文章改编自《联合早报》06/08/2007现在版。
作者：何濛。
江凌老师导读。
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为了给学生提供更全面教育，听说有不少学校重金礼聘仪态专家教导学生生活应对的礼仪，还包括吃西餐怎样用刀叉。乍听起来，好事一桩，可以提高学生的修养。但西餐文化是非常个人的，每人各一份汤、沙律、主食和甜品，各吃各的，互不干扰。唯独中餐是一种分享文化，几盘食物上桌，即使有公筷公匙，吃起来会有互动，可真是审视和考验人性与行为的关键。
在一次自助餐会上，我就看到排在最前面一位女士，用勺子把桌上食物往碟子上放，一勺又一勺，一下子就堆成像座山那么高。她走回座位时，手中的碟子在颤动，食物摇摇欲坠，我替她捏了一把冷汗。不久，一位我认识的男士迎面走来，见他的碟子满是叠成塔状的通红炸虾，我不禁问他为什么独沽一味？他还沾沾自喜地说：“我最喜欢吃炸虾呢！”
说起来真是令人难以置信，出席此餐会的不是平常没吃过盛宴的低收入人士，而是知识分子。
有过这样的阅历后，当我慰劳学生请他们吃点心时，我必须先说一番话：“桌上的虾饺、烧卖、萝卜糕、叉烧包等等，每个人至少有一个。我要你们每种先拿一个，不喜欢吃就不拿，喜欢吃也只能拿一个。等所有同学拿完第一轮后，才可以再拿。”
也许学生的心里正在嘀咕，嫌我唠叨，嫌我扫兴，吃东西前还要听训话守规则。但我始终觉得这是生活教育的重要部分，不容忽视。
记得小时候老爸常常提醒我们餐桌四戒，那就是不可“拨草寻蛇”，“罗通扫北”，“飞象过河”，“海底捞月”。他解释拨草寻蛇是举起筷子往盘里的食物拨来搅去，像进行一场激烈的寻宝游戏，沾满唾液的筷子被洗刷干净，才挑起自己爱吃的一块，是多么恶心的事。罗通扫北即是把碟子里的菜扫个精光，不留余地；飞象过河就是用筷子去夹对面的菜肴；海底捞月就是用汤匙不停地捞起汤里的珍品给自己。老爸不只边吃边重复他的四戒，还常瞪大眼看我们举筷动匙。只要我们当中有人破戒，必被他严厉苛责，那顿饭好难下咽！
其实，有关进餐礼仪，是不需要花钱请专家来指导的。为人父母常常跟孩子一起用餐，就应该教导孩子这些最基本的礼仪，并在日常生活中一一实践。如果家家如此，自助餐上的失礼现象就自然消失。国人的素质才会随同经济发展节节攀升，优雅社会便指日可待了！
Word List
1) 重金 【zhòngjīn】很多金钱，很高代价/high pay or remuneration
2) 仪态 【yítài】指人的容貌举止风度等/etiquette or manners
3) 乍 【zhà】初次/for the first time
4) 互动 【hù dòng】互相作用，互相影响/interaction
5) 审视 【shěnshì】仔细察看/observe and judge
6) 摇摇欲坠 【yáoyáoyùzhuì】形容十分危险，很快就要掉下来，或不稳固，很快就要垮台/tottering or on the verge of falling
7) 独沽一味 【dú gū yíwèi】兴趣单一，只钟情于一种东西/confining oneself to one particular thing
8) 阅历 【yuèlì】由亲身经历得来的知识或经验/experience
9) 慰劳 【wèiláo】慰问犒劳/reward for hard work
10) 嘀咕 【dígu】小声说/whisper or talk under one's breath
11) 唠叨 【láodao】闲聊或漫无目的地说个不停/to nag or to be long-winded
12) 扫兴 【sǎoxìng】兴致高昂时因遇不快之事而使兴致一下子跌落下来/to be a spoilsport
13) 苛责 【kēzé】过于严厉地责备/criticise harshly
14) 节节攀升 【jié jié pān shēng】持续上涨提高/continue to rise
问题：
Q1 请根据文章内容，解释下列餐桌四戒的含义：
1 拨草寻蛇
2 罗通扫北
3 飞象过河
4 海底捞月
Q2 作者认为，更能审视和考验人性与行为的是：
A 中餐
B 西餐
C 以上两种都不是
D 以上两种都是两种
Q3 根据文章推断，下列行为中不属于“自助餐上的失礼现象”是：
A 食物堆到摇摇欲坠
B 自己喜欢吃的东西就拿很多
C 自己不喜欢吃的东西就不要拿
D 拿到自己不喜欢的食物，就推到别人的盘里
Q4 作者在请学生吃东西前还要训话，可以看出他是个怎样的人？
A 啰唆 B 扫兴 C唠叨 D注重教育
Q5 作者认为，教导青少年有关进餐礼仪的最合适人选是：
A专家 B家长 C老师 D同学
Q6 请根据文章第1段内容，概括中餐和西餐文化的不同。
Q7 你认为进餐礼仪重要吗？为什么？
Q8 根据文章内容，并结合你的生活经验，举出中餐礼仪的5个例子。
原文及英文翻译：
拨草寻蛇 （POKING THE GRASS TO LOOK FOR SNAKES）
为了给学生提供更全面教育，听说有不少学校重金聘请仪态专家教导学生生活应对的礼仪，还包括吃西餐怎样用刀叉。乍听起来，好事一桩，可以提高学生的修养。但西餐文化是非常个人的，每人各一份汤、沙律、主食和甜品，各吃各的，互不干扰。唯独中餐是一种分享文化，几盘食物上桌，即使有公用的筷子和汤匙，吃起来会有互动，可真是审视和考验人性与行为的关键。
