Tobacco 菸草
What’s in a cigarette? What’s in a puff?
香菸所含成分?吞雲吐霧裡又有什麼?
Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals. Some of which are harmful, others deadly. Here are three of the deadliest.
菸煙內約有四千種化學物質。其中有些物質是有害的，有些則是致命的。以下要介紹三種最致命的物質。
Tar, a mixture of chemicals such as formaldehyde, arsenic and cyanide, can cause serious lung diseases. Seventy percent of the tar from tobacco smoke remains in the smoker’s lungs.
焦油，一種含有甲醛、砷(砒霜)與氰化物的化學混合物，可造成嚴重的肺部疾病。菸煙裡的焦油有70%會殘留在吸菸者的肺臟。
Many people are unaware that nicotine is more addictive than heroine. A powerful and fast-acting drug, nicotine reaches the brain in about seven seconds. One of the major effects of nicotine is an increased heart rate and blood pressure.
許多人都不知道其實尼古丁比海洛因還更容易使人上癮。尼古丁是一種效力強大且快速作用的藥物，它大約只需七秒就可以抵達大腦。尼古丁帶來的主要影響為:心率加快、血壓上升。
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas formed when a cigarette is lit. The red blood cells absorb the gas more easily than oxygen, so up to fifteen percent of a smoker’s blood may be carrying carbon monoxide instead of oxygen. Breathing becomes more difficult because the heart has to work harder to pump less oxygen around the body.
一氧化碳是一種有毒氣體，在香菸被點燃的那一刻起就會形成。比起氧氣，紅血球更容易吸收一氧化碳，因此有高達15％的吸菸者，他的血液裡攜帶的可能是一氧化碳，而不是氧氣。吸菸者的呼吸會越來越困難，因為他們的心臟需要更努力的讓稀少的氧氣打入全身。
From seed to smoke
從種子到香菸
What do tomatoes and tobacco have in common? They are both a member of the same botanical family. Tobacco is grown in more than one hundred countries with China being the largest producer, closely followed by the USA. Tobacco can grow well in poorer soils so a typical farmer can expect a good income from planting this crop.
蕃茄和菸草有什麼共通點呢?他們都是同一個植物科名(茄科)的成員。菸草遍布生長於一百個以上的國家，中國是最大的生產者，而美國的生產量僅次於中國，由於菸草在貧瘠的土地也可以生長得很好，因此一般的農夫可以預期種植菸草作物會帶來好的收入。
Seeds and fertiliser are often provided by British American Tobacco. The seeds are so small that they must be protected in seedbeds for sixty days before transplanting to the field. Two weeks later, soil is carefully pushed up against the seedlings to further protect them and help to develop a good root system. Finally, after a couple of months, the flowering plants and some of the upper leaves are cut to allow more growth in the remaining leaves. The crop gradually grows towards the harvesting stage.
種子和肥料通常是由英美菸草集團提供。由於菸草的種子非常小，所以他們必須受到保護待在苗床六十天，之後才能移植到田地裡。兩個星期後，土壤被小心的倚靠著幼苗推高(以幼苗為中心將周圍的土推高--培土，使菸草能直立生長)，以進一步地保護他們，並幫助他們發展出良好的根系。最後，經過兩、三個月後，這種開花植物(的花)和一些長得比較上面的葉子(天葉)會被剪下來(此過程稱為摘花芽和打杈)，讓剩下的葉子繼續成長。由此逐漸地成長，菸草作物邁向了採收的階段。(靠近地面的土葉是最早成熟的葉子，所以在生長期間，要將離地最遠的葉子也就是天葉剪掉，還要把花芽摘掉，讓養分集中在下方的葉子)
In most countries harvesting is done by hand. The farmer takes off a few leaves from the lower part of each plant. A typical farmer can expect to harvest about 15,000 plants. This is quite a lot considering each plant contains around 22 leaves.
大部分的國家都是靠手工來收成。農夫摘取每株植栽較下方的一些葉子(土葉)。一般的農夫可以預期採收大概一萬五千株的植栽。考慮到每株植栽可以採收約22片的菸葉，這樣的產量還算蠻多的。
There are four main methods.
這裡有四種主要的方法
Air-cured tobacco is hung in unheated, ventilated barns until the tobacco dries and the tobacco leaf becomes a light to medium brown colour.
空氣風乾的菸葉，將菸葉懸掛在未加熱且通風的穀倉中，直到菸葉乾燥，且葉子顏色由淺棕色變為棕色為止。
Flue-cured tobacco is made when heat is introduced into a barn through pipes from a furnace outside. The leaves are heated until they turn yellow.
