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聽力文本
Recording 33
錄音33
In today's lecture, I'm going to talk about the part that plants have played in our history, something most of us probably never give any thought to.
今天這節課，我將會講講植物在歷史中扮演的角色，這是我們絕大多數人從未想過的。
Flowers began changing the way the world looked almost as soon as they appeared on Earth about 130 million years ago.
花朵從一千三百萬年前出現在地球上開始，就在改變世界的樣子。
That's relatively recent in geologic time-if all Earth's history were compressed into an hour, flowering plants would exist for only the last 90 seconds.
這在地質時間中相對近期—假如把整個地球歷史壓縮成一小時，開花的植物只存在了九十秒。
Without those flowering plants, it's likely we wouldn't be here.
要是沒有了這些開花植物，很可能我們也不會在這里了。
They are fundamental to our existence, forming a vital part of our food supplies.
這些開花植物是我們生存的基礎，在我們的食物來源中占重要地位。
If we look further on in time, to the year 2737 B.C., we arrive at the discovery of tea by a Chinese emperor, when a leaf fell into a cup of hot water.
如果我們向更遠的時間看，公元前2737年，一片葉子掉進了一杯熱水里，于是一位中國皇帝發現了茶。
This discovery eventually played a very important part in the history of China, the USA and the UK.
這項發現最終在中國、美國和英國的歷史里產生了重要作用。
For Britain, where demand for tea was high, there were financial implications when a Chinese emperor declared that it could only be bought with silver which they were then forced to find overseas.
對于英國這個對茶葉需求量很大的國家來說，當中國皇帝宣布茶葉只能用白銀購買，其財政影響可不小，隨后英國人被迫去國外尋找白銀。
A second influential plant emerged around 202 BC in the form of the White Mulberry.
另一種影響深遠的植物在約公元前202年出現，桑樹。
It became extremely sought after and it remained so until 220 AD because white mulberries provide food for the worm that creates silk.
它成為人們狂熱追求之物，在公元220年前一直如此，因為桑樹為產絲的蟲提供食物。
This luxurious material was responsible for establishing extremely valuable trade routes.
這種奢華的面料是人們建起極度重要的貿易路線之原因。
And it was along these same routes that different religions made their way around the world.
沿著這些路線，不同的宗教以自己的方式走向世界。
But, unfortunately, they also caused the spread of previously unknown diseases, as well as weapons of war such as gun powder.
但，不幸的是，它們也導致了此前人們毫無所知的疾病，還有戰爭用武器的產生，比如火藥。
Finally, moving into more recent history, we come to the 16th century and the potato.
最后，往更近期的歷史看，我們來到16世紀，有了土豆。
It originated in Central America but it was the Spanish who introduced it to the European diet.
土豆起源于中美洲，但是西班牙人把土豆引入了歐洲人的日常飲食。
There, it quickly became popular because not only did it cost little to grow, but it was also a food source that was rich in vitamins so much so that its arrival has been credited with ridding Britain of a disease known as scurvy.
在這兒，土豆很快流行起來，不僅因為種植成本低，還因為這種食物來源富含維他命，其含量太豐富，以至于人們稱贊它的出現杜絕了英國的一種疾病，壞血病。
However, it is perhaps more famous now for the potato famines of the mid l800s in Ireland.
無論如何，可能現在人們更熟知的是19世紀中期在愛爾蘭發生的土豆饑荒。
The Irish people were so dependent on the crop that its widespread failure over this period caused the deaths of over a million people and the emigration of a further million to mainland Britain, Canada and the US.
愛爾蘭人們太過依賴這種作物了，以至于這段時期內土豆的普遍欠收導致上百萬人死亡，更有上百萬人移居英國內陸、加拿大和美國。
