VOA慢速英语：美国早餐的发展史

　　Since the earliest days of the United States,Americans began their days by eating whatever was most easily available.These foods often included bread,eggs or leftovers–food left over from the night before.

　　从美国的早期开始，美国人吃触手可及的最简单的早餐开始他们的一天。这些食物通常包括面包、鸡蛋或者是残羹剩饭，即前一晚上剩下的食物。

　　Today,ease is still an important factor when it comes to breakfast.However,what people eat has changed over time.And some of today’s common breakfast foods,such as cereal,are the result of very effective marketing.

　　现在每当涉及到早餐时简易仍旧是一个非常重要的因素。然而，人们吃的食物随着时间的推移已经发生了改变。并且现在像谷类食物这样一些最普通的早餐食物是高效促销的结果。

　　“Advertising was practically invented to sell cereal,”says Heather Arndt Anderson.She is the writer of the book"Breakfast:A History."

　　“广告实际上是为了销售谷物而被发明的，”希瑟·阿尔恩特·安德森说。她是《早餐：一个历史》这本书的作者。

　　Arndt Anderson adds,“One of the first ways advertising was successfully or effectively used was to convince mothers that it was okay for their children to eat these instant cereals.It sort of offered working mothers a chance to let kids take care of themselves in the morning.”

　　阿尔恩特·安德森补充道，“广告被成功或者有效使用的首批方式是说服妈妈们相信他们的孩子是可以吃这些速食的谷类食物的。它可以说是提供给了职业妈妈们一次让孩子们在早上照顾自己的机会。”

　　As women entered the workforce to help support their families,cereal was a food kids could make on their own.

　　作为为了帮助维持他们的家庭而进入劳动大军的妇女们，谷类食物是孩子们可以独立制作的一种食物。

　　“That's still sort of the power,really the lasting effect of breakfast as being the first meal that kids do learn how to prepare themselves,”Arndt Anderson says.

　　“那仍旧有几分力量。作为孩子们学习如何为自己准备份饭的真正的是一种持久的影响，”阿尔恩特·安德森说。

　　Advertising also played an important part in orange juice becoming a morning drink.In 1916,farmers grew more oranges than usual,so advertisers began saying,“Drink an orange.”They aimed to persuade people that drinking orange juice was a healthy way to start the day.

　　广告在橘子汁变成一种清晨饮料的过程中也扮演着很重要的角色。在1916年，农民比往常种植了更多的橘子，所以广告上开始宣传，“喝一杯橘子汁。”他们意在劝服人们相信喝橘子汁是开始一天的生活的一种健康的方式。

　　Two years later,a worldwide flu epidemic caused people to drink more orange juice for its health benefits.

　　两年之后，一种影响全世界的流感致使人们去喝更多的橘子汁以获得健康的效益。

　　As for coffee,it might have the 1773 Boston Tea Party to thank for its popularity in the United States.In that year,American colonists protested British taxation by throwing tea into Boston Harbor.In time,coffee became so popular that people traveling to the American West in the 1830s made sure to carry coffee beans on the journey.

　　至于咖啡，它在美国的流行可能要感谢1773年的波士顿倾茶事件。在那年，美国殖民地定居者通过将茶叶倾入波士顿湾来反抗英国的税收。经过一段时间之后，咖啡变得如此流行以至于人们在19世纪30年代向美国西部行进时，一定要确保在旅途中带上了咖啡豆。

　　Pancakes have also been around for a very long time.Researchers believe the world's oldest naturally preserved human mummy ate a pancake-like food as one of his last meals.

　　烙饼在人们生活中也出现了很长一段时间。研究人员相信世界上最古老的自然保护的人类木乃伊吃了类似于馅饼的食物作为他们的最后一餐。

　　Researchers think pancakes may have been made in the morning because they are much quicker to prepare than bread.Cooks could then have to time to make fresh bread for dinner.

　　研究人员认为馅饼在早上被做成早餐可能是因为它们准备起来比面包更快。这样，厨师们就有时间为晚餐做新鲜面包了。

　　Americans still eat breakfast foods like bread and eggs that their ancestors did.Writer Heather Arndt Anderson notes that people’s concerns about healthy food choices have also stayed the same.

　　美国人仍旧像他们的祖先那样吃像面包和鸡蛋那样的食物作为早餐。作家希瑟·阿尔恩特·安德森指出人们对于健康食物选择的担忧也没有改变。

　　She says the idea of clean eating and healthy eating has been around for hundreds of years.She adds,“The only thing that’s changed has been the details with which we define what these things are—what clean eating is,and being healthy.”

　　她说干净、健康的饮食这种想法可能围绕在我们身边已经有数百年的时间了。她补充道，“改变的事情是我们定义什么样的食物是健康干净的一些细节。”

　　Arndt Anderson hopes more Americans will see leftovers as a breakfast food.She adds that leftovers taste good and are a great way to reduce waste.

　　阿尔恩特·安德森希望更多的美国人会将残羹剩饭作为一种早餐食物。她补充道残羹剩饭尝起来很美味并且是减少废物的一种很棒的方法。

　　I'm Jonathan Evans.

　　乔纳森·埃文斯为您报道。