Question

Whether you’re eating at a fancy restaurant or dining in someone’s home, proper table manners are likely to help you make a good impression. According to a US expert, Emily Post, “All rules of table manners are made to avoid ugliness.”
While Henry Hitchings of the Los Angeles Times admits that good manners can reduce social conflict, he points out that mostly their purpose is protective – they turn our natural warrior-like selves into more elegant ones.
So where did table manners come from?
In medieval England, a writer named Petrus Alfonsi took the lead to urge people not to speak with their mouths full. And King David I of Scotland also proposed that any of his people who learned to eat more neatly be given a tax deduction (減除).
Disappointingly, that idea never caught on. It was during the Renaissance, when there were real technical developments, opinions of correct behavior changed for good. “None of these was more significant than the introduction of the table fork,” wrote Hitchings. “Gradually, as forks became popular, they brought the new way of eating, making it possible, for instance, to consume berries without making one’s fingers dirty.”
Forks were introduced to Britain in 1608 and 25 years later, the first table fork reached America. Yet while most of the essentials (基本要素) are the same on both sides of the Atlantic, there are a few clear differences between what’s normal in the US and what holds true in the UK. For example, in the US, when food needs cutting with a knife, people generally cut a bite, then lay aside the knife and switch the fork to their right hand. Then they pick up one bite at a time. By contrast, Britons keep the fork in the left hand and don’t lay the knife down.
Though globalization has developed a new, simpler international standard of table manners, some people still stick with the American cut-and-switch method.The Los Angeles Times noted, “They are hanging on to a form of behavior that favors manners above efficiency.”
【小題1】What does the story mainly talk about?

A．The importance of proper table manners .

B．The development of table manners in Western countries.

C．Some unwritten rules of table manners in the US and UK.

D．Differences between American and British table manners.

【小題2】 The underlined phrase “caught on” in the passage probably means ______.

A．worked in practice	B．became popular
C．drew attention	D．had a positive effect

【小題3】Which of the following events influenced people’s table manners most according to the article?

A．The introduction of forks.

B．The tax deduction policy.

C．The rise of the Renaissance.

D．Petrus Alfonsi’s efforts in promoting table manners.

【小題4】What can we conclude from the article?

A．British and American table manners are completely different from each other.

B．American people pay more attention to their table manners than British people do.

C．With globalization, the American cut-and-switch method has been abandoned in the US.

D．British people’s way of using a knife and fork may be more efficient than American people’s.

Answer 1

【小題1】B
【小題2】B
【小題3】A
【小題4】D

解析試題分析：在本文中作者介紹了餐桌禮儀的發(fā)展由來。最初英國作家Petrus Alfonsi帶頭提出人們不要滿口食物講話，對此蘇格蘭國王King David I也提議對有餐桌禮儀素養(yǎng)的人要減免賦稅，但是這種觀念也沒有被人們接受，直到后來這種餐桌禮儀才慢慢形成。
【小題1】B主旨大意題。文章前兩段提到餐桌禮儀的重要性，作為鋪墊引出了So where did table manners come from?然后在下文對餐桌禮儀的發(fā)展進行了介紹，由此可知文章主要內(nèi)容是介紹西方國家餐桌禮儀的形成過程，答案選B。
【小題2】B詞義猜測題。在文章第四段作者介紹了英國作家Petrus Alfonsi以及蘇格蘭國王King David I提出的有關(guān)餐桌禮儀的想法，再根據(jù)下文when there were real technical developments, opinions of correct behavior changed for good可以推斷當(dāng)時他們提出的想法沒有人贊同，由此判斷caught on指“受歡迎，流行”的意思，答案選B。
【小題3】A細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第五段“None of these was more significant than the introduction of the table fork,” wrote Hitchings.可知在餐桌上叉子的使用對人們的餐桌禮儀有著最重要的影響，答案選A。
【小題4】D推理判斷題。由文章倒數(shù)第二段對美國人和英國人使用叉子的介紹in the US, when food needs cutting with a knife….. By contrast, Britons keep the fork in the left hand and don’t lay the knife down.可以判斷英國人使用叉子時不用放下餐刀，所以效率更高，答案選D。
考點：考查社會生活類短文閱讀。