英国人越来越喜欢在家中款待客人

Britons are increasingly entertaining guests at home with dinner, film and karaoke nights, inspired by television shows on cookery and home entertainment, according to a survey.

More than half (53 percent) of the respondents to a poll of 1,000 Britons across the country said they now prefer to spend quality time with family and friends by inviting them over to their homes rather than meeting in bars and restaurants, the survey by mobile phone operator T-Mobile showed.

Popular television shows such as "Come Dine With Me," where amateur chefs attempt to wow each other with their culinary skills, "Master Chef" where ordinary people compete to cook to Michelin standards and a number of celebrity cookery shows have inspired Britons to entertain at home.

The poll showed that nearly a third of respondents had splashed out cash for home entertainment improvements such as sofas, dining tables, games consoles and bigger televisions to impress the guests.

"Over the last couple of years, my clients have increasingly asked for home parties rather than ones at independent venues," party planning expert Liz Brewer said in a statement accompanying the poll's results.

"This is not only due to the recession but because many have become increasingly house-proud and keen to show off their cooking skills, in addition to their latest home entertainment purchases."

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was the top choice for dream host of respondents, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown was one of the least favored, alongside his rival Conservative leader David Cameron.

一项调查显示，受电视烹饪节目和家庭娱乐节目的影响，如今英国人越来越喜欢请客人来家里吃饭、看电影、唱卡拉OK。

这项由手机运营商T-Mobile开展的调查显示，在来自全国各地的1000名受访者中，一半以上（53%）的人说他们现在更喜欢请亲朋好友来家里来玩，而不是去酒吧或餐馆。

英国人在家款待客人主要是受到一些人气电视节目的激发，比如《和我一起来吃饭》，业余厨师们在该节目中一展厨艺，赢得彼此的称赞，还有依据米其林餐厅评分标准的厨师选拔节目《大厨》及其他很多名人烹饪节目。

调查显示，近三分之一的受访者不惜重金改善家庭娱乐条件，以给客人留下好印象，比如更换或添置沙发、餐桌、游戏机和大屏幕电视机等。

派对策划专家里兹．布鲁尔在随调查结果一同发表的一份声明中说：“在过去几年中，越来越多的客户要求在家中办派对而不是在其它场所。

“这不仅仅是因为经济衰退，如今越来越多的人热衷于布置家庭，除展示新添置的家庭娱乐设施外，还希望展示自己的厨艺。”

此外，受访者最希望去名厨杰米．奥利弗家里做客，最不希望做首相戈登．布朗的客人，他的竞争对手保守党领袖大卫．卡梅伦同样不受欢迎。

Vocabulary:

wow: to impress somebody very much, especially with a performance （尤指以表演）博得……的称赞，使喝彩，使叫绝

Michelin standards: 米其林餐厅评分标准，包括餐厅的食物（占60分），用餐环境（占20分），服务（占10分），酒的搭配（占10分）。这一标准源于欧洲的美食圣经《米其林指南》。《米其林指南》每年会派出多名监察员，这些人都是美食行家，他们对餐馆进行星级评定。

splash out: 挥霍

games console: 游戏机

house-proud: spending a lot of time making your house look clean and attractive, and thinking that this is important 热衷于收拾家的