Chinese wolfberries

湖南华容二中 戴 洵

精彩导读

枸杞，又称枸杞子，药食同源的历史悠久，有延衰抗老的功效，适合所有人食用。宁夏枸杞的品质领先于全国各地，成为宁夏的代表。宁夏被誉为枸杞之乡。

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 （夸张）,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（海枣）porridge.Chinese people also use the dried fruitand dried chrysanthemum （菊花）to make tea,which is good for the liver（肝脏）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（煎蛋饼）.

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对……不尊重

2.date from追溯到

3.be rich in大量含有（或提供）

Ⅲ.Difficult sentences

1.当地居民说，充分吸收干枸杞的营养的最佳途径是早餐前吃一点。

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

【点石成金】固定句型The best way to do sth is to do sth意为“做某事的最佳办法就是去做某事”，前一个to do作后置定语，修饰way；后一个to do作表语。

保护环境的最佳办法就是多植树。

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

2.前者植株较高，五至十月份为花期；而后者六月至十一月份开花。____________________________________has taller plants and blossoms from May to October,________________blooms from June to November.

【点石成金】这是一个并列句。while为表示对比关系的并列连词，意为“然而；可是；不过”。句中The former...the latter...用来描述上文提到的两个事物，意为“前者……后者……”。

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

人类不同于牲畜，是因为前者会思考，而后者不会。