2017年12月六级第1套仔细阅读 Passage 1 原文翻译及答案解析

You may have heard that Coca-Cola once contained an ingredient capable of sparking particular devotion in consumers: cocaine. The cocaine. The "coca" in the name referred to the extracts of coca leaf that the drink's originator, chemist John Pemberton, mixed with his sugary syrup (浆汁). At the time, coca leaf extract mixed with wine was a common tonic (滋补品), and Pemberton's sweet brew was a way to get around local laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol. But the other half of the name represents another ingredient, less infamous (名声不好的), perhaps, but also strangely potent: the kola nut.

你可能听说过可口可乐曾经含有一种能引发消费者特别忠诚的成分：可卡因。正是可卡因。名称中的“可”指的是可口叶提取物，饮料的创始人、化学家约翰·彭伯顿将其与他的糖浆混合。当时，可口叶提取物与葡萄酒混合是一种常见的滋补品，而彭伯顿的甜酿则是绕过当地禁止销售酒精的法律的一种方式。但名称的另一半代表另一种成分，可能名声不那么差，但同样具有奇特功效：可乐果。

In West Africa, people have long chewed kola nuts as stimulants, because they contain caffeine that also occurs naturally in tea, coffee, and chocolate. They also have heart stimulants.

在西非，人们长期以来咀嚼可乐果作为兴奋剂，因为它们含有咖啡因，这种物质也自然存在于茶、咖啡和巧克力中。它们还具有心脏兴奋作用。

Historian Paul Lovejoy relates that the cultivation of kola nuts in West Africa is hundreds of years old. The leafy, spreading trees were planted on graves and as part of traditional rituals. Even though the nuts, which need to stay moist, can be somewhat delicate to transport, traders carried them hundreds of miles throughout the forests and grasslands.

历史学家保罗·洛夫乔伊指出，西非的可乐果种植已有数百年历史。这种枝叶繁茂的树木被种植在坟墓上，并作为传统仪式的一部分。尽管这些需要保持湿润的果实在运输上可能有些脆弱，但商人们还是将它们运送到数百英里外的森林和草原中。

Europeans did not know of them until the 1500s when Portuguese ships arrived on the coast of what is now Sierra Leone. And while the Portuguese took part in the trade, ferrying nuts down the coast along with other goods, by 1620, when English explorer Richard Jobson made his way up the Gambia, the nuts were still peculiar to his eyes.

欧洲人直到16世纪葡萄牙船只抵达现今塞拉利昂海岸时才知道它们。尽管葡萄牙人参与了贸易，将果实与其他货物一起沿岸运输，但到1620年，当英国探险家理查德·乔布森前往冈比亚时，这些果实在他眼中仍然很奇特。

By the late 19th century, kola nuts were being shipped by the tonne to Europe and the US. Many made their way into medicines, intended as a kind of energy boost. One such popular medicinal drink was Vin Mariani, a French product consisting of coca extract mixed with red wine. It was created by a French chemist, Angelo Mariani, in 1863. So when Pemberton created his drink, it represented an ongoing trend. When cocaine eventually fell from grace as a beverage ingredient, kola-extract colas became popular.

到19世纪末，可乐果被成吨地运往欧洲和美国。许多被制成药物，旨在作为一种能量增强剂。其中一种流行的药用饮料是马里亚尼酒，这是一种法国产品，由可口提取物与红葡萄酒混合而成。它由法国化学家安杰洛·马里亚尼于1863年创造。因此，当彭伯顿创造他的饮料时，它代表了一种持续的趋势。当可卡因最终不再作为饮料成分受欢迎时，可乐提取物可乐变得流行。

The first year it was available, Coca-Cola averaged nine servings a day across all the Atlanta soda fountains where it was sold. As it grew more popular, the company sold rights to bottle the soda, so it could travel easily. Today about 1.9 billion Cokes are purchased daily. It's become so iconic that attempts to change its taste in 1985-sweetening it in a move projected to boost sales proved disastrous, with widespread anger from consumers. "Coca-Cola Classic" returned to store shelves just three months after the "New Coke" was released.

在它上市的第一年，可口可乐在亚特兰大所有销售它的汽水平均每天售出九份。随着它越来越受欢迎，公司出售了瓶装汽水的权利，以便于运输。如今，每天大约购买19亿瓶可口可乐。它变得如此标志性，以至于1985年试图改变其口味——通过增加甜度来预计提升销售——结果证明是灾难性的，引发了消费者的广泛愤怒。“可口可乐经典”在“新可乐”发布仅三个月后就重新回到商店货架。

These days, the Coca-Cola recipe is a closely guarded secret. But it's said to no longer contain kola nut extract, relying instead on artificial imitations to achieve the flavour.

如今，可口可乐的配方是一个严格保守的秘密。但据说它不再含有可乐果提取物，而是依赖人工仿制品来达到其风味。