（中英对照）西方炸薯条食品由来

      Can you imagine life without French fries？ Potatoes are liked today. But in the past this was not true. Potatoes grew in South America five thousand years ago. But they were only eaten in other places two hundred years ago.

　　你能想象没有炸薯条生活会是怎样的？今天人们普遍喜爱马铃薯。但在过去却并非如此。五千年前，马铃薯在南美开始种植。但却是在200年前才在其它地方有人开始吃马铃薯。

　　In the 16th century， the Spanish brought the potatoes from South America to Europe. The people in Europe did not like strange vegetable. Some people thought that if you ate the potatoes your skin would look like the skin of the potatoes. Other people could not believe that you ate the underground part of the plant. So they ate the leaves instead. This made them sick because there is poison in the leaves.

　　在十六世纪，西班牙人将马铃薯从南美引进欧洲。但人们并不喜爱这种奇特的蔬菜。有人认为，你一旦吃了马铃薯，你的皮肤就会长得象它的表皮。而有人不相信你吃植物的地下部分。他们反而吃马铃薯的叶子，从而导致一些疾病，因为马铃薯的叶子有毒。

　　In the 1800’s people started to eat potatoes. In Ireland potatoes became the main food. Then， in 1845， a disease killed all the potatoes in Ireland. Two million people died of hunger.

　　在十九世纪人们普遍开始吃马铃薯。在爱尔兰，马铃薯成为人们的主食。而后在1845年，一场病害几乎使爱尔兰的马铃薯灭种，有两百万人死于饥饿。

　　Today， each country has its potato dish. Germans eat potato salad， and the United States has the baked potatoes. And， of course， the French invented French fries. Now French fries are liked all over the world. The English eat them with salt and vinegar， the French eat them with salt and pepper，while the Americans with ketchup.

　　如今，每个国家都有各自的马铃薯菜肴。德国人吃马铃薯色拉，美国人吃烤马铃薯。当然，法国人首创了炸薯条，而今已为世界各地的人们所喜爱。英国人吃马铃薯时要加盐和醋，法国人要加盐和胡椒，而美国人却用番茄酱来拌着吃。