The World War II diet that saved Britain

by Clive Irving

When the British went to war 80 years ago they swiftly lost the individual freedom to make fundamental choices over the way they lived. That's what being on a war footing meant. The state became all powerful. In order to survive, we were told, individual choice was a luxury Britain could no longer afford.

the British 英國人

swiftly / adv. 迅速地

individual /adj. 個人的、個體的

freedom /  n. 自由

fundamental / adj. 基本的

be on a war footing 處于戰(zhàn)爭狀態(tài)

state /n. 、政府

powerful / adj. 權力大的(由power加后綴-ful變成形容詞)

survive /v. 生存、活下來

luxury / n. 奢侈品

In war Britain's position as an offshore island of Europe had an upside and a downside. The upside was that invasion by land was impossible. The downside was that the population could not be fed from the island's own resources.

offshore / adj. 離開海岸的(由off和shore組成)

upside /n. 好的一面、優(yōu)點

downside /  n. 壞的一面、缺點

invasion / n. 侵略

resource /  n. 資源

Hitler understood that vulnerability(弱點). He set out to starve the British by sending swarms of submarines(潛艇) into the north Atlantic to wreak havoc on convoys(船隊) bringing food from Canada and America. As a result, Britain's food imports dropped substantially, but the British never starved. In fact, they ate the healthiest diet they had ever enjoyed.

Hitler 希特勒

set out 開始做某事、著手做某事

starve / v. 挨餓、使挨餓

swarm /n. 一大群

wreak  造成嚴重破壞

import / n. 進口、進口貨

substantially /adv. 大幅度地(由substantial加后綴-ly變成副詞)

This was made possible largely by the work of one man, a biochemist named Jack Drummond. As the scientific adviser to the Ministry of Food, he laid down the daily menus for the whole country. But his power extended beyond that. He decided what foods should be imported and what should not.

largely /adv. 在很大程度上(由large加后綴-ly變成副詞)

biochemist /  n. 生物化學家(由chemist加上表示生物的前綴bio-)

adviser /  n. 顧問(由advise加上表示人的后綴-er)

ministry / n. (政府的)部

lay down 正式制定(規(guī)章制度等)

extend / v. 擴展、延伸

import / v. 進口(注意它做動詞和做名詞時發(fā)音不同)

Drummond had the personal authority that was hard to challenge. He gained recognition by advancing the knowledge of how vitamins worked. He identified and named vitamins A, B and C. At the age of 31 he became the first professor of biochemistry at University College London.

authority / n. 威信

recognition / n. 認可、推崇

advance / v. 使進步

vitamin / n. 維生素、維他命

identify /v. 識別

biochemistry /  n. 生物化學(由chemistry加上表示生物的前綴bio-)

Drummond's goal was to reduce Britain's dependence on food imports while guaranteeing that the basic diet was healthy. To cut back on imports of wheat a "national loaf" was produced, virtually a whole-grain bread that retained all the key nutrients(營養(yǎng)物質) in the flour, with calcium carbonate added to provide the calcium; vitamins A and D were added to margarine(人造黃油) as a healthier substitute for butter; and children received a free daily bottle of milk at school. Orange juice, cod liver oil and tablets of vitamins A and D went to pregnant women and small children.

dependence /n. 依賴(由depend加后綴-ence變成名詞)

guarantee / v. 確保、保證

cut back 削減、減少

wheat /n. 小麥

loaf /n. 大面包

virtually / adv. 幾乎

grain /n. 谷物

retain / v. 保留

key /adj. 關鍵的

flour /n. 面粉

calcium /n. 鈣(calcium carbonate是碳酸鈣)

substitute /  n. 替代品

cod /n. 鱈魚

liver /  n. 肝

tablet / n. 藥片

pregnant /  adj. 懷孕的

What was not imported was sometimes as important as what was: sugar imports were cut to 19th-century levels, with a corresponding improvement in health that was particularly evident to dentists.

cut /v. 減少

level /n. 水平、數量

corresponding /  adj. 相應的、對應的

evident /  adj. 明顯的

In fact, that was but one measure of what the new British diet achieved. Infant mortality rates were the lowest on record; bone growth and the height of children increased and the rate of every diet-related disease declined dramatically.

but =only

measure / n. 衡量、指標

infant /n. 嬰幼兒

mortality /n. 死亡

rate / n. 率、比率

on record 記錄在案的

growth / n. 生長

related / adj. 相關的、有聯系的

decline / v. 下降、減少

dramatically / adv. 急劇地、顯著地

So, rather than being starved into submission the British ended the war in robust health. After the war the American Public Health Association, citing Drummond for an award, said his work was "one of the greatest demonstrations in public health administration that the world has ever seen."

submission / n. 投降、屈服

robust /dj. 健康強壯的

association / n. 協(xié)會、聯合會(由associate加后綴-ion變成名詞)

cite / v. 嘉獎、表彰

award / n. 獎

demonstration /  n. 展示(由demonstrate加后綴-ion變成名詞)

administration / n. 行政管理

英文原文節(jié)選自The Daily Beast