中国人是最能吃瓜的民族。

此瓜非彼“瓜”，是正儿八经的西瓜。

2018年，我国就成了世界上最大的西瓜生产和消费国家，平均每人每年消费西瓜100斤以上。

中国以不到全世界20%的人口，生产了全世界70%的西瓜，然后吃掉了60%。

每当夏天我们沉迷吃瓜时，不知有没有人想过这个问题：又甜又熟的西瓜是谁种出来的？

今天我们能自由吃瓜，其实要感谢吴明珠奶奶。

西瓜并不是中国原有物种。明代徐光启编写的《农政全书》中写道：西瓜，种出西域，故之名。

李时珍在《本草纲目》中也记载了西瓜的来历：按胡峤于回纥得瓜种，名曰西瓜。则西瓜自五代时始入中国；今南北皆有。

也就是说，1000多年前五代期间，中原人从回纥获得西瓜瓜种，自此开始广种西瓜。那时的西瓜“大如中国冬瓜而味甘”，甜瓜苦瓜大王，远不如今天又甜又大又饱满。，

1955年，国家百废待兴，吴明珠从北京主动请缨到新疆培育瓜种。

她出生在九省通衢的武汉，到降雨量稀少的戈壁摊搜集瓜种，带着水和馕，走遍吐鲁番300多个生产队，把搜集到的瓜种建立档案。

她用了50多年，培育出28个经国家审定的优质瓜种，有大家熟知的小青皮、黑眉毛、香妃蜜瓜、麒麟瓜等，还有西瓜中的王牌——8424西瓜。

她吃过许多苦，但却种出了最甜的瓜。

中国甜瓜大王是吴明珠。中国工程院院士吴明珠，又被称为“甜瓜大王”。60多年来，吴明珠培育了30多个品种，把瓜的甘甜献给了人民，将中国特色的甜瓜系列和完整的育种创新体系推向世界，她被誉为“吐鲁番盆地的一颗明珠”。

这里不得不提的是，吴明珠奶奶与杂交水稻之父袁隆平爷爷是同窗。他们两个人，一位帮我们吃饱了饭，一位让我们吃上了瓜。

在我国外宣网站上，吴明珠奶奶被称为“queen of the Chinese melon”——中国甜瓜女王。

不吃西瓜的夏天，不是完美的夏天。2021年的夏天已经过去了大半，在夏末的凉风里，不如边吃着西瓜，边看看吴明珠奶奶和西瓜的故事。

The summer is scorching，although there is now an air-conditioning artifact，but in such a hot summer，if there is a watermelon that is as sweet as first love and icy in your hand and bites it，it can be described as a fairy-like feeling!

夏日炎炎，虽然现在有了空调神器，但是在这样炎热的夏天，如果有一个甜似初恋的冰西瓜在手里，咬一口，那可谓是神仙般的感觉！

scorching adj. 灼热的

air-conditioning n. 空调系统

artifact n. 人工制品

first love 初恋

fairy-like adj. 仙女一般的

China is one of the four ancient civilizations in the world，with a long history and a long history of eating melons; it is one of the oldest countries in the world to cultivate melons，with a history of about 3，000 years!

中国是世界四大文明古国之一，历史悠久，吃瓜历史同样悠久；是世界上最早种瓜国家之一，约有3000年的历史！

four ancient civilizations 四大文明古国

被称为甜瓜大王的院士名叫吴明珠，她是一位备受人尊敬的老人，一生所做的事情，正如她的名字“明珠”一样，为新疆乃至全国人民，带来了香甜可口的甜瓜。吴老会被称为“甜瓜大王”，全因为她将一生奉献。

cultivate vt. 培养

Nearly 70% of the watermelons on the earth have entered the stomachs of Chinese people. This is why we eat melons very cheaply，because if we have enough，we can win by quantity first.

地球上近70%的西瓜都进了中国人的胃。这就是我们吃的瓜都很便宜的原因，因为如果数量足够多，可以先以量取胜。

Then why can we in China be free to eat melons?

