The hottest pepper in the world

Aliza Chasan

主题语境：食物研究

篇幅：340词

建议用时：7分钟

1Pepper X has been considered as the world's new hottest pepper,Guinness World Records said.Ed Currie,the pepper expert who crossbred and grew Pepper X,previously broke the record for the hottest pepper on Earth a decade ago with the Carolina Reaper.He developed Pepper X years ago,but didn't release it right away.He said he kept Pepper X in his back pocket in case any other growers released something hotter than the Carolina Reaper.When no one came forward,he decided to bring out Pepper X.

2“This is the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people,” Currie said.“People said it couldn't be done;they called us liars.We proved to them that Pepper X is actually the hottest pepper in the world,officially from Guinness.” A pepper's heat is determined by how much capsaicin (辣椒素) it contains,with that heat expressed with a tool called the Scoville Scale.Pharmacologist Wilbur Scoville invented the scale in 1912.It measures how much water is required to dilute a pepper before its heat can no longer be tasted.

3Pepper X was tested by Winthrop University in South Carolina.It rated at an average of 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units.For comparison,a Carolina Reaper averages 1.64 million Scoville Heat Units and a jalapeño is around 2500 to 8000 Scoville Heat Units.A habanero typically tops 350,000.

4Currie started growing hot peppers as a hobby,eventually moving on to cultivating them full time.The pepper grower raised 800 hot pepper plants “in every inch of his home and the homes of family,friends and neighbors” in the 1990s,according to his Puckerbutt Pepper Company website.

5Currie cultivated Pepper X on his farm for over a decade,according to Guinness World Records.He crossbred it with some of his hottest peppers to increase its capsaicin content.“When we bred this pepper out,the first thing we looked for is something to raise that heat level to what we thought was going to be the maximum,and the second thing is flavor,”he said.

Reading Check

1.Why did Ed Currie initially keep Pepper X unreleased?

A.He wanted to keep it a secret.

B.He was still in the process of crossbreeding it.

C.He wanted to see if any other hotter pepper emerged.

D.He waited for it to be certified by Guinness World Records.

2.How is a pepper's heat determined?

A.By its color.

B.By its size.

C.By its content.

D.By its texture.

3.Which of the following is the Scoville Heat Units of Pepper X?

A.1.64 million.

B.2.69 million.

C.3000 to 8000.

D.350,000.

4.What can we know about Ed Currie from the text?

A.He grew hot peppers as a hobby.

B.He exposed Pepper X to hotter climates.

C.He let peppers mature longer on the plant.

D.He crossbred Pepper X with his hottest peppers.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

“When we bred this pepper out,the first thing we looked for is something to raise that heat level to what we thought was going to be the maximum,and the second thing is flavor,” he said.他说：“在培育这种辣椒时，我们首先要做的是提高辣椒的辣度，使其达到我们认为的最高辣度，其次才是味道。”

【点石成金】本句中，When 引导时间状语从句；we looked for 是一个省略了that 的定语从句，修饰先行词the first thing；what引导宾语从句。

Ⅱ.Fill in the blanks with the words and phrases in the box in proper forms.

break the record right away at an average of compare eventual

1.The women began the study ________ about 54 years and were followed for 13 years.

2.The five survivors ________ reached safety,ragged,half-starved and exhausted.

3.Its recommendations are based on detailed ________ between the public and private sectors.

4.This is actually the second time he ________ for a living artist at auction.

5.As soon as the crew gets back from lunch,we can put your narration on it _________.