Whether you’re eating at a fancy restaurant or dining in someone’s home, proper table manners are likely to help you make a good impression. According to a US expert, Emily Post, “All rules of table manners are made to avoid ugliness.”
While Henry Hitchings of the Los Angeles Times admits that good manners can reduce social conflict, he points out that mostly their purpose is protective – they turn our natural warrior-like selves into more elegant ones.
So where did table manners e from?
In medieval England, a writer named Petrus Alfonsi took the lead to urge people not to speak with their mouths full. And King David I of Scotland also proposed that any of his people who learned to eat more neatly be given a tax deduction (减除).
Disappointingly, that idea never caught on. It was during the Renaissance, when there were real technical developments, opinions of correct behavior changed for good. “None of these was more significant than the introduction of the table fork,” wrote Hitchings. “Gradually, as forks became popular, they brought the new way of eating, making it possible, for instance, to consume berries without making one’s fingers dirty.”
Forks were introduced to Britain in 1608 and 25 years later, the first table fork reached America. Yet while most of the essentials (基本要素) are the same on both sides of the Atlantic, there are a few clear differences between what’s normal in the US and what holds true in the UK. For example, in the US, when food needs cutting with a knife, people generally cut a bite, then lay aside the knife and switch the fork to their right hand. Then they pick up one bite at a time. By contrast, Britons keep the fork in the left hand and don’t lay the knife down.
Though globalization has developed a new, simpler international standard of table manners, some people still stick with the American cut-and-switch method.The Los Angeles Times noted, “They are hanging on to a form of behavior that favors manners above efficiency.”
【小题1】What does the story mainly talk about?A．The importance of proper table manners .B．The development of table manners in Western countries.C．Some unwritten rules of table manners in the US and UK.D．Differences between American and British table manners.【小题2】 The underlined phrase “caught on” in the passage probably means .A．worked in practice B．became popularC．drew attention D．had a positive effect【小题3】Which of the following events influenced people’s table manners most according to the article?A．The introduction of forks.B．The tax deduction policy.C．The rise of the Renaissance.D．Petrus Alfonsi’s efforts in promoting table manners.【小题4】What can we conclude from the article?A．British and American table manners are pletely different from each other.B．American people pay more attention to their table manners than British people do.C．With globalization, the American cut-and-switch method has been abandoned in the US.D．British people’s way of using a knife and fork may be more efficient than American people’s.B
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(答案→)B
解析：在本文中作者介绍了餐桌礼仪的发展由来。最初英国作家Petrus Alfonsi带头提出人们不要满口食物讲话，对此苏格兰国王King David I也提议对有餐桌礼仪素养的人要减免赋税，但是这种观念也没有被人们接受，直到后来这种餐桌礼仪才慢慢形成。
【小题1】B主旨大意题。文章前两段提到餐桌礼仪的重要性，作为铺垫引出了So where did table manners e from?然后在下文对餐桌礼仪的发展进行了介绍，由此可知文章主要内容是介绍西方国家餐桌礼仪的形成过程，答案选B。
【小题2】B词义猜测题。在文章第四段作者介绍了英国作家Petrus Alfonsi以及苏格兰国王King David I提出的有关餐桌礼仪的想法，再根据下文when there were real technical developments, opinions of correct behavior changed for good可以推断当时他们提出的想法没有人赞同，由此判断caught on指“受欢迎，流行”的意思，答案选B。
【小题3】A细节理解题。根据文章第五段“None of these was more significant than the introduction of the table fork,” wrote Hitchings.可知在餐桌上叉子的使用对人们的餐桌礼仪有着最重要的影响，答案选A。
【小题4】D推理判断题。由文章倒数第二段对美国人和英国人使用叉子的介绍in the US, when food needs cutting with a knife….. By contrast, Britons keep the fork in the left hand and don’t lay the knife down.可以判断英国人使用叉子时不用放下餐刀，所以效率更高，答案选D。