大千世界:英國現巨型向日葵 高7米破世界紀錄

This enormous sunflower has been nicknamed the ‘Eiffel Flower’ after growing to a whopping 23ft - and is on course to break a world record.
　 這株太陽花被親切的成爲“埃菲爾之花”，其株高竟然達到了“登峯造極”的23英尺（約合7米），從而成爲了有望打破世界紀錄的“種子選手”。

The huge plant has grown from a humble seed planted in the garden of the home of Eve Fielding, in Margate, Kent.
這株巨大的植物是由一粒不起眼的種子的發芽茁壯成長而成的，它被種植於位於肯特郡馬蓋特的Eve Fielding一家的花園之中。

Eve, 48, had sown a handful of seeds as part of a light-hearted competition with her four-year-old granddaughter, and planted this one as a spare.
爲了於四歲的孫女“比賽種花”——這個溫馨的有緣，48歲的Eve在花園中灑下了不少種子，結果卻“無心插柳柳成蔭”的長出了這一株龐然大物。

She watered it every day but didn't give it any special attention and says she expected it to grow to around 12ft, just like the dozens of other flowers she's planted over the years.
儘管她會每天爲向日葵澆水，但卻並沒有特別精心的培育，Eve說她原僅僅指望花能夠長到差不多12英寸（約合3.7米）的樣子，這與其她在今年種下的花卉應該別不兩樣。

But to her amazement it soon shot past the height of her other blooms - and shows no sign of stopping.
但是不久之後，Eve卻被向日葵的迅猛漲勢而感到驚訝，並且這株植物似乎還沒有停止生長的趨勢。

It now towers well above the mother-of-two, who is 5ft 2in, and could even break the world record of 26ft 4in.
現在，這株植物的高度已經遠遠的超過了這位兩個孩子的母親。她的身高爲5英尺2英寸（1.6米），向日葵將有可能打破目前的最高紀錄——26英尺4英寸（約合8.1米）。

Eve said: 'It's enormous - I really can't believe it's grown this tall. '
Eve說：“向日葵實在太高大了，我簡直不敢相信它能夠長到這麼的高。”

'I planted a few seeds with my granddaughter so we could have a race to grow the biggest one. '
“我與孫女一起灑下了些種子，我們準備比賽看誰種的植物長得最高大。”

'This was one of the leftover ones so I thought I might as well sow it and see what happened. '
“這是吃剩下的葵花籽，所以我想也能種下看看會發生什麼事。”

'I watered it every day, but I didn't put anything special in the soil or anything daft. And it just carried on growing. ' “我每天都會給它澆水，但卻沒有特別的關注土壤什麼的，它就自個兒長啊長。”

'This is by far the biggest sunflower I've ever had - usually they're around 12ft. '
“這是目前爲止我所種過最高大的向日葵，一般的高度都只有12英寸（約合3.7米）。”

'My neighbours and visitors have all been quite surprised and shocked at the size - they think it's a beast. '
“這株植物的體積讓我我的鄰居與來訪者都非常的意外和驚訝，他們認識它是株怪物。”

'I've heard of people talking to their plants to make them grow and I've never done that, but I have started telling it how well it is doing since it got really big.'
“我曾聽說過人們會與自己的植物對話，藉此讓植物更好的生長，我從來沒做過這樣的事情，但是現在我會告訴這株向日葵，它長得有多高多好。”

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world's tallest sunflower was an incredible 26ft 4in (8.03m).
根據吉尼斯世界紀錄大全，世界上最高大的向日葵株高竟達到了26英尺4英寸（約合8.03米）。

It belonged to Hans-Peter Schiffer and was measured in Kaarst-Voorst, Germany, on August 17, 2009.
那株植物的主人名叫Hans-Peter Schiffer，2009年8月17日在德國的Kaarst-Voorst測量株高之後載入了紀錄大全。