Dining Table Tips 餐桌上的礼仪

 　　Beginning开始

　　There are two common approaches to determining how to begin.At smaller events, it is common to wait to take a bite until everyone at the table has received a serving and the hostess has begun eating. Sometimes a hostess may urge her guests to eat immediately upon receiving the food. This is especially true at larger events,swhereswaiting for everyone would allow it to get cold. In this case, wait until one or two of the other guests are ready to begin as well, so that you are not the only person at the table who is eating.

　　Posture¹坐姿

　　Proper posture at the table is very important. Sit up straight, with your arms held near your body. You should neither lean on the back of the chair nor bend forward to place the elbows on the table.

　　Eating Soup喝汤

　　Dip the spoonsintosthe soup, moving it away from the body, until it is about two-thirds full, then sip² the liquid from the side of the spoon.

　　Finger Bowls洗指碗

　　At formal events, it will be either before or after the dessert course. Often there is a slice of lemon floating in the water. All you need to know is that you should delicately³ dip your fingertips in the water, dry them off with your napkin, and set the bowl to the side of your plate.

　　Offering Food提供食物

　　Take note, when you are the host of a party, urging someone to "have another helping⁴" can be seen as an unpleasant insinuation (暗示)that the guest has eaten too much.

　　"Please Pass the Salt."“请把盐递给我。”

　　The proper response to this request is to pick up both the salt and the pepper and to place them on the table within reach of the person next to you, who will do the same, and so on, until they reach the person who asked for them.

　　Removing Inedible⁵ Items from the Mouth把不能吃的从嘴里拿出

　　The general rule for removing food from your mouth is that it should go out the same way it went in.

1 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

2 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

3 delicately   

adv.优美地，精致地，微妙地

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She played him -- sometimes delicately, sometimes with a less felicitous touch. 她吊着他 -- 有时温柔地，有时手法就不那么巧妙。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 inedible   

adj.不能吃的，不宜食用的

参考例句：

• The food was totally inedible.食物完全无法下咽。
• These chemicals make the fruit inedible.这些化学品使这种水果不宜食用。