英语｜每日外刊长难句0822​

科学美国人

Scientific American

Then they crossed these delicious but low-yield plants with modern, more prolific individuals until they found a descendant that made plenty of tasty sprouts, transforming the once maligned vegetable from a bitter pill into a popular side dish.

【词汇】

low-yield [ləʊ jiːld] adj. 产量很低的

prolific [prəˈlɪfɪk] adj. 多产的，产量高的

descendant [dɪˈsendənt] n. 后代

sprouts [spraʊt] n. 芽菜

maligned 饱受诟病的（此处为malign的过去分词形式，作定语修饰vegetable）

side dish 配菜

【句子结构】

✔句子主干：

they crossed these delicious but low-yield plants with modern, more prolific individuals

✔状语:

Then

✔状语从句:

until they found a descendant...

✔定语从句:

that made plenty of tasty sprouts

✔状语2:

transforming the once maligned vegetable from a bitter pill into a popular side dish

【原文】

Then they crossed these delicious but low-yield plants with modern, more prolific individuals until they found a descendant that made plenty of tasty sprouts, transforming the once maligned vegetable from a bitter pill into a popular side dish.

【译文】

然后，他们将这些美味但产量低的植物品种与现代的产量更高的个体进行杂交，直到找到一种可以产生大量美味芽菜的后代，把这种曾经饱受诟病的蔬菜从苦药丸变成了倍受欢迎的配菜。