Whetheryou’reeatingatafancyrestaurantordininginsomeone’shomepropertablemannersarelikelytohelpyoumakeagoodimpression.AccordingtoaUSexpertEmilyPost“Allrulesoftablemannersaremadetoavoidugliness.”
WhileHenryHitchingsoftheLosAngelesTimesadmitsthatgoodmannerscanreducesocialconflicthepointsoutthatmostlytheirpurposeisprotective–theyturnournaturalwarrior-likeselvesintomoreelegantones.
Sowheredidtablemannerscomefrom?
InmedievalEnglandawriternamedPetrusAlfonsitooktheleadtourgepeoplenottospeakwiththeirmouthsfull.AndKingDavidIofScotlandalsoproposedthatanyofhispeoplewholearnedtoeatmoreneatlybegivenataxdeduction(减除).
Disappointinglythatideanevercaughton.ItwasduringtheRenaissancewhentherewererealtechnicaldevelopmentsopinionsofcorrectbehaviorchangedforgood.“Noneofthesewasmoresignificantthantheintroductionofthetablefork”wroteHitchings.“Graduallyasforksbecamepopulartheybroughtthenewwayofeatingmakingitpossibleforinstancetoconsumeberrieswithoutmakingone’sfingersdirty.”
ForkswereintroducedtoBritainin1608and25yearslaterthefirsttableforkreachedAmerica.Yetwhilemostoftheessentials(基本要素)arethesameonbothsidesoftheAtlanticthereareafewcleardifferencesbetweenwhat’snormalintheUSandwhatholdstrueintheUK.ForexampleintheUSwhenfoodneedscuttingwithaknifepeoplegenerallycutabitethenlayasidetheknifeandswitchtheforktotheirrighthand.Thentheypickuponebiteatatime.BycontrastBritonskeeptheforkinthelefthandanddon’tlaytheknifedown.
ThoughglobalizationhasdevelopedanewsimplerinternationalstandardoftablemannerssomepeoplestillstickwiththeAmericancut-and-switchmethod.TheLosAngelesTimesnoted“Theyarehangingontoaformofbehaviorthatfavorsmannersaboveefficiency.”
1.Whatdoesthestorymainlytalkabout?
A.Theimportanceofpropertablemanners.
B.ThedevelopmentoftablemannersinWesterncountries.
C.SomeunwrittenrulesoftablemannersintheUSandUK.
D.DifferencesbetweenAmericanandBritishtablemanners.
2.Theunderlinedphrase“caughton”in