Two We’ll just get a doggie bag. 我们就将剩菜打包。
1 Introduction
A It is impolite to begin a meal until everyone is seated. It is also considered impolite to chew food with an open mouth, or to talk while chewing anything.
在他人落座之前就开始就餐是很不礼貌的。张大嘴巴咀嚼食物，或者边咀嚼边说话，也被认为是不礼貌的。
B Americans often order the food they like to eat, separately from the group. If a person has had enough or is full，it is considered impolite to insist on that person having more to eat or drink.
美国人聚在一块时，经常是各自点他们喜欢吃的食物。如果有人吃完了或吃饱了，强烈要求她/他再多吃一点或者再多喝一点被认为是没有礼貌的。
2 Sample Sentences
1. I’d rather not, really, I’m not used to strong drinks.
我还是不了，真的，我不习惯喝烈酒。
2. Shall we have a snack at this coffee shop?
我们可以去咖啡馆吃点小吃吗？
3. We could reserve a window table now.
我们可以现在预定一个靠窗户的桌子。
4. Would you please pass the toothpicks?
你能把牙签递给我吗？
5. Let’s toast the arrival of the new baby.
我们为新生儿干杯吧。
6. Do you prefer your steak rare, medium or well done?
你比较喜欢生的、中等熟度的，还是完全熟的牛排？
7. Don’t worry about the mess; I will clean it up after the party.
不要担心这些脏东西，聚会后我会打扫的。
8. Shall we chat a while over a glass of wine before dinner?
我们晚餐前喝杯酒闲谈一阵，好吗？
9. Would you accept my invitation to a stag party?
你会接受我的邀请来参加男人聚会吗？
10. Can you use chopsticks or would you rather have a knife and fork?
你能用筷子，还是宁愿用刀叉？
3 Conversations
1. Lisa is a Chinese exchange student who is visiting her friend in Chicago.
Tony: Want to send out for some Chinese?
Lisa: Some what?
Tony: Some Chinese food. I'm hungry, and there's a take-out restaurant near here. We can have them deliver and then watch the news on TV while we eat.
Lisa: No, I'd rather go out. The Chinese food here is rather different from what I had at home. Maybe we can try some other food today… What about that all-you-can-eat place we passed the other day, the one over in the shopping center?
Tony: Okay. I could go for that. It's called Al's Steakhouse. They also have great fried fish, and I love their salad bar. You can go back to refill1 your plate as often as you like.
Lisa: Is that the place that serves such large portions2 of meat?
Tony: Yes, their steaks are enormous3. Sometimes I can't finish what I've ordered.
Lisa: What if that happens to me? I hate to let food go to waste.
Tony: Don't worry. We'll just get a doggie bag4.
Additional Information：
Americans hate to waste food. And they can always take their leftovers home without being embarrassed. That’s something we both have in common.
美国人不喜欢浪费食物。他们可能经常把剩饭剩菜带回家，不必感到尴尬。这点是我们所共有的。
【译文】
——想送一些中国的？
——一些什么？
——一些中国餐。我饿了，这附近有一家外卖餐馆。我们可以叫他们送过来，然后我们一边吃一边看电视里的新闻。
——不，我宁愿出外吃。这里的中国餐与我在家吃过的很不同。也许今天我们可以试一下其它的菜……不久前一天我们经过的小吃一条街怎么样，就是购物中心里面的那一家？
——好的。我有兴趣去试试。那个地方叫阿尔的牛排馆。他们还有很好吃的油炸鱼，而且我还喜欢他们的沙拉巴。你想吃多少就可以回去夹满你的盘子。
——是那个供应大分量肉的地方吗？
——是啊，他们的牛排很多肉。有时候我都吃不完我点的。
——如果我也这样那怎么办？我很不喜欢浪费食物。
——不要发愁。我们就将剩菜打包。
2. Chan Lee, a visiting professor at Yale, is in Ella Lewis's apartment. He arrived from China a month ago.
Chan: Thanks for offering to give me a lift. I'm looking forward to this party, but I didn't want to go alone.
Ella: Don't mention it. It's my pleasure. Have you been to one of these large, sit-down dinner parties since you got to New Haven?
Chan: No, this is my first. Last week I went to a cookout5 for new professors at Dean6 Barksdale's home. I took a taxi because I didn't want to be late. But I was the first one there.
Ella: I'll bet you were a little embarrassed.
Chan: You're right. The invitation said "two to seven". I was there at two o'clock, but most people didn't arrive until three or four. They didn't start cooking until five o’clock.
Ella: Cookouts often start slowly. A two o'clock start means you arrive any time after two.
Chan: Thanks for telling me this.
Ella: I was late getting back from the mall, but I'm hurrying.
Chan: Why are you in such a hurry? They said, "Dinner at eight," and it's only seven-fifteen. I don't want to be the first one there again.
Ella: Don't worry. We won't be the first.
Helpful Information：
For a dinner date, it’s usually a good idea to be about five minutes early.
For a cookout at 2:00 o’clock, arriving between 2:00 and 2:30 is considered proper.
For a business appointment, it is considered proper to be five minutes early, but never late.
