It is no surprise that many people love to eat the delicious and healthy kiwifruit. But what may come as a surprise is the fact that the fruit that most of us associate with New Zealand actually comes from China.

　　The Chinese have a long history of eating kiwifruit. It is even mentioned in the "Book of Odes", a collection of poems more than 2,000 years old. It was not until 1847 that the kiwifruit?or "Chinese gooseberry", as it was first known?was seen by Westerners.

　　Yet it is Westerners who made the fruit famous. New Zealanders were the first people to plant the kiwifruit commercially, in 1934. They were also the ones to name it "kiwi", after New Zealand's national bird. From China, to New Zealand, to the rest of the world, the kiwifruit has become a truly international fruit.

　　--by Alex Adair/Sonya Roy

　　词汇小补帖：

　　kiwifruit奇异果

　　New Zealand新西兰

　　Book of Odes诗经

　　Chinese gooseberry猕猴桃

　　Westerner西方人




新西兰的代名词 奇异果传奇
　　Sentence 4U

　　语音讲解：
　　　(点击右键"另存为"可下载语音)

　　associate ... with ... "将......和......联想在一起"，例如：

　　I always associate the smell of pipe smoke with my grandfather.

　　烟斗的味道总是让我想起我爷爷。

　　很多人爱吃美味而有益健康的奇异果，这并不令人惊奇。但是，让我们当中的大多数人联想到新西兰的奇异果其实源于中国，这个事实可能会让人大吃一惊吧。

　　中国人有着吃奇异果的悠久历史。它甚至在《诗经》中被提到过，那是一本有2000多年历史的诗集。直到1847年，奇异果(最初被发现时称为猕猴桃)才被西方人发现。

　　然而是西方人让这种水果出名的。新西兰人是最先种植奇异果用于商业的人，他们始于1934年。他们还以新西兰的国鸟"kiwi"为其命名。从中国，到新西兰，再到世界其他各地，奇异果已成为一个真正具有国际性的水果了。

　　英语小教室

　　《诗经》〈桧风〉中有"隰有苌楚"之句，"苌楚"就是我国的"猕猴桃"，也就是新西兰奇异果的原生种。《本草纲目》云："其形似梨，其色如桃，而猕猴喜食"(It is shaped like a pear; it is the same color as a peach, and macaques love to eat it)，故名。据史载，在唐朝，当时民众在家中栽种猕猴桃的情形十分普遍(a popular household plant)，就如现代人在庭园中种植葡萄或紫藤(grapevines or wistarias)。猕猴桃1904年由中国引进新西兰，1934年在新西兰特普克镇(Te puke)首度做商业性的种植，果实加大(larger fruit)，口感更佳(better taste)，成为现今风靡世界的奇异果(kiwifruit)。之后经不断的品种改良，更栽培出营养成分更高的黄金奇异果(gold kiwifruit)，它混合着哈密瓜、水蜜桃和柑橘(melon, peach, citrus)的香甜微酸口味，俨然已成为新西兰的代名词。