8.16每日一篇 | 考研英语外刊精读酱
Foodmaking：A new big cheese
Startups are producing real dairy without a cow in sight
【1】It looks like cheese. It smells like cheese. It tastes like cheese (specifically mature cheddar). And it is cheese—at least under the microscope. “synthetic dairy” is made with the same ingredients as the conventional sort. But instead of getting the main ingredient from a live ruminant, Better dairy, a three-year-old British cheesemaker, derives some of it from yeast. These microbes are fed sugar, which they then convert into milk proteins in a process which is similar to brewing.
【2】Plenty of milk alternatives have hit café counters and supermarket shelves in recent years. Plant-based beverages made from things like soyabeans, almonds and oats make up 15% of all milk sales by value in America and 11% in western Europe, reckons the Good Food Institute (GFI), a think-tank. Yet lovers of real dairy, which plant-derived products cannot quite mimic, still need cows, goats and ewes. “precision fermentation” companies like Better dairy hope to change that—and take a fat slice of the $900bn global dairy market.
【3】Remilk, an Israeli startup, has recently received approval to sell its fare in America, Israel and Singapore. Perfect Day, a Californian one, already sells synthetic milk, ice cream and cream cheese. It recently signed contracts to sell its proteins to Nestlé, a food giant, and to Starbucks. In its latest funding round two years ago it raised $350m, valuing it at $1.6bn. All told, precision fermenters have raised nearly $3bn from investors since the start of 2021.
【4】synthetic dairy dispenses with certain undesirable aspects of milk and milk-making. Lactose, to which some people are allergic, and hormones, which have been linked to some adult diseases, can be stripped out. fermentation tanks do not need to be pumped full of antibiotics and can be set up anywhere—handy at a time of rising worries about food security and climate change. The process uses less water and, because it requires less energy and less land, emits fewer greenhouse gases than conventional dairy production, which is responsible for more than 3% of annual planet-warming emissions, almost twice as much as aviation (and a lot of it from belchy cows).
【5】One challenge for the innovators is winning consumers’ trust. Steel tanks lack the familiarity of cows. A quarter of respondents to a survey in America aren’t keen to try “precision-fermented” fare (which may explain why producers prefer to call it “animal-free”).
Regulators create hurdles, too. Although the startups are confident they will get the green light—the technique is already used for flavourings and insulin—they worry about the time this will take and about labelling disputes. According to GFI, even in America, the land of free enterprise, it takes about nine months. It Europe it takes twice as long; the first products will not reach European supermarkets until 2024.
【6】The technology is also a work in progress. For now Better dairy’s cheddar still uses bovine casein, one of the proteins in milk; the firm is working on a synthetic version that would make its cheese properly vegan. And the process remains costly. A fermenter that can hold about 30 litres of milk can cost £150,000 ($190,000). Buying a cow, which can produce about as much in a day, will set you back £1,600.
①短语
1.原文：instead of getting the main ingredient from a live ruminant
词典：instead of 代替，而不是
例句：I want grits with my eggs instead of hash browns.
我想要粗玉米粉加鸡蛋而不是土豆煎饼。
2.原文：which they then convert into milk proteins in a process which is similar to brewing
词典：be similar to 与......相似
例句：The plotline is similar to that of many other movies.
该主要情节与其他众多电影的主要情节相似。
3.原文：Plant-based beverages made from things like soyabeans, almonds and oats make up 15% of all milk sales by value
词典：make up 化妆；弥补；编造 ；组成
例句：Muslims make up 55% of the population.
穆斯林占人口的55%。
4.原文：hormones, which have been linked to some adult diseases, can be stripped out
词典：strip out 拆除，去除
例句：We had to strip out all the old wiring and start again.
我们不得不将原有的线路全部拆除，从头再来。
5.原文：which is responsible for more than 3% of annual planet-warming emissions
词典：be responsible for 负责
例句：Parking lot owners should be legally responsible for protecting vehicles.