对于一个晚餐宴会，早到五分钟左右通常是很好的。
对于一个两点钟的户外野炊，在两点至两点半到是很合适的。
对于一个商务约会，提早五分钟到是很合适的，但一定不要迟到。
【译文】
——谢谢你的好意送我一程。我盼着参加这个晚会，但是我不想一个人去。
——不用谢。是我的荣幸。自从你来纽黑文市，你有没有去过这种大型的、坐下来吃饭的聚会？
——没有，这是第一次。上周我去巴克斯德尔主任家参加了一个为新来的教授在户外搞的一个野餐聚会。为了不迟到，我叫了一辆的士。我却是第一个到那里的。
——我猜你有点尴尬。
——你说得对。邀请函上说“两点到七点”。我两点钟到那里，但是大部分人直到三、四点才来。他们到五点钟才开始做饭菜。
——户外野炊经常开始得很慢。两点钟开始意思是说两点钟以后的任何时间你都可以到。
——谢谢你告诉我这些。
——我从购物中心回来晚了，但是我在加快动作。
——你为什么这么急？他们说，“八点吃饭”，现在才七点十五。我不想又是第一个到那里。
——不要担心。我们不会是第一个的。
3. Wong is discussing meals with Marsha and David Gransee. She has been in the United States for only two days.
Wong: I want you to know how much I appreciate these terrific meals you've been cooking. Do you guys always eat this well?
David: Not really. During the week, we're both busy with our jobs, so there isn't much time to cook anything fancy.
Marsha: We both enjoy cooking and experimenting7, so we usually try to fix something special on Sundays.
Wong: This morning's breakfast was great: scrambled eggs8, bacon9, toast10, and orange juice! You surely don't eat that kind of breakfast every day.
Marsha: You're right! We don't. During the week, we usually have cold cereal and maybe a piece of fruit. Neither of us has the time to cook breakfast. Monday through Friday, it's “Every man for himself.” Don’t worry, though. You’ll never go to bed hungry.
David: That's true. And dinners are different, anyway. Some nights Marsha will fix a casserole11 or a pasta12 dish. Other nights, I like to throw fish or hamburgers onto the grill13. And fix a green salad14.
Wong: So, you cook every night?
Marsha: Well, not every night. Some nights we have leftovers15, or maybe we'll just send out for a pizza. We even enjoy going out to a restaurant once in a while16.
【译文】
——我真的很感激你们做这么丰盛的饭菜。你们都经常吃这么好吗？
——并不是这样。平时我们都忙于工作，所以没有多少时间烹饪出花样。
——我们都喜欢做饭、尝试，所以星期天我们都通常试着做些特别的菜。
——今天的早餐真是美味：炒蛋、烟肉、烤面包，还有橙汁！你们肯定不是每天都吃这样的早餐。
——你说得对！我们没有。一周之内，我们通常吃些冷麦片，大概一片水果。我们都没有时间做早餐。星期一到星期五，都是“个顾个地找些东西吃。” 但不要担心。你都不会饿着睡觉的。
——那倒是真的。不管怎么样，晚餐就不同。一些晚上马莎会做个砂锅或者通心粉。其它几个晚上，我喜欢把鱼或者汉堡牛排扔到烤架上，还弄个蔬菜沙拉。
——那么，你每天晚上都做饭吗？
——不是每个晚上。一些晚上我们吃剩菜，或许我们就干脆出去吃比萨饼。有时我们甚至喜欢出去到餐馆吃。
4. At a Thanksgiving dinner in Juneau [朱诺(美国阿拉斯加州之首府)]. There are fourteen guests at the Wrights' dinner table.
Tina: There's so much food on the table, I don't know where to begin.
Rachel: Pass your plate down to Chuck, Tina. He'll put meat on it. He always carves the turkey.
Chuck: White meat or dark, Tina?
Tina: Dark, please. I like the drumsticks.
Chuck: (To his wife) Why don't you start passing the potatoes, honey?
Rachel: You know, Tina, it's okay to pick up the leg with your fingers. You don't have to cut it from the bone. Around here, we think eating should be easy and fun.
Chuck: And try a little bit of everything. Then you can go back for seconds, after you see which dishes you like best.
Tina: (At the end of the meal) I feel so full; I don't think I could eat another bite. Thank you, Chuck and Rachel, for inviting me to share this delicious meal with you and all your friends.
(Chuck belches loudly.)
Rachel: Chuck!
Additional Information：
It’s very important to express your gratitude to the people who have cooked for you, or have invited you to a meal. Americans also find it important and necessary to say “thank you” even to their own mothers. It’s one of the ways to show your appreciation of the people who have given their time to do kind things for you.
向为你做饭的人或者邀请你吃饭的人表示感谢是很重要的。美国人甚至觉得向他们自己的妈妈说声“谢谢你”也是非常重要和有必要的。这是对别人牺牲他们自己的时间来帮助你表示感谢的方式之一。
【译文】
——桌上这么多菜，我都不知道从哪里开始。
——把你的盘子递给查克，蒂娜。他会把肉放在上面。他总是切火鸡。
——白色肉还是深色肉，蒂娜？
——请给我深色肉。我喜欢鸡腿。
——（对他妻子）亲爱的，你为什么不开始传递土豆呢？
——蒂娜，你知道吗，用你的手指拿鸡腿是没关系的。你不必从骨头那里切。在这里我们觉得吃应该随意、有趣。
——而且每一样都尝一点。你看你最喜欢哪道菜，你就可以马上回去拿。
——（进餐最后阶段）我觉得很饱，我一口都不能再吃了。查克和雷切尔，谢谢你们邀请我和你以及你们的朋友一起分享这些美味的食物。（查克大声地打了一下嗝。）
——查克！
4 Words and Expressions
1. refill 再装满,再灌满
2. portion (一)部分,一份
3. enormous 巨大的,庞大的
4. doggie bag 餐厅供客人带走未吃完食物的袋子
5. cookout 野炊
6. dean 教务长,训导主任
7. experiment 实验;试验
8. scrambled eggs 炒蛋
9. bacon 熏猪肉;咸猪
10. toast 土司,烤面包片
11. casserole 砂锅,烤锅
12. pasta 面团、意大利通心粉
13. grill 烤架
14. green salad 蔬菜色拉
15. leftover 残余物,吃剩的饭菜
16. once in a while 有时
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