大学英语综合教程 学生用书 U04_tB

[00:00.00]Table Manners and Customs
[00:04.60]In Geat Britain today
[00:08.33]good manners at table include eating with the mouth closed;
[00:14.18]not letting any of the food the plate;
[00:19.33]using the knife only for cutting;
[00:23.38]and not trying to take food across the table.
[00:28.63]In other parts of the world there are
[00:33.07]also rules for people to follow when they are eating,
[00:38.64]but they are not the same as those of Britain.
[00:43.39]Indeed,what are considered good table manners in some other countries
[00:50.65]are what British people try hardest to avoid.
[00:55.59]In Arabia,for instance,the people at a feast
[01:01.26]take pieces of food with their fingers
[01:06.09]and belch loudly to show they have appreciated it.
[01:12.15]The richer and more educated people in the East have,
[01:17.90]however,to a great extent taken up the
[01:22.76]table manners and customs of Western people.
[01:27.72]Tables and chairs have replaced the cushions of the past,
[01:34.07]and the lady fo the house presides at one end of the table
[01:39.92]in the same way that Western women do.
[01:44.46]Many Japanese,however,
[01:48.72]still feel it would be wrong to eat unless they sitting on a cushion
[01:55.77]before a low table with a tray of food on it.
[02:01.03]In many parts of the world both traditional
[02:06.38]and Western styles of eating exist side by side.
[02:12.55]In the West there are difference
[02:17.30]between table manners in various countries,
[02:22.24]although they are not so marked.
[02:26.29]In North America it is polite to cut meat and then put the knife down,
[02:34.04]take the fork in the right hand and eat with it.
[02:39.01]Most European people,like the British,
[02:44.55]keep the fork in the left hand
[02:48.70]and the knife in the right
[02:52.25]all the time when they are eating food that has to be cut.
[02:57.32]In the British lsles and Scandinavia(Norway,Sweden,Denmark and Iceland)
[03:05.86]special knives and forks are used for eating fish.
[03:11.43]In France,Belgium and Italy,however,
[03:16.78]it is correct to keep the same knife for every course,
[03:21.93]wiping it on a piece of bread.
[03:25.77]Drinking customs at table also vary in different countries.
[03:32.19]In Europe,water,wine or beer is drunk with meals
[03:38.83]and coffee or tea is taken afterwards.
[03:43.79]In North America a beverage such as coffee,
[03:49.22]tea or milk is drunk with meals.
[03:54.48]Table manners of course have changed with time.
[03:59.31]The earliest meals were also the simplest.
[04:04.17]They were eaten sitting on the ground round a fire,
[04:09.84]and everyone took his food from a pot on the fire
[04:15.48]or cut bits from the animal or bird that had been cooked.
[04:21.72]The women waited on the warriors and afterwards ate what they left.
[04:28.67]Fingers were used to eat food throughout the middle ages.
[04:34.52]Food was eaten off wooden dishes with the noblemen
[04:40.37]sitting above a large salt cellar called simply"the salt".
[04:46.93]The ordinary people sat below the salt.
[04:51.76]In the reign of Henry VIII(1509-1547),
[04:58.81]people were still eating with their hands after cutting the food
[05:04.67]with a clasp knife which was always carried at the belt.
[05:10.23]Forks were not used in England until the 17th century.
[05:16.19]Table manners did not always include quiet behavior.
[05:21.83]Quarrels often took place at table,
[05:26.30]and in the 17th century King Louis XIV of France
[05:32.64]ordered that all knives should have rounded ends
[05:38.18]to prevent prople from stabbing each other while they were eating.