停车场场主应该依法负责保护车辆。
6.原文：A quarter of respondents to a survey in America aren’t keen to try “precision-fermented” fare
词典：be keen to do sth. 渴望做某事
例句：The Fed is keen to ensure that rising joblessness does not hit consumer confidence in the new year.
美联储极想确保在新的一年里失业人数的增长不会打击消费者信心。
7.原文：which may explain why producers prefer to call it “animal-free”
词典：prefer to 喜欢
例句：We prefer to travel off-season.
我们喜欢在淡季旅游。
8.原文：Buying a cow, which can produce about as much in a day, will set you back £1,600.
词典：set sb. back sth. 使某人花费（某数量的钱）
例句：The meal is likely to set us back $15 each.
这顿饭我们可能每人要花15美元。
②长难句
原文：Plant-based beverages made from things like soyabeans, almonds and oats make up 15% of all milk sales by value in America and 11% in western Europe, reckons the Good Food Institute (GFI), a think-tank.
分析：在这个句子当中，句子的主语是Plant-based beverages，make up是谓语，15% of all milk sales和11%都是宾语，通过连词and连接，分别表示的是在美国in America和西欧in western Europe的占比份额；reckons the Good Food Institute (GFI)是插入语，而a think-tank是the Good Food Institute (GFI)的同位语，对其进行解释说明。
译文：智库Good Food Institute （GFI）估计，以大豆、杏仁和燕麦等原料制成的植物性饮料占美国乳制品销售总额的15%，占西欧乳制品销售总额的11%。
原文：Lactose, to which some people are allergic, and hormones, which have been linked to some adult diseases, can be stripped out.
分析：在这个句子当中，句子的主语是Lactose and hormones，谓语是can be stripped out。to which和which分别引导Lactose和hormones的定语从句。
译文：有些人对乳糖过敏，而牛奶中的激素也与某些成人疾病息息相关，这些不利因素都可以去除。
③写作技巧
Plenty of milk alternatives have hit café counters and supermarket shelves in recent years.
近年来，大量牛奶替代品出现在咖啡馆柜台和超市货架上。
hit这个词汇有非常多的意思，最常见的意思是“打，痛击”的意思，这在一些游戏以及暴力的电影里面经常用到。还有一个常用的意思，hit可以指某个东西“很火，受欢迎”，年轻人很喜欢将某种潮流称呼为：“很hit”，就表示这非常流行。hit还可以表示“电影上映或者产品上市”的意思，比如hit the theaters表示“上映，公映”和hit the stores“新品上市”。
例句：
Wonder Woman 1984 will now hit theaters on October 2, 2020.
《神奇女侠1984》将会在2020年十月二日上映。
Her newest album hits stores this Friday.
她的最新专辑将会在本周五上架。
④背景知识
精密发酵（PF，Precision Fermentation）是使用“细胞工厂”生产有机分子的过程。作为“工厂”的细胞宿主通过基因工程编程，制造目的分子。这项技术允许大量生产在其天然生物体中以低浓度存在的分子。通过这种方式，PF可用于降低生物分子生产的经济、劳动和环境成本。此外，PF 还可以应用于创造自然界所没有的分子。
PF的出现得益于1960-1970年代基因测序和化学合成的进步。PF于45年前首次用于在转基因大肠杆菌中生产合成人生长抑素。不久之后，大肠杆菌被设计生产了第一种合成人胰岛素。从那时起，PF被应用于各种分子的生产，包括食品和补充剂、材料、工业酶和治疗方法。
⑤段落大意
【1】背景引入：英国一家公司正在生产合成乳制品
【2】深入介绍：研究“精密发酵”的公司希望在全球乳制品市场中分得一杯羹
【3】踏入市场：很多初创公司已经开始向乳制品市场进攻
【4】产品优势：合成乳制品可以摒弃一些传统乳制品的不良因素
【5】困难挑战：消费者的信任和监管机构的批准影响其市场进攻速度
【6】劣势分析：憧憬虽好，但是产品生产成本高昂
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