那为什么我们中国人可以自由吃瓜呢？

袁隆平，男，汉族，江西省九江市德安县人，1930年9月7日生于北京，现居湖南长沙。1953年8月参加工作，大学学历，无党派，研究员。中国杂交水稻育种专家，被称为中国的“杂交水稻之父”，中国工程院院士。2006年4月当选美国。

当然，我们要感谢我们的“甜瓜女王”吴明珠，多亏了她，我们才能想吃瓜就吃瓜，而不是像国外只有在节日或者特殊日子才能享受优惠价格。真是种美味的水果。

“甜瓜大王”吴明珠和“杂交水稻之父”袁隆平均毕业于西南大学，吴明珠就读于西南大学园艺系下果蔬专业。

muskmelon [ˈmʌskˌmelən] n. 甜瓜

department n. 系

horticulture [ˈhɔːrtɪkʌltʃər] n. 园艺学

Wu Mingzhu was born in January 1930 into a scholarly family in Wuhan City，Hubei Province. She has excellent conditions and has never done any rough work. Since then，it may not be possible to think of Wu Mingzhu doing farm work in Guadi.

吴明珠1930年1月出生于湖北省武汉市的一个书香门第家庭，家境优越，从未干过粗活。从那时起，就很难想象吴明珠在瓜地干农活的样子。

a scholarly family 书香门第

rough work 粗活

In fact，it is not the case. Wu Mingzhu in college has a lively and cheerful personality，a lovely appearance，and her grades are among the best. During the sophomore year，the school organized labor practice classes. In the first class，she was required to install a hoe and then hoe the ground.

其实并非如此，大学时的吴明珠性格活泼开朗，外表可爱，成绩名列前茅。大二期间，学校组织劳动实践课，第一节课就要求她安装锄头锄地。

sophomore [ˈsɑːfəmɔːr] n. 大学二年级生

hoe [hoʊ] n. 锄头

Although Wu Mingzhu has never done it before，she did it well，and did not give up lightly. Even if the blisters were grinded on her hands，Wu Mingzhu gritted her teeth and dug the 30 square meters of land that he asked for!

吴明珠虽然从来没有做过，但是她做的很好，没有轻言放弃。哪怕手上磨出水泡，吴明珠也咬着牙，把自己负责的30平米的地给锄完了！

blister n. 水泡

grind [ɡraɪnd]vt. 磨碎

grit [ɡrɪt] v. 咬紧牙关

In the subsequent labor practice class，Wu Mingzhu picked up manure，sowed seeds，and watered almost all agricultural labor projects. Wu Mingzhu knows that to learn gardening，one needs to experience these things in person.

在随后的劳动实践课上，吴明珠捡肥料，播种，几乎把所有的农业项目浇灌完。吴明珠知道学习园艺，需要亲自体验这些。

pick up 捡起

manure [məˈnʊr] n. 肥料

sow [soʊ; saʊ] vt. 播种

in person 亲自

In 1953，Wu Mingzhu graduated from University. Wu Mingzhu has already figured out where she wants to go to give play to her strengths，seniors have told her The prospect of gardening in Xinjiang is good，and there is a shortage of talents. She wants to go very much.

1953年，吴明珠大学毕业，吴明珠已经想好了要去哪里发挥所长，学长学姐们告诉她，新疆园艺前景好，人才短缺。她很想去。

figure out 想出

give play to 发挥

There must be repercussions if he can't forget it. In 1955，the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was just established，and it was in urgent need of talents.

念念不忘，必有回响。1955年，新疆维吾尔自治区刚刚成立，急需人才。

repercussion [ri:pə(:)'kʌʃən] n. 反响

in urgent need of 急需

After arriving in Xinjiang，Wu Mingzhu was still not satisfied. Because she was assigned to Urumqi，in her opinion，this is not enough for the grassroots level. She wants to go to the most grassroots place，that is，Shanshan County.

到了新疆后，吴明珠还不满意。因为她被分配到乌鲁木齐，在她看来，这离基层太远，她想去最基层的地方，那就是鄯善县。

assign vt. 分配

the grassroots level 基层

In the second year，she finally successfully applied for transfer to Shanshan County as the deputy head of the Agricultural Technology Station. Few people know this place in Shanshan County，but it is surrounded by the very famous Flame Mountain.

