Do Potatoes See with Their Eyes?土豆是用 “眼睛”看东西吗？

长庚

Do you like eating potatoes？ The English word “potato”comes from theSpanish word “patata”. Patata comes from batata. It was a South American Indianword that referred to the sweet potato.

The part we know as the potato， though， grows under the ground. Its called atuber1， and it grows from the end of stems2 below the roots3 of the plant under theground. Each tuber or potato has several buds4. These are the small buds we callpotato “eyes”. Its from these buds that new potato plants can grow. So eyes of apotato can help grow more potatoes， but cant help it see under the ground.

Potatoes were first grown more than 10，000 years ago in Peru in SouthAmerica. Spanish explorers5 brought the potatoes to Europe in the 1500s.Europeans6 brought potatoes to North America in the 1600s. Today， potatoes are theworlds fourth-largest food.

There are now more than 1，000 different types of potatoes around the world.China grows the most potatoes of any country in the world. In the United States，Idaho and Washington grow the most potatoes each year.

The green parts of a potatos skin7， as well as the leaves of the potato plant，are a little toxic8. Its always best to cut out green part when taking the skin offpotatoes before cooking. The average9 American eats more than 125 pounds ofpotatoes each year. The first vegetable to be grown in space10 was... you guessed it...the potato！

你喜欢吃土豆吗？英语单词“potato”源自西班牙语单词“patata”。

patata 源自batata，這是一个南美洲印第安人的词，指的是红薯。

不过，我们所知的土豆的那一部分是生长在地下的。它被称为块茎，从地下植物根下面的茎末端长出来。每个块茎（土豆）都有几个芽。这些小芽被我们称为土豆“眼睛”。新的土豆植株正是从这些芽中长出来的。所以土豆的“眼睛”可以长出更多的土豆，但是不能帮助它在地下看清东西。

土豆最早种植于一万多年前的南美洲秘鲁。15 世纪，西班牙探险者们将土豆带到了欧洲。17 世纪，欧洲人把土豆带到了北美。今天，土豆是世界第四大食物。

现在全世界有1000 多种不同种类的土豆。中国是世界上种植土豆最多的国家。在美国，爱达荷州和华盛顿州每年种植的土豆最多。

土豆表皮的绿色部分以及土豆植株的叶子都有点毒性。烹饪前削土豆皮的时候，最好去掉绿色部分。普通美国人每年要吃掉超过125 磅（约56.7 公斤）土豆。第一种在太空种植的蔬菜是———你猜到了———土豆！

Notes

1. tuber.块茎

2. stem . 植物；灌木的；茎；干

3. root  .植物的；根；根茎

4. bud . 芽

5. explorer . 探险者

6. European . 欧洲人

7. skin . 水果或蔬菜的外皮

8. toxic.有毒的；引起中毒的

9. average  . 普通的；平常的；平均数

10. space  . 太空；外层空间；宇宙空间