World Egg Day is celebrated on the second Friday of October every year. As one of the simplest and most important parts of the diet of humans， the egg is a form of food as well as a guarantee of life’s survival. World Egg Day offers people the opportunity to pay attention to this special item—the egg！

As one of the oldest foods known to man， eggs have played an important role in the lives and health of humans. Some historians believe it’s possible that humans have been eating eggs for up to 6 million years！ Searching for eggs in bird nests and just eating them raw， prehistoric people would likely have found eggs to be a nutritious source of food. Later， instead of hunting and collecting， some humans found out that it was possible to domesticate certain types of birds so that their eggs would always be available.

The story of the egg has continued throughout human history. Though today， the most commonly eaten egg is the chicken egg， many other kinds of eggs have been useful over the centuries and in different cultures. Some of these eggs include duck eggs， goose eggs， ostrich eggs and even crocodile eggs！

There are more types of eggs that mankind finds valuable. These are of course， the eggs of different fish， such as caviar， a symbol of wealth in its own right， and World Egg Day represents their importance as well.

每年十月的第二個星期五是世界蛋品日。蛋是人類飲食中最簡單、最重要的部分之一。它是食物的一種形式，也是生命生存的一種保障。世界蛋品日讓人們有機會關(guān)注這個特殊的物品——蛋！

作為人類已知的最古老的食物之一，蛋一直在人類的生活和健康中發(fā)揮著重要作用。一些歷史學(xué)家認為，人類吃蛋的歷史可能已經(jīng)有600萬年了！史前人類在鳥巢里尋找鳥蛋，然后直接生吃，他們很可能發(fā)現(xiàn)了蛋是一種營養(yǎng)豐富的食物。后來，一些人類發(fā)現(xiàn)可以馴養(yǎng)某些種類的鳥，這樣就可以隨時獲得它們的蛋，而不用去狩獵和采集。

蛋的故事在整個人類歷史上都在延續(xù)。盡管今天人們最常吃的蛋是雞蛋，但幾個世紀以來，許多其他種類的蛋在不同的文化中都作用非凡。其中一些蛋包括鴨蛋、鵝蛋、鴕鳥蛋，甚至鱷魚蛋！

人類發(fā)現(xiàn)的有價值的蛋還有更多種類。當(dāng)然，指的是不同魚類的卵，比如本身就是財富象征的魚子醬。世界蛋品日也體現(xiàn)了它們的重要性。

The egg is far more than a food. In fact， in many cultures around the world， eggs have been a sign of life and rebirth.

In Western countries， children hunt each year for Easter Eggs （brightly colored eggs or plastic shaped in the form of the egg which contains treats such as chocolate， jellybeans， or money）.

In China， in order to greet the Beginning of Summer （the first solar term of summer）， children get together to play egg competitions by colliding each other’s boiled eggs in pairs and the one whose egg is not broken wins.

蛋遠不止是一種食物。事實上，在世界各地的許多文化中，蛋是生命和再生的象征。

在西方國家，孩子們每年都會尋找復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋（顏色鮮艷的彩蛋或形狀像蛋的塑料蛋，里面有巧克力、軟糖等食物或錢）。

在中國，為了迎接立夏（夏季的第一個節(jié)氣），孩子們聚在一起玩斗蛋游戲，他們拿出煮熟的蛋互相碰撞，蛋沒有被撞破的人獲勝。

Learn some fun facts about chicken eggs

了解一些關(guān)于雞蛋的有趣事實

A hen on average lays 300 to 325 eggs each year—almost one every day. And as the hen gets older， the eggs get larger.

An egg shell has thousands of pores—even up to 17，000， for fresh air.

The color of the eggs doesn’t have anything to do with freshness， flavor or nutritional value. The color of the egg shell is completely determined by the breed of the bird laying the eggs. Not only that， but the color of the egg shell is related to the earlobe color of the chicken.

Chef’s hats are influenced by eggs. Some people don’t know that going back a little in history， the meaning of the number of the pleats in a chef’s hat was related to the number of ways that the chef was able to cook an egg.

一只母雞平均每年下300至325個蛋——幾乎每天一個。隨著母雞年齡的增長，雞蛋也會變大。

一個雞蛋殼有成千上萬個氣孔——甚至多達17000個，用以呼吸新鮮空氣。

雞蛋的顏色與新鮮度、味道或營養(yǎng)價值無關(guān)。雞蛋殼的顏色完全取決于產(chǎn)蛋的雞的品種。不僅如此，雞蛋殼的顏色還與母雞耳垂的顏色有關(guān)。

廚師的帽子受到雞蛋的影響。有些人不知道的是，追溯歷史，廚師帽褶皺的數(shù)量與廚師烹飪雞蛋方法的數(shù)量有關(guān)。

Word Bank

item /'a?t?m/ n. 一件商品（或物品）

Can I pay for each item separately？

raw /r??/ adj. 生的；未烹制的

nutritious /nju'tr???s/ adj. 有營養(yǎng)的；營養(yǎng)豐富的

breed /bri?d/ n. 品種

Certain breeds are more dangerous than others.