番茄到底算水果还是蔬菜？答案是“都行”_时事

番茄到底算水果还是蔬菜？答案是“都行”

关于番茄是水果还是蔬菜的争论由来已久。早在一百多年前的美国，就有人将这个问题闹上了法庭。两派各执一词，煞是热闹。那么番茄究竟是水果，还是蔬菜呢？答案是“随你高兴”，因为这两种说法都没错。

The explanation lies in the two different ways that "fruit" is defined. First, it is true that scientifically speaking, tomatoes are fruits.

对“fruit（水果，果实）”的定义有两种不同说法。首先，从科学角度讲，番茄的确属于果实。

According to Merriam-Webster, a fruit is "the usually edible reproductive body of a seed plant." In a blog post, the dictionary explained it in simpler terms: "Any thing that grows on a plant and is the means by which that plant gets its seeds out into the world is a fruit."

根据《韦氏词典》，果实通常指“种子植物的可食用繁殖体”。《韦氏词典》博客上的一篇文章给出了更简单的释义：“果实是长在植物上、能够将植物种子带到外面的部分。”

That definition includes apples, tomatoes, and anything else that grows from a plant and contains seeds. (Cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, and avocados are all fruits too, according to science.)

这个定义包含了苹果、番茄等任何有种子的植物部位。从科学意义上讲，黄瓜、辣椒、南瓜、牛油果都属于果实。

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. The critical distinction is that, according to the dictionary, a vegetable must be part of a plant or the whole plant itself, while fruits are just the means by which certain plants spread their seeds.