煙管烘製的菸葉，透過倉外火爐的管子將熱力引入倉內。由此葉子一直加熱至顏色變黃。
Sun-cured tobacco leaves are hung out on racks and exposed to the sun’s rays. The direct heat turns the leaves a yellow to orange colour.
日光曬乾的菸草，將葉子掛在擱架上，並且暴露在陽光下。直接的高溫讓黃色的葉子變為橘色。
For fire curing, wood is burnt under the tobacco leaves, which dries the tobacco and produces a smoky fragrance.
木火煙燻的菸草，在菸葉下方燃燒木材，使得菸葉乾燥，且產生出一種煙燻的氣味。
There are four stages in processing. Dirt is removed from the cured tobacco. The leaf is separated from the stem (a process known as threshing). The moisture content is checked carefully. The processed tobacco is packed into 200kg cardboard boxes, for shipping to manufacturing sites.
加工有四個階段。將菸葉烘焙後所帶有的髒污去除。再把葉子與莖幹分離(此過程稱為打穀/脫粒)。接著，仔細地檢驗葉子的濕氣含量。最後，加工好的菸草會被裝進可承重兩百公斤的硬紙箱中，裝運至製造場所。
(threshing--可能是採收時用株收法，將整株植物砍下，故於加工時需threshing，而非上述一片片摘的採收方式)
At the factory, the matured tobacco is checked for quality and then carefully blended with other ingredients which are needed for the brand recipe, such as flavourings.
在工廠內，會先檢查處理好的菸葉品質，再小心地將菸葉與品牌配方所需的其他成分混合，像是調味香料。
Moisture content is crucial. Too dry and the tobacco leaf will crumble; too moist and it may spoil during storage. The blended tobacco is treated with just the right amount of steam and water to make it supple, and then cut into the form in which it appears in the cigarette. The cut tobacco is then given a quality check.
濕氣的含量是最重要的。太乾，菸葉會變碎屑；太濕，菸葉在儲藏時可能會變質。與其他配方混合好的菸葉，會用適量的蒸氣與水來使它變得柔軟，之後再把煙葉切成出現在香菸裡的形狀。切好的菸葉會再做質量的檢驗。
Cigarette making, once done entirely by hand, is today almost fully automated with the cut tobacco, cigarette paper and filters continuously fed into the cigarette-making machines.
香菸的製作，曾經是由純手工完成，如今，幾乎都是自動化了，像是切割好的菸葉、捲菸紙與濾嘴都接連地被送進製菸機器。
Packing machines put the cigarettes into the familiar brand packs, wrap the packs in protective film and group them into cartons and cases. The completed cases, time-dated to ensure the freshest product possible, are then ready for distribution.
包裝機器將香菸放進常見的品牌盒子裡，用保護膜包覆盒子，並將他們分裝於紙盒與箱子中。完成好的箱子，會標上時間與日期以盡可能的確保產品新鮮，接著就是準備銷售了。
addictive (adj): unable to stop doing something that can be dangerous.
arsenic (n): a very strong poison that can kill people.
automated (adj): from the verb automate - to make a process in a factory or office operate by machines or computers, in order to reduce the amount of work done by humans and the time taken to do the work.
brand (n): a type of product made by a particular company.
crumble (v): to break, or cause something to break, into small pieces.
spoil (v): when something spoils or is spoilt, it is no longer good enough to use.
cure (v): to treat food, tobacco, etc. with smoke or salt, etc. in order to stop it decaying, to preserve food.
cyanide (n): a highly poisonous substance.
deadly (adj): very dangerous.
fertiliser (n): a natural or chemical substance used to make plants grow.
film (n): a thin layer of plastic to cover and protect an object.
formaldehyde (n): a strong smelling gas used for preservation.
fragrance (n): a smell.
stem (n): the stick-like central part of a plant which grows above the ground and from which leaves and flowers grow, or a smaller thin part which grows from the central part and which supports the leaves and flowers.
furnace (n): a piece of equipment for heating a building.
income (n): the money you receive from doing work.
puff (n): an amount of smoke inhaled each time a smoker puts a cigarette to his/her mouth.
seedling (n): a young plant grown from a seed.
supple (adj): bending or able to be bent easily; not stiff.
ventilated (adj): from the verb to ventilate, provide air to cause fresh air to enter and move around an enclosed space.
