CNN新闻英语第 46 课：Evolution of Chocolate 巧克力的演变-1

ANN KELLAN, CNN SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT 安·凯兰，CNN科技记者
Only Patricia Reeb knows why she married Robert, a third-generation French chocolate maker. They've been making chocolate together at Maison Robert for 30 years. 只有帕特丽西亚·瑞波自己知道她为什么嫁给了罗伯特，那个法国巧克力制造世家的第三代传人。他们一起在梅森罗伯特做了30年的巧克力。

It's no surprise our love of chocolates. But what surprises scientists is how long this love affair has been going on. 我们喜爱巧克力一点都不奇怪。但令科学家惊奇的是人们喜爱它有多久了。

ANN KELLAN, CNN SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT 安·凯兰，CNN科技记者
Until now, we thought it started with the Mayans around 400 A.D. But according to a report in the journal of "Nature", after analyzing the contents of this ancient Mayan pot, turns out that chocolate dates as far back as 600 B.C., 1,000 years earlier than previously thought. 直到现在，我们都认为巧克力的制作始于公元400年的玛雅人。但根据《自然》杂志刊登的报告，科学家们在分析了古玛雅罐的成分后发现，巧克力的历史可以追溯到更早的公元前600年，这比人们先前认为的早了1000年。

Jeff Husrt, a biochemist at the Hershey Company, was asked by archaeologists at the University of Texas to analyze residue they found in 14 Mayan pots unearthed in Belize. Hershey公司的生物化学家杰夫· 哈斯特接受了德克萨斯大学考古学家的邀请，分析他们从伯利兹城挖出的14个玛雅时期的罐子。

Using a machine called a mass spectrometer, Hurst identified the compound theobromine in some of that residue. Theobromine is a key compound in chocolate. 他利用大型分光计识别出一些残余物中含有化合物可可碱。可可碱是巧克力的重要成分。

JEFF HUSRT, SCIENTIST, HERSHEY FOODS 杰夫·哈斯特，Hershey食品公司科学家
There are other plants in that region that do have theobromine, but none have it as the major compound, and that was what we were able to key on. 在玛雅地区，别的植物确实也含可可碱，但在任何一种植物中，可可碱都不是主要成分，这就为我们提供了线索。

KELLAN 凯兰
But Mayan chocolate, according to archaeologists is a lot different than a... 但据考古学家说，玛雅人的巧克力完全不同于……

HURST 哈斯特
... good old Hershey chocolate bar. It would not have been sweetened. From what, we, from what at least, we know. ……Hershey公司历史悠久的上乘巧克力块，它没有加甜味。至少这一点，我们是知道的。

PROF. PAUL GEPTS, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA 保罗·吉布茨加利弗尼亚大学教授
The Mayans, for example, would add peppers to it. They would add also vanilla, as far as we can tell. They would add also hallucinogenic mushrooms. 比如说，玛雅人会把胡椒加入巧克力。我们还能分辨出，他们也放了香草。还有能引起幻觉的蘑菇。