Here's Why a Tomato Is Actually Both a Fruit And VEgetable ？
为什么说西红柿又是水果又是蔬菜？
No food straddles the line between fruit and vegetable more famously than the tomato.
又是水果又是蔬菜的两面派最有名的要数西红柿了。
And while your elementary-school teacher or know-it-all friend may have informed you that tomatoes are technically fruits, the answer isn't so clear-cut. In reality, tomatoes are both fruits and vegetables at the same time.
尽管你的小学老师和博学的朋友可能告诉过你西红柿在学术上来说是水果，这个答案其实并不十分明确。事实上，西红柿同时是水果和蔬菜。
The explanation lies in the two different ways that "fruit" is defined. First, it is true that scientifically speaking, tomatoes are fruits. According to Merriam-Webster, a fruit is "the usually edible reproductive body of a seed plant."
原因在于“水果”的定义有两种不同的方式。首先，学术上来讲，西红柿确实是水果。根据韦氏词典的定义：水果通常是“种子植物可食用的果实部位”。
Vegetables, on the other hand,have a slightly murkier definition.It's a word we use to group together a wide range of plants whose parts are edible and herbaceous, like roots, stems, and leaves.
在另一方面，蔬菜有着稍微有些模糊的定义。蔬菜包含了各种各样的植物，那些有根，茎，叶等部位可以吃的草本植物都被我们定义为蔬菜。
The critical distinction is that, according to the dictionary, avegetable must be part of aplant or the whole plant itself,while fruits are just the means by which certain plants spread their seeds.
这两个重要的差别就在于，根据词典定义，蔬菜必须是植物的一部分或者整株植物本身，但是水果只是某些植物传播种子的手段。
But the confusion arises because "vegetable" isn't a botanical classification so much as it is a culinary one. And "fruit" can be a culinary term, too – described as"having a sweet pulp associated with the seed" and "used chiefly in a dessert or sweet course," according to Merriam-Webster.
但是，我们困惑的产生其实是因为“在我们认知中蔬菜不是按植物学分类的，而是按厨房烹饪分类的。同时，水果也是烹饪方面的认知，水果被认为是内含种子的甜的果实肉，并且被主要当做饭后甜点或者甜食”。
重点知识总结：
1. Both…and 两个都；既...又...
2. straddle跨骑,横跨
3. elementary-school 小学 ，小学也可以是“grade school”，“grammar school”（it’s the first five to eight years of a child’s education, depending on the school ） elementary school之后就是high school (normally grade 9 through 12),当然有时候两者之间还会有个junior high school
4. know-it-all 这个意思很好猜，有“无所不知”“万事通”的意思，也可以是名词，即“假装博学多闻的人”（know all）
5. clear-cut 逐词解释就是清楚地切，清楚地切后留下的是什么，当然就是“清晰的轮廓”，也有“明确的，清晰的”意思。更有意思的是，这个词组还是一道菜，即小葱拌豆腐，也有引申意思“一清二白”
6. Merriam-Webster韦氏词典
7. reproductive body
8. re- 再次 produce 生产=再生产，复制，繁衍，生殖 reproduce的形容词形式reproductive意思有“生殖的；再生的；复制的”，reproductive body即“生殖体”，在文章中 水果的生殖体一般就在果实或者花的部位，所以可以翻译为“果实”
9. murkier adj. 阴暗的( murky的比较级 ); 昏暗的; （指水）脏的; 混浊的
这个词代替了我们常用的fuzzy，blur等表示模糊的词
10. herbaceous adj.草本的
11. means（mean的复数）n. 手段；方法；财产
12. botanical adj.植物学的，植物的
13. classification n. 分类；类别，等级 classify vt.分类；分等 的名词形式
classify into 将…归为 classify as 把…分类为…eg：You are classified as a hostile entity.你已经被认定为敌人了。
Eg：books are usually classified by subjects. be classified by… 通过…分类
14. culinary adj.厨房的, 烹饪的
15. chiefly chief的副词形式，直接加ly
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