Science! A quick paragraph about why peppers come in so many hues. Though the sentence structure here isn’t too bad and the article is very short, I’m classifying this as ‘advanced’ since several of the words are quite chemistry-specific.
辣椒的品种有很多，但不论哪一个品种，在未成熟前都是青绿色的，那是因为含有叶绿素的缘故。到了成熟期，叶绿素被破坏，辣椒中含有的黄色素和叶红素就相应增多，于是变成黄色和红色。而有的辣椒品种是在青绿色时味道更好，因而在未成熟前就上市了。所以，我们可看到各种颜色的辣椒。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 辣 | là | old variant of 辣[la4]; hot (spicy); pungent; (of chili pepper, raw onions etc) to sting; to burn |
| 椒 | ||
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 品种 | pǐn zhǒng | breed; variety; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 不论 | bù lùn | whatever; no matter what (who, how etc); regardless of; not to discuss |
| 哪 | nǎ | how; which |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 未成 | wèi chéng | incomplete; unfinished |
| 熟 | shú | ripe; mature; thoroughly cooked; done; familiar; acquainted; experienced; skilled; (of sleep etc) deep; profound; also pr. [shou2] |
| 前 | qián | front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 青绿 | qīng lu:4 | lush green; dark green; turquoise |
| 色 | sè | color; CL:種|种[zhong3]; look; appearance; sex |
| 那是 | nà shi | (coll.) of course; naturally; indeed |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 含有 | hán yǒu | to contain; including |
| 叶绿素 | yè lu:4 sù | chlorophyll |
| 缘 | yuān | cause; karma; predestined affinity; hem; along |
| 故 | gù | happening; instance; reason; cause; intentional; former; old; friend; therefore; hence; (of people) to die, dead |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 成熟 | chéng shú | mature; ripe; to mature; to ripen; Taiwan pr. [cheng2shou2] |
| 期 | qī | variant of 期[qi1]; period; cycle; a period of time; phase; stage; classifier for issues of a periodical, courses of study; time; term; period; to hope; Taiwan pr. [qi2] |
| 被 | bèi | quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, … |
| 破坏 | pò huài | destruction; damage; to wreck; to break; to destroy |
| 中 | Zhōng | (bound form) China; Chinese; surname Zhong |
| 黄色 | huáng sè | yellow; vulgar; lewd; pornographic |
| 素 | sù | raw silk; white; plain, unadorned; vegetarian (food); essence; nature; element; constituent; usually; always; ever |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 叶 | xié | to be in harmony; surname Ye |
| 红 | Hóng | surname Hong |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 相应 | xiāng yìng | to correspond; answering (one another); to agree (among the part); corresponding; relevant; appropriate; (modify) accordingly |
| 增多 | zēng duō | to increase; to grow in number |
| 于是 | yú shì | thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence |
| 变成 | biàn chéng | to change into; to turn into; to become |
| 红色 | hóng sè | red (color); revolutionary |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 有的 | yǒu de | (there are) some (who are...); some (exist) |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 味 | wěi | taste; (fig.) (noun suffix) feel; sense |
| 道 | dào | road; path (CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3]); (bound form) way; reason; principle; (bound form) a skill; an art; a specialization; (Daoism) the Way; the Dao; to say (introducing a direct quot… |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 因而 | yīn ér | therefore; as a result; thus; and as a result, ... |
| 上市 | shàng shì | to hit the market (of a new product); to float (a company on the stock market) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 可看 | kě kàn | worth seeing |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 各种 | gè zhǒng | every kind of; all kinds of; various |
| 颜色 | yán sè | color; countenance; appearance; facial expression; pigment; dyestuff |
There are many types of peppers, but all types of pepper are green in color before they ripen, which is because they contain chlorophyll. When it finally comes time for them to ripen, the chlorophyll breaks down, and the yellow and red pigments in the peppers increase accordingly, so they become yellow and red. In addition, some types of peppers taste better when they’re still green, so they are brought to market before they ripen. That’s why we see so many different colors of peppers.