High 1 · Reading series
Lesson 23 · Bread That Rose Overnight
Audio track 23
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My uncle makes bread on weekends. One Friday evening, he mixed flour, water, and yeast, then put the dough in a covered bowl. By morning, it had grown larger and felt full of tiny bubbles.
“Did the yeast add all that extra dough?” I asked. He laughed and cut a small piece to show me the air spaces inside. Yeast uses sugars in the mixture and produces gas. The gas becomes trapped in the dough, making it expand. We compared a photograph from the night before with the bowl in front of us.
My uncle warned me not to treat the kitchen like a perfect laboratory. The room's temperature, the amount of yeast, and the time could all change the result. He followed a recipe, but he also watched how the dough behaved.
At breakfast, I ate the bread with a new question in mind: how many changes that I cannot see directly become visible through their effects?
Sentence practice
Play any sentence in Dicvo’s Jenny English voice. Before playing all, choose how many times each sentence plays. A practice pause about as long as the sentence follows each play, including before the next sentence. The complete reading remains above.
Choose a sentence to begin.
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My uncle makes bread on weekends.
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One Friday evening, he mixed flour, water, and yeast, then put the dough in a covered bowl.
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By morning, it had grown larger and felt full of tiny bubbles.
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“Did the yeast add all that extra dough?” I asked.
-
He laughed and cut a small piece to show me the air spaces inside.
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Yeast uses sugars in the mixture and produces gas.
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The gas becomes trapped in the dough, making it expand.
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We compared a photograph from the night before with the bowl in front of us.
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My uncle warned me not to treat the kitchen like a perfect laboratory.
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The room's temperature, the amount of yeast, and the time could all change the result.
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He followed a recipe, but he also watched how the dough behaved.
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At breakfast, I ate the bread with a new question in mind: how many changes that I cannot see directly become visible through their effects?
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
舅舅每逢周末做面包。一个星期五晚上，他把面粉、水和酵母混合，将面团放进盖好的碗里。第二天早上，面团膨大了，摸起来满是细小的气泡。
‘多出来的面团都是酵母添进去的吗？’我问。他笑了，切下一小块给我看内部的气孔。酵母利用混合物中的糖，产生气体。气体困在面团里，使面团膨胀。我们拿前一晚的照片与眼前这只碗作比较。
舅舅提醒我，厨房不是条件完全受控的实验室。室温、酵母的用量和等待时间都可能改变结果。他遵照食谱，也留意面团实际的变化。
吃早饭时，我心里多了一个问题：有多少看不见的变化，是通过它们造成的结果才显现出来的？
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- yeast
- 酵母；加入面团后参与发酵。
- dough
- 面团；隔夜后体积变大。
- bubble
- 气泡；摸起来可感到细小气泡。
- produce gas
- 产生气体；酵母利用糖后的结果。
- become trapped
- 被困住；气体留在面团内部。
- expand
- 膨胀；面团随气体增加而变大。
- laboratory
- 实验室；厨房条件并非完全受控。
- behave
- 呈现变化；舅舅观察面团的状态。
- directly
- 直接地；有些变化不能直接看见。
- effect
- 结果、影响；通过气孔看见变化的作用。
Background notes (Chinese)
酵母发酵产生气体，气体被面团留住后形成气孔，使面团膨大。厨房观察有启发性，但温度、用量和时间不同，结果也会变化。