The hottest pepper in the world全世界最辣的辣椒

Aliza Chasan

主題語境：食物研究 篇幅：340詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1 Pepper X has been considered as theworlds new hottest pepper， Guinness WorldRecords said. Ed Currie， the pepper expertwho crossbred and grew Pepper X， previouslybroke the record for the hottest pepper onEarth a decade ago with the Carolina Reaper.He developed Pepper X years ago， but didntrelease it right away. He said he kept Pepper X in his back pocket in case any othergrowers released something hotter than the Carolina Reaper. When no one came forward，he decided to bring out Pepper X.

2“ This is the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people，” Currie said.“ People saidit couldnt be done; they called us liars. We proved to them that Pepper X is actually thehottest pepper in the world， officially from Guinness.” A peppers heat is determined byhow much capsaicin （辣椒素） it contains， with that heat expressed with a tool called theScoville Scale. Pharmacologist Wilbur Scoville invented the scale in 1912. It measures howmuch water is required to dilute a pepper before its heat can no longer be tasted.

3 Pepper X was tested by Winthrop University in South Carolina. It rated at an averageof 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units. For comparison， a Carolina Reaper averages 1.64?million Scoville Heat Units and a jalape?o is around 2500 to 8000 Scoville Heat Units. Ahabanero typically tops 350，000.

4 Currie started growing hot peppers as a hobby， eventually moving on to cultivatingthem full time. The pepper grower raised 800 hot pepper plants“ in every inch of his homeand the homes of family， friends and neighbors” in the 1990s， according to his PuckerbuttPepper Company website.

5 Currie cultivated Pepper X on his farm for over a decade， according to GuinnessWorld Records. He crossbred it with some of his hottest peppers to increase its capsaicincontent.“ When we bred this pepper out， the first thing we looked for is something toraise that heat level to what we thought was going to be the maximum， and the secondthing is flavor，” he said.

Reading

Check

1. Why did Ed Currie initially keep Pepper X unreleased？

A. He wanted to keep it a secret.

B. He was still in the process of crossbreeding it.

C. He wanted to see if any other hotter pepper emerged.

D. He waited for it to be certified by Guinness World Records.

2. How is a pepper's heat determined？

A. By its color.

B. By its size.

C. By its content.

D. By its texture.

3. Which of the following is the Scoville Heat Units of Pepper X？

A. 1.64 million.

B. 2.69 million.

C. 3000 to 8000.

D. 350，000.

4. What can we know about Ed Currie from the text？

A. He grew hot peppers as a hobby.

B. He exposed Pepper X to hotter climates.

C. He let peppers mature longer on the plant.

D. He crossbred Pepper X with his hottest peppers.

Language

Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

“When we bred this pepper out， the first thing we looked for is something to raise thatheat level to what we thought was going to be the maximum， and the second thing is flavor，”he said. 他說：“在培育這種辣椒時，我們首先要做的是提高辣椒的辣度，使其達到我們認為的最高辣度，其次才是味道?！?/p>

【點石成金】本句中，When引導時間狀語從句；we looked for是一個省略了that的定語從句，修飾先行詞the first thing；what引導賓語從句。

Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks with the words and phrases in the box in proper forms.

break the record right away at an average of compare eventual

1. The women began the study_________about 54 years and were followed for 13 years.

2. The five survivors_________reached safety， ragged， halfstarved and exhausted.

3. Its recommendations are based on detailed_________between the public and private sectors.

4. This is actually the second time he_________for a living artist at auction.

5. As soon as the crew gets back from lunch， we can put your narration on it_________.