第二年，她终于成功申请调任到鄯善县担任农技站副站长，在鄯善县很少有人知道这个地方，但这里被有名的火焰山包围着。

Therefore，the climate in this place is also very hot，and the maximum temperature in summer can reach 50°. At the same time，the sunshine is very abundant，so under the conditions that the sunshine and temperature are very suitable，it is a paradise for melons.

这个地方的气候也是非常炎热的，夏天最高温度可以达到50°。同时，阳光非常充足，在阳光和温度都非常适宜的情况下，简直就是瓜类的天堂。

abundant [əˈbʌndənt] adj. 充裕的

Since then，Wu Mingzhu began her research on melons.

自此，吴明珠开始了对瓜类的研究。

She and her colleagues spent 3 years in the ripening season of the melons，traveled to the rural melon land in the 3 counties of Turpan，Shanshan，and Toksun. They collected more than 100 original materials from farmers and conducted detailed observations on the test site. 44 excellent farm varieties of melon were sorted out，and red-heart crisp varieties were systematically purified from them. This red heart is so crisp that even President Nixon loves it.

在甜瓜成熟的季节里，她和同事们花了3年的时间，走遍吐鲁番、鄯善、托克逊3县的农村瓜地，从农户那里搜集了100多份原始资料，在试验场地进行了详细的观察，整理出44个优良的农家甜瓜品种，从中系统提纯出红心酥品种，这颗红心酥得连尼克松总统都爱吃。

ripen [ˈraɪpən] vt. 使成熟

sort out 挑选出

crisp adj. 脆的

In 1962，Wu Mingzhu and the whole team visited more than 300 production teams，collected 44 local varieties and 1 piece of wild melon information. The entire handwritten information was more than 5 million words.

1962年，吴明珠和整个团队走访了300多个生产队，收集了44个地方品种和1条野瓜资料。所有用手写的资料超过500万字。

handwritten adj. 手写的

This information became the first melon file established in Xinjiang. With the information in it，many endangered melons were saved，and a solid foundation was laid for the research and development of new melon species.

这份资料成为新疆建立的第一份瓜类档案，有了这些资料，许多濒危灭绝的瓜类被拯救了，为瓜类新品种的研发打下了坚实的基础。

lay a solid foundation for 为……打下坚实的基础

In 1973，in order to speed up the breeding speed，Wu Mingzhu went to Sanya，Hainan to establish a &34; base. The conditions here are even more difficult than Xinjiang，but Wu Mingzhu has developed and cultivated many victorious melons here.

speed up 加速

Wu Mingzhu was in Xinjiang in spring and summer，and went to Hainan in autumn and winter，doing experiments in the melon field every day，and finally researched and bred new varieties of melons such as &34;，&34;，&34; and &34;. She successfully broke through the hybrid breeding technology，and also proposed the original ecological breeding program，and even solved the core problem of poor adaptability and disease resistance of Xinjiang melon.

吴明珠春夏在新疆，秋冬去海南，每天在瓜地里做实验，最终研究选育出“含笑”、“皇后”、“郁金香”、“芙蓉”等瓜类新品种，她成功突破了杂交育种技术，还提出了原生态育种方案，甚至解决了新疆甜瓜适应性差、抗病能力差的核心问题。

break through 突破

core n. 核心

Not only that，Wu Mingzhu also broke the difficulty of geographical isolation，so that the southeast coastal areas can also grow melons that are as sweet as Xinjiang. At the same time，the myth of three ripening melons in the year has been realized，which not only allows Chinese people to eat melons in the south，but also melons in all seasons.

一、被称为“甜瓜大王”的吴明珠 吴明珠是在1930年1月3日出生湖北武汉是瓜类育种的专家，也是新疆甜瓜品质改良的创始人以及奠基者，同样还是新疆维吾尔自治区农业科学院哈密瓜研究中心的研究员，由他主持选育的并且经。

不仅如此，吴明珠还打破了地理隔离的困难，让东南沿海也能种出甜如新疆的瓜，同时实现了一年三熟的神话，不仅让在南方的中国人可以吃瓜，还可以一年四季吃瓜。

geographical isolation 地理隔离

Because Wu Mingzhu is so dedicated to her work，she inevitably has negligence towards her family. The two children have not seen their mother for many years，and they don't learn to forgive until they grow up.

