Business Etiquette 礼节美语 第017讲

陈豪昨天晚上陪一位总裁去出席晚宴，可是他还个问题不太清楚。为了请教美籍华人Mary，他约她今晚一起去美国餐馆吃晚饭。

(Restaurant ambience)

M：嗨，陈豪，how's last night's dinner? Everything OK?

C：你告诉过我怎么喝汤，各种刀叉的用法。可是，It may sound silly，昨晚我发现我不太清楚该怎么吃面包。美国人好象跟我们的吃法不一样。

M：别着急。你看服务员给我们送面包来了。The first thing is that your bread goes on your bread and butter plate.

C：面包放在面包和黄油的盘上。Which one is my bread and butter plate?

M：It's the one on your left above the forks。

C：噢，就是这个。

M：Just remember: Bread and butter on the left; water or coffee on the right and meat goes in the middle. 你就记住德国的名牌汽车BMW就行了。

C：What has BMW to do with eating bread?

M：B代表bread, 在左边， M代表meat, 在中间，W代表water，在右边。

C：BMW!

******

C：Mary，你还没有告诉我究竟该怎么吃面包呐。我们中国人都是一口一口咬的，可是美国人好象是用手掰的。

M：Yes, I noticed that too. 我给你示范一下。Tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it. Then tear off another piece and continue until you are satisfied¹ or have eaten the whole thing。

C：That's the way I saw Americans eat their bread last night. 现在你证实了，我以后就没问题了。

M：So everything is clear? 没问题了吧？

C：等等，我还有一个问题。昨晚的面包很松，面包渣很多。我是不是应该把面包盘放到我面前。这样面包渣就不会撒在桌上。

M：No, the bread plate remains² in its place. Just break the bread and butter it over the plate and let the crumbs³ fall where they may.

C：噢，面包盘是不能搬动的，一直放在左上方。然后掰面包，图黄油都在盘上面。So the bread crumbs would fall into the bread plate。

M：That's right. Now, let me sum up the main points: bread goes on your bread and butter plate which is on your left above the forks; to eat bread, don't bite, but tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing.
 

1 satisfied   

adj.满意的，满足的；清偿过的；确信的，毫无疑问的v.使满意( satisfy的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• She's never satisfied with what she's got. 她对自己的所得从不感到满足。
• He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. 他脸上挂着得意扬扬的笑容。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？