Chinese wolfberries

湖南華容二中 戴 洵

精彩導讀

枸杞，又稱枸杞子，藥食同源的歷史悠久，有延衰抗老的功效，適合所有人食用。寧夏枸杞的品質領先于全國各地，成為寧夏的代表。寧夏被譽為枸杞之鄉。

As China's largest home to gouqi,or wolfberry,Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has many stories about the tiny red fruits.

One is about two foreign travelers finding a young woman beating an aged man.When they came to Ningxia,the travelers tried to stop the woman,who showed no respect to her elders.However,the woman said， “It's none of your business.I am teaching my son a lesson.”The travelers were surprised at her young looks and later found she was over 100 years old.

Her secret?Consuming Chinese wolfberries every day.The story sounds like a bit of an exaggeration （夸張）,yet the fruit does have a lot of healthy benefits according to scientific research and traditional Chinese medicine.

Its name,gouqi,is from Shi Jing,or The Book of Songs,the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC.

As an important ingredient,the dried red fruit often appears in Chinese cuisine,including chicken soup and date（海棗）porridge.Chinese people also use the dried fruitand dried chrysanthemum （菊花）to make tea,which is good for the liver（肝臟）and kidneys in traditional Chinese medical theory.

The best way to fully absorb the nutrition from dried Chinese wolfberries,according to locals,is to have some immediately before breakfast.

Both the fruit and the shoot（幼苗）of the plant are rich in nutrition.The dried leaves often serve as a tea.When the tea is hot,people can use its steam to warm their eyes,which can improve eyesight.After tea,the leaves can be stirred with eggs and become a wolfberry shoot omelet（煎蛋餅）.

Many places in Northwest China produce the fruit,including Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Gansu Province.Yet the one grown in Ningxia is different from other kinds of wolfberries in China.The former has taller plants and blossoms from May to October,while the latter one blooms from June to November.

Reading check

Tell the story in the text to your classmates in brief.Pay attention to the following factors：who，what，when，where，and why.

Language study

I.Words in the context

Ⅱ.Phrases

1.show no respect to對……不尊重

2.date from追溯到

3.be rich in大量含有（或提供）

Ⅲ.Difficult sentences

1.當地居民說，充分吸收干枸杞的營養的最佳途徑是早餐前吃一點。

___________________________________the nutrition from dried Chinese wolfberries,according to locals,is to have some immediately before breakfast.

【點石成金】固定句型The best way to do sth is to do sth意為“做某事的最佳辦法就是去做某事”，前一個to do作后置定語，修飾way；后一個to do作表語。

保護環境的最佳辦法就是多植樹。

The best way to protect the environment is to plant more trees.

2.前者植株較高，五至十月份為花期；而后者六月至十一月份開花。____________________________________has taller plants and blossoms from May to October,________________blooms from June to November.

【點石成金】這是一個并列句。while為表示對比關系的并列連詞，意為“然而；可是；不過”。句中The former...the latter...用來描述上文提到的兩個事物，意為“前者……后者……”。

Man differs from beasts in that the former is able to think,while the latter aren’t.

人類不同于牲畜，是因為前者會思考，而后者不會。