Studioclassroom_20090304

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How Chocolate Works

The process of making chocolate is fascinating.

Are you a chocoholic? Many people are. The average American consumes more than 10 pounds of chocolate every year. Have you ever wondered where all that chocolate comes from? Chocolate starts with a tree called the cacao tree. The cacao tree produce a fruit about the size of a small pineapple. Inside this fruit you find a big handful of cacao seeds, also known as cocao beans.

Making chocolate
If you have ever made peanut butter at home, you know something about making chocolate. You take peanuts, roast them, and then toss them in a grinder or a blender. You can do exactly the same thing with cocoa beans, and you get a thick liquid called chocolate liquor. It smells absolutely heavenly. If you let chocolate liquor cool and solidify, what you have is pure, unsweetened chocolate. Take the chocolate liquor and put it in a big hydraulic press. The press lets you squeeze out the fat. We call the cat cocoa butter. The brown solids left behind in the press are known as cocoa powder, which is great for baking.





consume v. 吃光/用掉
eg: You will consume fewer calories if you eat a salid instead of potato chips.
eg: The swimmers usually consume extra food each day during their training season.
eg: SUVs usually consume more gas than other types of cars.


chocoholic n. 嗜食巧克力者
(additive to chocolate)
(pormanteau word 混合詞/合併詞)(chocolate & alcoholic)
eg: Since Nathan is a chocoholic he can eat whole box of chocolate in a very short amount of time.

alcoholic 嗜酒狂
workaholic 工作狂
shopaholic 購物狂




liquor n. 烈酒/
(very strong alcohol)(very thick liquid chocolate)
eg: A popular liquor in Asian countries is made from rice.


heavenly adj.
eg: The taste of this mango pudding is heavenly! It's really delicious!


unsweetened adj. 沒有加糖的
eg: I would kike unsweetened tea. Please don't add any sugar to it.
eg: This unsweetened jam is ideal for people trying to lose weight.
eg: This unsweetened fruit juice is as tasty as those sweetened ones.


hydraulic adj. 水壓的,液壓的
hydraulic press

solidify v. 凝固



Why do people enjoy chocolate so much? It may be because chocolate contains several interesting chemicals. The most important of these is called theobromine, a chemical similar to caffeine in that it can lit you spirits. The problem is that the amounts of these chemicals are so small that it is hard to say whether they have any real effect on a person.



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