Unit 8 Mainly revision

扩展资料

Foods travel from place to place

　　In the last 500 years, nothing about people----not their clothes, ideas, or languages----has changed as much as what they eat. The original(最初的) chocolate drink was made from the seeds of a certain kind of tree by South American Indians. The Spanish introduced it to the rest of the World during the 1500's, and although it was very expensive, it quickly became popular. In London, shops where chocolate drinks were served became important meeting places. Some still exist today.
　　The potato is also from the New World. Around 1600, the Spanish brought it from Peru to Europe, where it soon was widely grown. I reland became so dependent on it that thousands of Irish people died from hunger when the crop failed during the “Potato Famine” of 1845-6．
　　There are many other foods that have travelled from South America to the Old World. But some others went in the opposite direction. Brazil is now the world's largest grower of coffee, and coffee is an important crop in other South American countries. But it is native to Ethiopia. It was first made into a drink by Arabs during the 1400s.According to an Arabic story, coffee was discovered when a goat keeper named Lakdi noticed that his goats were eating red fruits on a coffee tree. He tried one and experienced the “wide-awake(彻底清醒的)”feeling that one third of the world's population now starts the day with.

How Americans Began to Eat Tomatoes

　　People have strange ideas about food. For example, the tomato is a kind of very delicious vegetable. It is one of useful plants that can be prepared in many ways. It has rich nutrition and vitamin in it. But in the 18th century, Americans never ate tomatoes. They grew them in their gardens because tomato plants are so pretty. But they thought the vegetable was poisonous(有毒的).They called tomatoes“ poison apples”.
　　President Thomas Jefferson, however, knew that tomatoes were good to eat. He was a learned man. He had been to Paris, where he learned to love the taste of tomatoes. He grew many kinds of tomatoes in his garden. The President taught his cook a way for a cream of tomato soup. This beautiful pink soup was served at the President's party. The guests thought the soup tasted really good. They never thought their president would serve his honored guests poison apples. Jefferson never spoke to his honored(忠实的)guests about the fact.

Chinese doufu—beancurd

　　If there is something that appears most frequently on Chinese dining tables, it is doufu—beancurd. Beancurd looks like soft cakes and it's made from dried soybeans. Beancurd used to be considered a favourite of the poor because of its low cost. Beans have high yields(产量)every year with their short growing period and suitability for various(各种各样的)soil both dry and wet.
Historical records show beancurd was invented by Liu An, Prince of Huainan and uncle of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty (206BC—220AD).He had a dream of finding the pill for longevity (长寿).He travelled all over the country and found soybeans, which looked much the same as gold in terms of colour. He collected soybeans, put them in the water and crushed them into pulp(浆).It got solidified and became known as doufu. Although it's not able to keep longevity, it's really good for one's health with high protein and low fat.
With a long history, beancurd is rooted deep in Chinese culture. People eat more meat and fish than beancurd. But they are encouraged to have beancurd every once in a while for it's really good for health .Most Chinese people still keep beancurd as one of their favourite dishes.

Dining Customs of the West

　　When having a meal, a European generally holds the knife in the right hand, and the fork in the left. He uses the knife and fork with both hands. He keeps his knife and fork in his hands until he finishes eating.
　　But an American, on the contrary, may use just one hand whenever possible and keep the other hand on his lap. He uses the fork in his right hand to pick up fried potatoes. When he has to cut his meat, he changes his fork to the left hand and picks up the knife in his right hand and cuts it. Then he puts down the knife and changes the fork to his right hand to pick up the sliced（切好的）meat . Then, perhaps, he will suddenly think of his coffee or orange. So he has to put down his fork in order to drink his coffee or orange. Now you can see, an American is busy all the time at the dinner table. By the way, Europeans usually have their coffee after meals, but many Americans prefer to have coffee during the meal.
　　If you are present at a formal dinner, you might be confused（困惑）to find so many forks, knives, and spoons set before you. You might be at a loss to know what to do with them. Don't worry. The rule is simple. You just use them in the order in which they lie, beginning from outside towards the plate. The small fork on the outside on the left is for salad. The spoon on the outside at the right is for soup. There is a separate little knife, called a butter spreader, on a bread-and-butter plate at the left. As the bread is passed, each guest helps himself and puts his pieces on the small plate. Next to the soupspoon there will probably be the blunt（钝的）knife for fish, which is smaller and blunter than other knives that are for cutting meat or chicken.