests.

　　《南华早报》对意大利卫生部的相关举措进行了评论。什么是世纪老蛋？如果你还没见过或吃过的话，下图就是这种松花蛋的模样：松花蛋的做法：用盐、石灰和米糠灰把鸭蛋裹起来腌制一百天。它的英文名字叫百年老蛋，但实际上并不需要腌制一百年。

　　Understandably, people that haven’t seen this in their lives may have an adverse reaction to its appearance. In fact, century eggs were voted one of the most ‘revolting’ foods by CNN in 2011.

　　可以理解的是，没见过这种食品的人可能并不喜欢它的外观。而且 CNN 在2011年曾评选松花蛋为“最恶心的食物”。

　　Weibo users outraged

　　来自微博的愤怒

　　After the post was shared on Weibo, many Chinese were offended. The article blew up garnering comments against the move made by Italian Health Authorities. One netizen commented that if they didn’t want the eggs, they should have given to him.

　　该文经微博分享后，许多中国人感觉受到了侮辱。这个话题激起了许多对意大利卫生部相应举措的不满评论。一位网友表示如果意大利人不想要这些鸭蛋的话，可以送给他嘛。

　　Another netizen pokes fun at the Italian health regulations saying that if it is unfit for human consumption, then those that eat it should be considered gods. One other netizen asks how can it be defined as unfit for human consumption when everyone has their own tastes regarding food.

　　另一位网友则嘲弄了意大利卫生法规，称如果松花蛋不适合人类食用的话，那么那些吃松花蛋的人就可以算是神仙了。而另一位网友的疑问是，既然每个人都有着自己的饮食口味，松花蛋怎么能判定为不适合人类食用呢。

　　Century egg is highly nutritious

　　松花蛋营养丰富

　　Before you starting angrily typing, the Italian authorities are just erring on the side of caution. Maybe they weren’t saying that the eggs naturally taste bad, but that they had gone bad.

　　在你开始怒气冲冲的敲打键盘写字之前，我们可以确定意大利政府的这个决定并不正确。他们可能并不是说这些鸭蛋尝起来味道不好，但事实上确实存在问题。

　　Some companies were using toxic chemicals to speed up the production process in 2013. Therefore, they may believe that it is better to be safe than sorry.

　　2013年，一些公司使用有毒化学品来加快松花蛋的生产进程。因此意大利政府可能想的是以防万一吧。

　　However, if a century egg is prepared properly, it has many health benefits over the normal egg. Some benefits include lowering blood pressure and having a higher protein content.

　　如果制作工艺正确的话，松花蛋相比普通鸭蛋更有利于健康，例如可以降血压以及蛋白质含量更高。

　　Singapore has many checks and balances on what is safe to consume and what isn’t. Since century eggs are not part of the unsafe list, fret not and eat away!

　　新加坡有着许多的消费安全指南和规定。既然松花蛋并没有列在不安全名单里，那就放下疑虑，尽情享受美食吧！

　　(全文共436个词：环球时报)

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