英语博客(A cup of English):Indian Corn

Beginners.

A few days ago, we had a yard sale. I actually held it over two mornings, out of my garage. Yard sales are very common in this area, and very popular too. Do you know what they are? I suppose the name explains the meaning; a sale of household items which takes place outside on your driveway, or inside your garage. With it being so hot, I arranged everything inside my garage so prospective¹ buyers wouldn't leave quickly because of the blast of the sun. The shade in the garage would keep them looking at the items a little longer. Amongst all the 'stuff' was a box of craft items and bits and pieces of little importance. I had marked the box with "$1 each or best offer". When the sale was finally over, I took most of the left over things to a charity organization, leaving just one box in the garage. I happened to look in the box today, and found something that I had long forgotten about: two ears of Indian corn. I had bought these a few years ago as a decoration for the house at pumpkin² time, or late autumn. It is a reminder³ of the harvest, of the change of season, and of the richness of creation. But Indian corn has a unique look, and a unique history. All corn, I suppose, could be called Indian corn, but, in general, we give that name to the multicolored variety of corn that is used mainly for decoration rather than food.

Grammar notes.

Useful vocabulary: houshold items, to arrange, a prospective buyer, 'bits and pieces'.

Exs:

The shop sells household items, no farming equipment.

She is very good at arranging flowers in a vase.

If the entryway of the house is attractive, we will attract prospective buyers.

"What's in your bag?" "Oh, just bits and pieces."

 Advanced.

Corn, or maize⁴, was originally an american plant, grown by the Native American indians throughout Mesoamerica. It was a staple⁵ food for many of the tribes, and still is for many people. In Mexico, for example, corn is ground up into a crumbly flour, and made into 'masa' which is rolled out and cooked into tortillas, a round, flat grain wrap eaten with meat and vegetables. About three hundred and thirty two million metric tonnes of corn are grown in the U.S every year, more than in any other country. A lot of it is exported, but much of it is made into corn syrup⁶ which is added to many processed and premade foods. In hot climates it is quite easy to grow, and there are many varieties. A couple of years ago I grew corn, and was quite impressed at its performance. It got to about seven feet tall and produced a lot of ears. Mind you, the corn kernels⁷ were not consistently shaped. Some were swollen⁸, and others were non existent. Some ears had a lot of flavor, others had very little. It'll take a bit of research for me to get it right, I think. However, when the Europeans first came over to the Americas, the Native Indians gave them some very good advice as to how to survive by growing successful corn. They taught them to put salmon⁹ in the earth where the corn was to be grown. This increased the nutrients¹⁰ of the earth greatly and gave good yields. Corn is a fascinating and delicious vegetable, and though used world wide, it is distinctly american. I'm glad I didn't manage to sell the two ears of corn. I think I'll keep them as a decoration and a reminder for a few more years.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: staple, a grain, processed, research.

Exs:

Corn is a staple in Central and South America. Wheat is more of a staple in North America.

The farmer grows lots of grains: wheat, corn, and barley¹¹ amongst others.

The hot dog is a very tasty but highly processed food.

Research indicates that A Cup of English is the best podcast on the internet......

 

1 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

2 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

3 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

4 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

5 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

6 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

7 kernels   

谷粒( kernel的名词复数 )； 仁； 核； 要点

参考例句：

• These stones contain kernels. 这些核中有仁。
• Resolving kernels and standard errors can also be computed for each block. 还可以计算每个块体的分辨核和标准误差。

8 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

9 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

10 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。