12课中国美食

　　You：Have you ever heard about Man Han Chuan Xi at all?

　　你听说过满汉全席吗？

　　David：I am not sure. What was it like?

　　不大清楚。能告诉我吗？

　　You：In the Qing Dynasty the court invented a special type of cuisine for the royal family, which included many elaborate dishes at one meal. It is called Man Han Quan Xi.

　　在中国清朝时期，宫廷里发明了一种包括很多道菜的美宴，称做“满汉全席”，不过只有极少数皇族才能够享用。

　　David：Sounds good. Let's go have some now.

　　听起来不错呀。我们现在就去吃。

　　You：It's practically impossible now because there are probably only a few people in the world who know how to make it. They say it takes three to four days for them to make just one meal.

　　恐怕不行。现在，也许只有少数几个人会做。据说做一次得花三四天的时间。

　　David：It's very time consuming.

　　那的确很浪费时间。

　　You：I think some people do eat it, but most people don't have the chance to.

　　我觉得确实有少数人能吃到，但大多数人没有这个机会的。

　　David：It's a fast paced world today. People don't have time to cook for five days for a meal.

　　这是一个快节奏的社会。人们不可能花上五天时间去准备一顿饭。

　　You：That's not the problem. The problem is that most people don't know how to cook it because there are so many kinds of dishes.

　　这还不是最根本的问题。由于满汉全席菜肴种类繁多，程序复杂，所以大部分人根本就不知道是怎么做的。