因为吴明珠如此敬业，对家庭难免有疏忽，两个孩子多年不见母亲，直到长大才学会原谅母亲。

be dedicated to 从事于

inevitably [ɪnˈevɪtəbli] adv. 不可避免地

negligence [ˈneɡlɪdʒəns] n. 疏忽

Because the two children often didn&34;Mom and Dad" for a long time.

因为两个孩子经常见不到吴明珠，他们在很长时间里管叔叔阿姨叫“爸爸妈妈”。

They felt that to their mothers，melon was more intimate than them. As the years got older，the two children gradually understood their mother and her work.

他们觉得，对母亲来说，瓜比他们更亲密。随着岁月的流逝，两个孩子渐渐理解了母亲，理解了她的工作。

intimate [ˈɪntɪmeɪt] adj. 亲密的

In the 1990s，the melons cultivated by Wu Mingzhu have covered 80% of the main commercial melon areas in Xinjiang. Most of China has grown watermelons cultivated by Wu Mingzhu's team. The yield is high and the price is naturally low，so we can eat melons as we wish.

上世纪90年代，吴明珠培育的瓜已经覆盖了新疆80%的主要商品瓜地区，中国大部分地区都种植了吴明珠团队培育的西瓜，产量高，价格自然低，所以我们可以随心所欲地吃瓜了。

1999年，吴明珠当选为中国工程院院士，至今仍是西瓜、甜瓜栽培领域唯一的院士。

academician n. 院士

Chinese Academy of Engineering 中国工程院

By 2017，Wu Mingzhu，who had spent most of her life in the melon field，finally sat down. At the age of 87，she officially retired and left the team，and was taken over by her son for Chongqing pension.

到了2017年，在瓜地里度过大半生的吴明珠终于停了下来。87岁的她正式退休离队，由儿子接手到重庆养老。

take over 接管

In her more than 50 years of research，she has cultivated 28 high-quality melon species that have been approved by the country，including the familiar red heart crisp，fragrant pear yellow，small green skin，black eyebrows，fragrant concubine melon，queen melon，tulip melon，and golden phoenix ，emerald melon，unicorn melon，and the &34; of watermelons—8424 watermelon. What she always says is: &34;

在她50多年的研究中，培育出了28个被国家审定的优质瓜种，包括大家耳熟能详的红心酥、香梨黄、小青皮、黑眉毛、香妃瓜、皇后瓜、郁金香瓜、金凤凰、翡翠瓜、麒麟瓜，还有西瓜的“王牌”——8424西瓜，她总挂在嘴边的话是：“我的一生就是种几个瓜，把瓜的甘甜献给人民”。

ace [eɪs] n. 佼佼者

As of this year，the melon queen Grandma Wu is 91 years old. I wonder how many young people in our new era know about her? Don't forget melon growers.

到今年为止，甜瓜女王吴奶奶已经91岁了，不知道我们新时代的年轻人有多少知道她呢？别忘了种瓜人。

吴明珠。“中国人能自由吃瓜离不开这位奶奶”话题登上微博热搜，阅读量达7亿多。这位奶奶就是袁隆平院士的同窗、现年91岁的中国工程院院士吴明珠。她是国内著名的西甜瓜育种专家，新疆甜瓜品质改良的创始人和奠基者，被誉为“。

When we are sitting in an air-conditioned room eating watermelons，don't forget that it is Academician Wu Mingzhu who has eaten up the bitter and sour in the melon，so that we can eat the sweet and juicy watermelons . Her hard work，no regrets and dedication spirit will always be worthy of our study.

当我们坐在空调房里吃西瓜时候，别忘了是吴明珠院士把瓜里的苦和酸吃光了，让我们吃到了香甜多汁的西瓜。她的吃苦耐劳、无怨无悔、敬业奉献的精神永远值得我们学习。