Let us cut an apple across so as to divide it into halves. Now we can see the five parts of the seed-vessel in the middle of the fruit, and we notice that each of these parts contains at least one black seed. These seeds are held in a tough skin, which forms the "core" of the apple.

咱们把一只苹果拦腰切成两半。现在就能看见水果中间子房的五个部分，我们注意到，每个部分都包含着至少一颗黑色的种子。这些种子让一层硬皮覆盖着，硬皮就形成了苹果的“核”。

If the apple seeds are planted, they will grow into apple-trees. But this will take several years. A much quicker way of growing apple-trees is to take slips or cuttings from old trees and plant them in the ground.

把苹果种子种到地里，就能长成苹果树，但这个过程需要好几年的时间。种苹果树还有一种快得多的方法，就是把老树的插条或者插枝栽到地里。

To what other plants is the apple-tree related? It belongs to the rose family. The wild rose, the hawthorn of our hedges, the pear-tree, the plum, the cherry, the strawberry, and the blackberry, are all cousins of the apple-tree. If you examine well the flowers of each of these plants, you will find that they are all very much alike in form, although some of them are much smaller than others.

苹果树跟哪些树有亲戚关系呢?苹果树属于“蔷薇科”。野玫瑰，还有我们围着树篱的果园里的山楂树、梨树、李子树、樱桃树、草莓、黑莓，这些都是苹果树的近亲。仔细观察这些植物的花，会发现它们长得都很像，只是有些植物的花，比另外一些植物的花小得多。

There are a great many different sorts of apples. Some of these are best for cooking, while others are best for eating raw. Then there are the cider-apples of Hereford and Devon, from the juice of which the drink called cider is made.

苹果有很多不同的种类，有些适合加工以后再吃，有些适合生吃。在英国的赫里福德和德文郡还有一类“酿造苹果”，“苹果酒”的饮料，就是用这种苹果的汁做的。

Apples that have been cooked are much better for you than those that you eat raw, so I hope that you will have most of your apples made into apple-pies.

加工过的苹果，比生吃的苹果，对你的身体好处更大，所以我希望你把自己吃的大多数苹果，都做成苹果馅饼。

When you eat raw apples, you should not eat the skin, or the core, or the seeds, for these parts of the apple are not good for you.

生吃苹果的时候，可不要吃掉苹果的皮、核、种子，苹果的这些部分对身体是不好的。

英语美文