Watermelon is one of my favorite fruits and I have had it ever since my childhood. To tell you the truth, I have learnt from my dad how to pick a watermelon.

When I was a kid, I would go to the fruit market with my dad to buy watermelons in summer. Each time my dad would buy at least one hundred jin and ask the watermelon dealer to take them to our home by delivery car.

The then watermelons were delicious and we needn’t worry about the harmful effects of the various fertilizers applied during their growth. We ate watermelons almost every day. There were many ways to eat watermelons. We usually cut one in half, and ate a half each with a spoon. Or, when sometimes the watermelon was so big that one person couldn’t finish half of it, we would scoop the pulp into bowls and share it. We would also extract juice from watermelons by using a juicer.

After we ate the watermelon pulp, the green skin of the watermelon would be peeled at times, and the light green part, after being cut into strips, would be pickled with seasonings. The crisp strips which had special nutrition could be eaten with porridge.

After eating up the pulp of the watermelon cut in half or with one end cut off, we could use the watermelon rind to make watermelon lamps and carve it into a craft. There was no greenhouse-planting in China then, so watermelon was only available in summer. Eating watermelon was one of my greatest pleasures in childhood.

Now great changes have taken place. Since this technology has been widely applied in the world and long-distance transportation has become much more convenient than ever before, watermelon can be bought nearly all year round. This year I have eaten a lot.

Do you like watermelon?

汉译文：

吃西瓜的那些开心事

西瓜是我最喜欢的瓜果之一，从小吃到大。说实话，我是从我爸那学会了怎么挑西瓜。

小时候夏天，我会跟着爸爸去水果市场买西瓜。每次爸爸都会买至少一百斤，让瓜商用车子送到家。那时的西瓜特别好吃，不用担心有在西瓜生长期施各种化肥伤害身体。我们几乎每天都吃西瓜。西瓜吃法很多。我们一般会对半切，一人半个，用调羹挖着吃。或者有时西瓜实在太大一个人吃不完半个的话，那就挖西瓜肉到碗里分着吃。我们还会榨汁喝。

吃完瓜肉，有时会把西瓜绿皮削掉, 然后把浅绿部分切成条，再用调味料腌制，就可以配着吃粥，这些脆嫩的西瓜条也是有着特殊的营养的。还可以在把西瓜对半切或切去一头的西瓜掏空吃完瓜肉后，把西瓜外皮用来做西瓜灯，雕刻成工艺品。那时中国还没有温室种植，所以只有到了夏天才能吃到西瓜。吃西瓜是我童年时最大的乐趣之一。

现在变化很大，温室种植技术在世界上广泛应用，还有长途运输比以前便利多了，想吃西瓜几乎一年到头都可以买到。今年我已经吃了很多了。

您喜欢吃西瓜吗？