World Egg Day世界蛋品日

World Egg Day is celebrated on the second Friday of October every year. As one of the simplest and most important parts of the diet of humans， the egg is a form of food as well as a guarantee of life’s survival. World Egg Day offers people the opportunity to pay attention to this special item—the egg！

As one of the oldest foods known to man， eggs have played an important role in the lives and health of humans. Some historians believe it’s possible that humans have been eating eggs for up to 6 million years！ Searching for eggs in bird nests and just eating them raw， prehistoric people would likely have found eggs to be a nutritious source of food. Later， instead of hunting and collecting， some humans found out that it was possible to domesticate certain types of birds so that their eggs would always be available.

The story of the egg has continued throughout human history. Though today， the most commonly eaten egg is the chicken egg， many other kinds of eggs have been useful over the centuries and in different cultures. Some of these eggs include duck eggs， goose eggs， ostrich eggs and even crocodile eggs！

There are more types of eggs that mankind finds valuable. These are of course， the eggs of different fish， such as caviar， a symbol of wealth in its own right， and World Egg Day represents their importance as well.

每年十月的第二个星期五是世界蛋品日。蛋是人类饮食中最简单、最重要的部分之一。它是食物的一种形式，也是生命生存的一种保障。世界蛋品日让人们有机会关注这个特殊的物品——蛋！

作为人类已知的最古老的食物之一，蛋一直在人类的生活和健康中发挥着重要作用。一些历史学家认为，人类吃蛋的历史可能已经有600万年了！史前人类在鸟巢里寻找鸟蛋，然后直接生吃，他们很可能发现了蛋是一种营养丰富的食物。后来，一些人类发现可以驯养某些种类的鸟，这样就可以随时获得它们的蛋，而不用去狩猎和采集。

蛋的故事在整个人类历史上都在延续。尽管今天人们最常吃的蛋是鸡蛋，但几个世纪以来，许多其他种类的蛋在不同的文化中都作用非凡。其中一些蛋包括鸭蛋、鹅蛋、鸵鸟蛋，甚至鳄鱼蛋！

人类发现的有价值的蛋还有更多种类。当然，指的是不同鱼类的卵，比如本身就是财富象征的鱼子酱。世界蛋品日也体现了它们的重要性。

The egg is far more than a food. In fact， in many cultures around the world， eggs have been a sign of life and rebirth.

In Western countries， children hunt each year for Easter Eggs （brightly colored eggs or plastic shaped in the form of the egg which contains treats such as chocolate， jellybeans， or money）.

In China， in order to greet the Beginning of Summer （the first solar term of summer）， children get together to play egg competitions by colliding each other’s boiled eggs in pairs and the one whose egg is not broken wins.

蛋远不止是一种食物。事实上，在世界各地的许多文化中，蛋是生命和再生的象征。

在西方国家，孩子们每年都会寻找复活节彩蛋（颜色鲜艳的彩蛋或形状像蛋的塑料蛋，里面有巧克力、软糖等食物或钱）。

在中国，为了迎接立夏（夏季的第一个节气），孩子们聚在一起玩斗蛋游戏，他们拿出煮熟的蛋互相碰撞，蛋没有被撞破的人获胜。

Learn some fun facts about chicken eggs

了解一些关于鸡蛋的有趣事实

A hen on average lays 300 to 325 eggs each year—almost one every day. And as the hen gets older， the eggs get larger.

An egg shell has thousands of pores—even up to 17，000， for fresh air.

The color of the eggs doesn’t have anything to do with freshness， flavor or nutritional value. The color of the egg shell is completely determined by the breed of the bird laying the eggs. Not only that， but the color of the egg shell is related to the earlobe color of the chicken.

Chef’s hats are influenced by eggs. Some people don’t know that going back a little in history， the meaning of the number of the pleats in a chef’s hat was related to the number of ways that the chef was able to cook an egg.

一只母鸡平均每年下300至325个蛋——几乎每天一个。随着母鸡年龄的增长，鸡蛋也会变大。

一个鸡蛋壳有成千上万个气孔——甚至多达17000个，用以呼吸新鲜空气。

鸡蛋的颜色与新鲜度、味道或营养价值无关。鸡蛋壳的颜色完全取决于产蛋的鸡的品种。不仅如此，鸡蛋壳的颜色还与母鸡耳垂的颜色有关。

厨师的帽子受到鸡蛋的影响。有些人不知道的是，追溯历史，厨师帽褶皱的数量与厨师烹饪鸡蛋方法的数量有关。

Word Bank

item /'aɪtəm/ n. 一件商品（或物品）

Can I pay for each item separately？

raw /rɔː/ adj. 生的；未烹制的

nutritious /nju'trɪʃəs/ adj. 有营养的；营养丰富的

breed /briːd/ n. 品种

Certain breeds are more dangerous than others.