T: hi, Betty.what's up?
B: nothing special. how about you? Are you used to the life here in the States?
T: evertything has been fine for the past several months.
B: great!
T: well, I wish someone could talk to me about Western table manners
B: sounds interesting. Where did you get the idea?
T: as you know, table manners in China are quite different from those of Westerners.
B: absolutely. that's because both of us have distinctive cultural features.
T: for example, in China, it's okay to talk while eating. However, you may regard it as rude.
B: yes. this must be a huge difference.
T: can you think of anything else?
B: sure. We tend to think that the slower on eats, the more polite one seems.
T: I didn't know that before.
B: and we never sip or slurp the soup loudly. we quietly like little mouthfuls.
T: i got it. i'll bear it in mind.
B: don't worry. i'm sure our etiquette will become a natural part of your behavior as time goes by.
T: I hope so.
你好,貝蒂.最近怎么樣?
一切如故.你呢?在美國生活得還習(xí)慣嗎?
這幾個(gè)月都挺好的.
真好!
嗯,我希望有人能跟我說說西方的餐桌禮儀.
聽起來挺有意思.為什么會這么想?
你也知道,中國的餐桌禮儀和西方的差別還是挺大的.
當(dāng)然啦,這是因?yàn)槲覀冇胁煌奈幕?
比方說,中國人認(rèn)為吃飯時(shí)可以講話,相反你們會覺得這樣很沒禮貌.
是的,這是中西文化的一個(gè)巨大差異.
你能說說其他方面嗎?
好的.我們會認(rèn)為一個(gè)人吃得越慢,顯得越有修養(yǎng).
我第一次聽說呢.
而且我們喝湯時(shí)不會發(fā)出聲響.我們會安靜地一小口一小口喝.
我知道了.我應(yīng)該記住這些.
不用擔(dān)心,過些日子,這些禮儀一定會自然而然地成為你日常行為的一部分.
但愿如此吧.
distinctive:having a quality or characteristic that makes sth different and easily noticed 獨(dú)特的;特別的;有特色的 adjective
clothes with a distinctive style
式樣獨(dú)特的衣服
The male bird has distinctive black and white markings on its head.
雄鳥的頭上有明顯的黑白斑紋.
feature:something important, interesting or typical of a place or thing 特色;特征;特點(diǎn)
An interesting feature of the city is the old market.
這座城市的一個(gè)有趣特征就是古老的市場。
Teamwork is a key feature of the training programme.
團(tuán)隊(duì)合作是這項(xiàng)訓(xùn)練計(jì)劃的重要特點(diǎn)。
Which features do you look for when choosing a car?
你挑選轎車時(shí)要著重哪些特點(diǎn)?
The software has no particular distinguishing features.
這個(gè)軟件沒有明顯的特點(diǎn)。
geographical features
地勢
mouthful:an amount of food or drink that you put in your mouth at one time 一口,一滿口(的量)
She took a mouthful of water.
她喝了一大口水.
Thank you, but I couldn't eat another mouthful.
謝謝,我一口也吃不下了.
slurp:to make a loud noise while you are drinking sth (喝東西時(shí))發(fā)出嘖嘖的聲音
He was slurping his tea.
他正咂著嘴喝茶.
She slurped noisily from her cup.
她端著杯子,嘖嘖作響地喝著.
what's up?怎么了?最近怎么樣?
talk to sb about sth:與某人談?wù)撃呈?/font>
be used to:習(xí)慣于
bear in mind:牢記
as time goes by:隨著時(shí)間的推移
table manners:餐桌禮儀
I hope so. 但愿如此.