咖啡因是世界上最棒的藥物：英語精讀講義

Every day the world consumes 300 tons of caffeine,

每天全球消耗300噸咖啡因，

enough for one cup of coffee for every man, woman, and child. 文法

足夠給每個男人、女人和小孩提供一杯咖啡。

The world's largest buyer of coffee, the US,

全球最大的咖啡買家美國，

has to import nearly all of this as the coffee trees from which caffeine is harvested 文法

幾乎得進口所有這些咖啡，因為生產咖啡因的咖啡樹

will only grow at commercial levels between the Tropic of Cancer 文化背景

只能在北回歸線

and the Tropic of Capricorn,

和南回歸線之間以商業規模種植，

in an area called the coffee belt. 文化背景

這個區域被稱為咖啡帶。

Only a single state, Hawaii,

只有夏威夷一個州，

is within this belt.

位於這個帶內。

However,

然而，

the United States is only the largest buyer because it's so populous.

美國之所以成為最大的買家，僅僅是因為人口眾多。

The most enthusiastic coffee drinkers per capita are, 用詞

人均最狂熱的咖啡飲用者是，

in increasing order, 片語搭配

按遞增順序排列，

the Netherlands, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and the world champions, Finland,

荷蘭、丹麥、冰島、挪威，以及世界冠軍芬蘭，

where they drink three times as much coffee a day as the average American. 文法

他們每天喝的咖啡是普通美國人的三倍。

All of these countries are outside the coffee belt and must import 100% of their caffeine supply.

所有這些國家都不在咖啡帶內，必須100%進口他們的咖啡因供應。

To get this caffeine,

為了獲得這種咖啡因，

first bees must pollinate the flowers of a coffee tree,

首先蜜蜂必須給咖啡樹的花授粉，

and these flowers develop into bright red berries. 片語搭配

然後這些花發育成鮮紅色的漿果。

Unlike more cooperative domestic plants, 文法

與更配合的家養植物不同，

the coffee tree does not ripen all its berries at the same time,

咖啡樹不會讓所有漿果同時成熟，

so they need to be handpicked and sorted. 文法

所以它們需要手工採摘和分類。

Once picked, 文法

採摘後，

the coffee bean is removed from inside the berry.

咖啡豆從漿果中被取出。

This young seedling of the tree is then dried, heated, ground,

這顆幼小的樹苗隨後被乾燥、加熱、研磨，

and submerged in boiling water to get out the precious, precious caffeine. 片語搭配

並浸入沸水中，以提取出極其珍貴的咖啡因。

It takes about 40 coffee beans to make one shot of espresso. 文法

製作一杯義式濃縮咖啡大約需要40顆咖啡豆。

But why is caffeine in the coffee beans in the first place? 片語搭配

但是，為什麼咖啡因一開始會存在於咖啡豆中呢？

It's not like the coffee trees want to have humans cutting bits off of them 語氣意圖

這可不是因為咖啡樹想讓人類把它們切成碎片，

and committing a holocaust of their offspring. 用詞

並對它們的後代進行大屠殺。

Well, the trees, of course, don't want or feel anything.

好吧，樹木當然沒有慾望，也感覺不到任何東西。

They originally evolved caffeine for their own benefit. 片語搭配

它們最初演化出咖啡因是為了自己的利益。

Caffeine is an insecticide that effectively paralyzes or kills bugs chomping on the tree. 用詞

咖啡因是一種殺蟲劑，能有效麻痺或殺死啃食咖啡樹的蟲子。

Whether or not these insects go out experiencing the greatest caffeine high ever is not known. 文法

這些昆蟲在死前是否體驗了史無前例的咖啡因狂嗨，就不得而知了。

While caffeine is technically lethal,

雖然咖啡因在技術上是致命的，

it's adapted for 1 gram bugs,

但它是為1克的蟲子準備的，

not monkeys a 100,000 times more massive,

而不是質量大10萬倍的猴子，

so you'd really have to try to win this Darwin award. 文化背景

所以你真的得非常努力才能贏得這個達爾文獎。

But if you must, 語氣意圖

但如果你非要這麼做，

to calculate the dose of caffeine you'll need to ingest to have a 50% chance of death,

計算你有50%機率致死的咖啡因攝取量，

take your mass in kilograms and multiply it by 150 mg.

