【趣谈英语】一些意大利面的种类-“Spaghetti” Means Little Strings

 Pre-Listening Vocabulary

• pasta: a staple¹ Italian dish, shapes made from flour, water, and sometimes egg
• retain: to keep
• translation: the process of changing a word into a different language
• reed: a tall thin grass that grows in a marshy² area
• spiral³: a twisted shape
• figure out: to investigate and come up with an answer
• turn off: to cause someone to dislike a thing or person

“Spaghetti” Means Little Strings⁴

 

There are hundreds of kinds of pasta. Some of the well-known types of pasta, such as “spaghetti” and “cannelloni”, have retained their Italian names and are used in English-speaking countries. The translation of these words into English is “little strings” and “large reeds”. Other types of pasta have English names, such as “bow tie pasta” (farfalle) and “elbow macaroni” (maccheroni). You can actually learn a lot of language by studying the names of pasta. For example, tortelleni means “little pies”, while linguine means “little tongues”. “Gemelli” is an S-shaped pasta twisted up to form a spiral. The Italian word for this pasta translates to “twins” in English. Next time you order “vermicelli”, inspect the shape to see if you can figure out what this word translates to in English. Don’t be surprised if it turns you off your dinner.

1 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。

2 marshy   

adj.沼泽的

参考例句：

• In August 1935,we began our march across the marshy grassland. 1935年8月，我们开始过草地。
• The surrounding land is low and marshy. 周围的地低洼而多沼泽。

3 spiral   

adj.螺旋的；n.螺旋（线）；vi.盘旋上升（或下降）

参考例句：

• The production in this factory is spiral.这个厂的产量呈盘旋上升。
• Their profits began to spiral down disastrously.他们的利润开始螺旋形地急剧下降。

4 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。