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Each seed of barley ends in a sort of bristle, called an awn.
每個大麥粒的末端都是一根又長又硬的毛，叫做“麥芒”。
Do you remember how insects help flowers to form their seeds by carrying pollen from one blossom to another?
小朋友，還記得昆蟲是怎么幫助花朵長種子的嗎？ 它們把花粉從一朵花運到另一朵花。
But grasses do not need the help of insects to form their seeds. So they have no bright flowers. It is the wind that carries their pollen from one flower to another.
但是，大麥這樣的植物，并不需要昆蟲來幫助傳粉，所以沒有艷麗的花朵，而是靠“風力”把花粉從一朵花運到另一朵花的。
As the little green flowers that form each "ear" of barley grow one above another, the least breath of air is enough to blow the pollen from the flowers near the top of the ear to those lower down.
大麥的每一個麥穗上的綠色小花，上下排列著開放的時候，只需要一點兒小風，就能把麥穗頂端的花的花粉，吹到下面的花上。
The farmer sows his barley seeds in the freshly-ploughed fields in March, and the ripe grain is ready to be reaped or cut down in August.
陽歷三月，農民把大麥種子播到剛剛耕過的農田里，在陽歷八月，成熟的麥子就可以收割了。
After the barley has been cut down or reaped, the farmer thrashes it, to beat the grains or seeds out of the ears. Most of the barley is bought by brewers, and is made into malt. From this our ale or malt beer is made.
麥子刈下來、收割以后，農民會用力抽打麥子，讓麥粒，或者大麥種子，從麥穗上脫離。大麥多數都讓釀酒的人買去制作麥芽了。麥芽酒，也叫啤酒，就是用麥芽釀出來的。
Barley is a very good food when it is used in soup or broth. In some places people also make bread and cakes out of barley-flour. For this purpose the grains of barley must first be ground to a fine flour by the miller.
大麥是用來做湯的好食材。有些地方的人也用大麥粉做面包和蛋糕。為此，首先要把大麥粒磨成優質的面粉。
