【正文】 up of fantasy lands, magical faraway places made entirely of food and spices. And to that, spices themselves had always been considered special or magical not just for eating and this was already true in the ancient world where legends about spices were abundant. Spices inspired the medieval imagination. （7）They were used as medicines to ward off diseases, and mixed into perfumes, incense. They were used in religious rituals for thousands of years. They took on a life of their own and they inspired the medieval imagination, spurred on the age of discovery in the 145th and 16th centuries. （10）When famous explorers like Columbus and da Gama and Magellan left Europe in their ships, they weren’t looking for a new world, they were looking for we know what important historical repercussions some of those voyages had.詞匯：spice n. 香料；調(diào)味品aromatic adj. 芳香的herb n. 香草tree bark 樹皮cinnamon n. 樟屬的樹root n. 根ginger n. 姜bud n. 芽；蓓蕾clove n. 丁香pepper n. 胡椒maize n. 玉米nutmeg n. 肉豆蔻medieval adj. 中世紀的boil down to 歸結為rarity n. 罕見exotic adj. 外來的；異國情調(diào)的fragrance n. 香味mysterious adj. 神秘的；不可思議的mythical adj. 神話的astronomical adj. 天文的；極大的gothic adj. 哥特式的；野蠻的general n. 將軍diplomacy n. 外交手段；外交ambassador n. 大使；代表bland adj. 乏味的aristocracy n. 貴族humiliate v. 使丟臉；羞辱preservative n. 防腐劑collapse v. 瓦解；倒塌handson adj. 親身實踐的intermediary n. 中間人shroud v. 覆蓋allure n. 誘惑力ward off 避開incense n. 香ritual n. 儀式spur on 驅使；鼓勵repercussion n. 反響voyage n. 航行題目：6. What is the main purpose of the lecture?解析：主旨題。答案：To explain the significance of spices for medieval society.7. Based on the lecture, indicate whether the following is true about spices in Medieval Europe.Click in the correct box for each phrase.解析：文章結構題。答案：Yes No They had to be imported. √ They were unaffordable for many people. √ They were used to preserve meat during the winter. √ They were believed to have medicinal properties. √ Their sale in public markets was closely regulated. √ 8. What two factors explain why medieval Europeans did not use spices to cover the taste of spoiled meat?解析：細節(jié)題，定位cover the taste of spoiled meat. 文中說如果人們可以買得起香料肯定可以買得起新鮮的肉，所以肉比香料便宜沒必要這樣做；另外有專門管賣變質肉的警察，所以這種行為是被禁止的。答案：To explain why the origins of spices became more mysterious10. What does the professor say about European explorers during the age of discovery?解析：細節(jié)題，定位explorers. 文中說他們離開歐洲不是尋找新世界，而是尋找香料。短話中說軍官要求5000磅金子和3000磅胡椒粉作為賠償，說明胡椒粉在那個時期非常珍貴。 you’ve probably seen it. It’s the North American wood frog. Now the wood frog’s not that easy to spot since it stays pretty to close to the ground, under leaves and things and it blends in really well with its background as you can see. But they are worth the effort because they do something very unusual, something you might not have even thought possible. OK, North American wood frogs live over a very broad territory or range. They’re found all over the northeasternUnited States and all throughCanada andAlaska, even inside theArctic Circle. No other frog is able to live that far and north. But wherever they live, once the weather starts to turn cold and the temperature starts to drop below freezing, as soon as the frog even touches an ice crystal or a bit of frozen ground, well, it begins to freeze. Yeah...yes to me. You look a little bit taken aback.Student：Wait, you mean it’s still alive but it freezes, solid?Professor：Well, almost. Ice forms in all the spaces outside the cells but never within a cell.Student：But… then how does its heart beat?Professor：It doesn’t.Student：But…then how could it…….Professor：You are gonna do such a thing? Well, that first touch of ice apparently triggers a biological response inside the frog. （14）That first of all starts drawing water away from the center of its body, so the middle part of the frog, its internal organs, its heart, lungs, liver, these start getting drier and drier while the water that’s being pulled away is forming a puddle around the organs just underneath the skin. And then that puddle of water starts to freeze. OK, up to now, the frog’s heart is still beating, right? Slower and slower but…and in those last few hours before it freezes, it distributes glucose, a blood sugar throughout its body, its circulatory system, sort of acts like antifreeze.Student：（17）A solution of antifreeze like you put in your car in the winter?Professor：Well, you tell me. In frogs, the extra glucose makes it harder for the winter inside the cells to freeze. So the cells stay just slightly wet, enough so that they can survive the winter. Then after that, the heart stops beating altogether. So is that the same?Student：I don’t really know, but how long dose it stay that way?Professor：Well, it could be days or even months, all winter in fact, but umm, see the heart really doesn’t need to do any pumping now because the blood is frozen too.Student：I just, I guess I just don’t see how it isn’t, you know, clinically dead.Professor：Well, that’s the amazing thing and how it revives is pretty amazing too. After months without a heartbeat, spring time came around again, the earth starts to warm up and suddenly one day, ping, a pulse, followed by another one, then another until maybe ten, twelve hours later, the animal is fully recovered.Student：（15）And does the thawing process have some kind of trigger as well?Professor：Well, we are not sure actually, the clearer thing is even though the sun is warning the frog up on the outside, its inside thaw out first, the heart and brain and everything. But somehow it all just happens that way every spring.Student：But after they thaw does it affect them like their lifespan?Professor：Well, hmm, we really don’t know a lot about how long a wood frog normally lives, probably just a few years but there is no evidence that the freezing process affects its longevity. It does have some other impacts though. In studies, we