請用你以公斤為單位的體重乘以150毫克。

Or in terms of coffee, 片語搭配

或者用咖啡來換算，

for every kilogram of mass you have, 文法

你的體重每有一公斤，

you need to drink one latte to get a visit from the Grim Reaper. 文化背景

你就需要喝一杯拿鐵才能見到死神。

That's a lot of coffee,

那可是很多咖啡，

so it's not surprising that there are no recorded deaths in healthy adults from this method. 文法

所以這種方法沒有健康成年人死亡的記錄，也就不足為奇了。

And it's doubtful that it's even possible,

這甚至令人懷疑是否可能，

because while you're busy getting coffee in, 表達脈絡

因為當你忙著把咖啡灌進去時，

your body is busy getting it out by one way or another. 慣用語

你的身體正忙著透過各種方式把它排出去。

The rare recorded deaths from caffeine are from diet pills, pep pills,

罕見的咖啡因死亡記錄來自於減肥藥、提神藥，

and crazy people who eat the drug in its pure form.

以及吃純態這種藥物的瘋子。

Poison though caffeine is, 文法

儘管咖啡因有毒，

you do still develop an addiction to this stuff, 文法

你仍然會對這東西上癮，

and it's a real physiological addiction,

而且這是一種真實的生理成癮，

not a wimpy psychological addiction like people claim for video games and the internet.

而不是像人們宣稱的對電子遊戲和網路那種軟弱的心理成癮。

But caffeine isn't heroin,

但咖啡因不是海洛因，

rapid withdrawal won't kill you.

快速戒斷不會殺了你。

It might make you cranky and give you a wicked headache, 用詞

它可能會讓你暴躁，讓你頭痛欲裂，

but since caffeine releases dopamine to make you happy and it gets rid of headaches, 片語動詞

但由於咖啡因會釋放多巴胺讓你快樂，並能消除頭痛，

there's really no reason to ever stop using this stuff.

真的沒有理由停止使用這東西。

And who would want to give it up anyway? 片語動詞

況且，又有誰會想戒掉它呢？

I mean, aside from converts to Mormonism and Rastafarianism. 文化背景

我的意思是，除了皈依摩門教和拉斯塔法里教的人。

Caffeine is the world's most used psychoactive drug, 用詞

咖啡因是世界上使用最廣泛的精神活性藥物，

and with good reason.

且理由充分。

It's pure awesome.

它簡直棒極了。

It increases concentration, decreases fatigue, and gives you better memory.

它能提高注意力、減少疲勞，並給你更好的記憶力。

And this isn't just a placebo, 用詞

這不僅僅是安慰劑效應，

these are real effects replicable in a laboratory. 用詞

這些是可以在實驗室複製的真實效果。

And, contrary to popular belief, 片語搭配

而且，與普遍的看法相反，

drinking coffee isn't a Faustian bargain where the devil gives you the ability to work faster, 文化背景

喝咖啡不是一種浮士德式的交易：魔鬼給你更快工作的能力，

but in exchange makes your life shorter. 片語搭配

但作為交換會讓你的壽命縮短。

For normal healthy humans,

對於正常的健康人類，

there are no medical concerns.

沒有任何醫療顧慮。

Coffee and the caffeine within it may even have medical benefits

咖啡和其中的咖啡因甚至可能有醫療益處，

such as protection from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Parkinson's.

例如預防心血管疾病、糖尿病和帕金森氏症。

Caffeine can even get rid of migraines,

咖啡因甚至可以消除偏頭痛，

but the amount required and the method of ingestion is uncomfortable. 用詞

但所需的劑量和攝取方法令人不適。

Moving right along. 表達脈絡

好了，繼續說。

You know what else you can thank caffeine for? 表達脈絡

你知道還有什麼是可以歸功於咖啡因的嗎？

A little thing called the Enlightenment. 文化背景

一件叫做啟蒙運動的小事。

In the 1600s,

在17世紀，

people drank more beer and gin than water,

人們喝的啤酒和琴酒比水還多，

but with the introduction of coffee and tea,

但隨著咖啡和茶的引入，

people switched from a depressant to a stimulant. 片語搭配

人們從中樞神經抑制劑轉向了興奮劑。

It's not surprising then that this time was an intellectual boon compared to earlier centuries. 用詞

毫不奇怪，與早先的世紀相比，這個時期是一個智力爆發的時代。

Ben Franklin and Edward Lloyd loved their coffee for the same reason that modern workers and students do. 文法

班·富蘭克林和愛德華·勞埃德熱愛他們的咖啡，其原因與現代工人和學生一樣。

It's invaluable for staying awake and concentrating 片語搭配

它對於保持清醒和集中注意力是無價的，

when you need to finish a TPS report or get through that boring physics class. 講解

尤其是當你需要完成一份TPS報告或熬過那枯燥的物理課時。

Coffee is the fuel of the modern world, 慣用語

咖啡是現代世界的燃料，

so go grab a cup guilt-free and get working smarter and faster. 講解

所以放心去喝一杯吧，聰明而快速地工作起來。