★英語聽力頻道為大家整理的2014中考英語聽力材料選詞填空，供大家參考。更多閱讀請(qǐng)查看本站英語聽力頻道。
Most of us have had the same experience. We see a big, red tomato in the grocery store, take it home for our salad, and find out that it tastes like cardboard.
大多數(shù)人都有過這樣的經(jīng)歷，從商店里挑選出又大又紅的番茄回去做沙拉，然后一嘗，味同嚼蠟。
You might think that the tomato is sub-par because it’s been picked before it ripened, or shipped across the country. Those things can be true, but scientists have found another reason why modern tomatoes have little or no taste. It’s in their genes.
你可能認(rèn)為買回的番茄味道不好是因?yàn)樗鼪]有成熟就被摘下，或者是運(yùn)輸過久的原因。這的確是一部分原因，然而科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)現(xiàn)今的番茄不好吃還有其它原因，那就是它們的基因問題。
The problem began with old fashioned or heirloom tomatoes. They didn’t ripen consistently. Some areas would be red, while other areas, usually near the stem, would be white or green. About seventy years ago, tomato breeders accidentally discovered a variety that turned red uniformly. Consumers liked the way the tomatoes looked, and companies that made ketchup and tomato sauce could make better looking products.
這個(gè)問題要追溯到從前的天然番茄，它們并不總能完全長(zhǎng)熟，番茄的有些部分是紅的，而其它地方，尤其是靠近莖蒂的地方，往往是白色或綠色的。大約70年以前，番茄種植者們偶然間發(fā)現(xiàn)一種全紅的番茄品種，不僅消費(fèi)者們喜歡這種模樣的番茄，番茄醬制造公司也能生產(chǎn)出賣相更好的產(chǎn)品，
The trouble was, red did not equal tasty.
然而問題也出現(xiàn)了，看起來好看并不代表它的口感好。
While experimenting with weed genes that turned tomatoes dark green, geneticists accidentally discovered one of the reasons why today’s tomatoes lack taste. Modern tomatoes are light green before they turn uniformly red. Surprisingly, the mutation that gives tomatoes uniform red color actually disables some of the ripening genes. Those genes allow the fruit to make its own sugar which makes the tomato sweeter. The genes also increase the amount of carotenoid pigments, which give tomatoes the red color.
基因?qū)W家在對(duì)使番茄呈墨綠色的基因進(jìn)行實(shí)驗(yàn)的過程中，意外發(fā)現(xiàn)了現(xiàn)今西紅柿乏味的另外一大原因?，F(xiàn)在的西紅柿在全部變紅之前是呈淺綠色的，
令人驚奇的是，讓番茄變紅的變異卻恰恰抑制了成熟基因的作用。而成熟基因可以使水果產(chǎn)生糖分，從而使番茄變甜，同時(shí)產(chǎn)生更多的類胡蘿卜素，使番茄變紅。
When researchers turned the ripening genes back on, their experimental tomatoes had twenty percent more sugar and up to thirty percent more carotenoids.
當(dāng)研究者們嘗試著將成熟基因恢復(fù)到原有數(shù)量后，他們的實(shí)驗(yàn)番茄中所含的糖分增加了20%，類胡蘿卜素提高了30%。
Unfortunately, regulations prohibited researchers from tasting their experimental fruits, but you can try eating heirloom tomatoes. They aren’t as pretty looking, but are tastier.
遺憾的是，由于法規(guī)的原因，研究者們無法品嘗自己的實(shí)驗(yàn)番茄，不過你們可以試著嘗嘗那些純天然的番茄。它們不中看，但是很好吃。
Most of us have had the same experience. We see a big, red tomato in the grocery store, take it home for our salad, and find out that it tastes like cardboard.
大多數(shù)人都有過這樣的經(jīng)歷，從商店里挑選出又大又紅的番茄回去做沙拉，然后一嘗，味同嚼蠟。
You might think that the tomato is sub-par because it’s been picked before it ripened, or shipped across the country. Those things can be true, but scientists have found another reason why modern tomatoes have little or no taste. It’s in their genes.
你可能認(rèn)為買回的番茄味道不好是因?yàn)樗鼪]有成熟就被摘下，或者是運(yùn)輸過久的原因。這的確是一部分原因，然而科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)現(xiàn)今的番茄不好吃還有其它原因，那就是它們的基因問題。
The problem began with old fashioned or heirloom tomatoes. They didn’t ripen consistently. Some areas would be red, while other areas, usually near the stem, would be white or green. About seventy years ago, tomato breeders accidentally discovered a variety that turned red uniformly. Consumers liked the way the tomatoes looked, and companies that made ketchup and tomato sauce could make better looking products.
這個(gè)問題要追溯到從前的天然番茄，它們并不總能完全長(zhǎng)熟，番茄的有些部分是紅的，而其它地方，尤其是靠近莖蒂的地方，往往是白色或綠色的。大約70年以前，番茄種植者們偶然間發(fā)現(xiàn)一種全紅的番茄品種，不僅消費(fèi)者們喜歡這種模樣的番茄，番茄醬制造公司也能生產(chǎn)出賣相更好的產(chǎn)品，
The trouble was, red did not equal tasty.
然而問題也出現(xiàn)了，看起來好看并不代表它的口感好。
While experimenting with weed genes that turned tomatoes dark green, geneticists accidentally discovered one of the reasons why today’s tomatoes lack taste. Modern tomatoes are light green before they turn uniformly red. Surprisingly, the mutation that gives tomatoes uniform red color actually disables some of the ripening genes. Those genes allow the fruit to make its own sugar which makes the tomato sweeter. The genes also increase the amount of carotenoid pigments, which give tomatoes the red color.
基因?qū)W家在對(duì)使番茄呈墨綠色的基因進(jìn)行實(shí)驗(yàn)的過程中，意外發(fā)現(xiàn)了現(xiàn)今西紅柿乏味的另外一大原因?，F(xiàn)在的西紅柿在全部變紅之前是呈淺綠色的，
令人驚奇的是，讓番茄變紅的變異卻恰恰抑制了成熟基因的作用。而成熟基因可以使水果產(chǎn)生糖分，從而使番茄變甜，同時(shí)產(chǎn)生更多的類胡蘿卜素，使番茄變紅。
When researchers turned the ripening genes back on, their experimental tomatoes had twenty percent more sugar and up to thirty percent more carotenoids.
當(dāng)研究者們嘗試著將成熟基因恢復(fù)到原有數(shù)量后，他們的實(shí)驗(yàn)番茄中所含的糖分增加了20%，類胡蘿卜素提高了30%。
Unfortunately, regulations prohibited researchers from tasting their experimental fruits, but you can try eating heirloom tomatoes. They aren’t as pretty looking, but are tastier.
遺憾的是，由于法規(guī)的原因，研究者們無法品嘗自己的實(shí)驗(yàn)番茄，不過你們可以試著嘗嘗那些純天然的番茄。它們不中看，但是很好吃。