I have heard that quite a few schools have paid much money to hire etiquette experts to teach their students the etiquette skills that they need in their daily lives so as to provide their students with a more well-rounded education; these skills include how to handle a fork and a knife when having a Western meal. When one first hears of this, it appears to be quite a worthy endeavour since this can help the students become more cultured. However, Western dining is highly individualistic in nature. Each person receives an individual portion of soup, salad, main course and dessert, and consumes their own portion without bothering anyone else. Chinese meals involve a culture of sharing. Several main shared dishes are served at the same time. Even though shared chopsticks and soup spoons may be used to serve the main dishes, interaction is bound to occur as one eats. Such interaction is the key to observing and assessing human nature and behaviour.
在一次自助餐会上，我就看到排在最前面一位女士，用勺子把桌上食物往碟子上放，一勺又一勺，一下子就堆成像座山那么高。她走回座位时，手中的碟子在颤动，食物摇摇欲坠，我替她捏了一把冷汗。不久，一位我认识的男士迎面走来，见他的碟子满是叠成塔状的通红炸虾，我不禁问他为什么独沽一味？他还沾沾自喜地说：“我最喜欢吃炸虾呢！”
At a certain buffet I went to, I saw a lady at the front of the line use a spoon to scoop the food on the table onto her plate. She took scoop after scoop and soon had a stack of food the size of a mountain on her plate. As she was walking back to her seat, the plate she was holding quivered and the food tottered precariously. I broke out in cold sweat on her behalf. Not long after, a gentleman that I knew walked over. I saw that his plate was filled with a tower of deep-fried prawns. I could not help asking him why he was confining himself to just one kind of food. He seemed very please with himself as he replied: “Deep-fried prawns are my favourite!”
说起来真是令人难以置信，出席此餐会的不是平常没吃过盛宴的低收入人士，而是知识分子。
This was really incredible. Those people at dinner were not low-income folks who rarely had the opportunity to dine well but were intellectuals.
有过这样的阅历后，当我慰劳学生请他们吃点心时，我必须先说一番话：“桌上的虾饺、烧卖、萝卜糕、叉烧包等等，每个人至少有一个。我要你们每种先拿一个，不喜欢吃就不拿，喜欢吃也只能拿一个。等所有同学拿完第一轮后，才可以再拿。”
After this experience, whenever I brought my students out for dim sum to reward them for their hard work, I would say: “There is at least one har gow, siew mai, carrot cake and char siew bun on the table for each of you. I want you to take only one. You don’t have to take any if you don’t like the food, but even if you like it, you can only take one piece. Only when the other students have taken their share can you go for a second round.”
也许学生的心里正在嘀咕，嫌我唠叨，嫌我扫兴，吃东西前还要听训话守规则。但我始终觉得这是生活教育的重要部分，不容忽视。
The students may be whining in their hearts, thinking that I nag too much and that I am such a spoilsport to lecture them to behave themselves before they can eat. However, I have always felt that this is the most important part of one’s life education that cannot be neglected.
记得小时候老爸常常提醒我们餐桌四戒，那就是不可“拨草寻蛇”，“罗通扫北”，“飞象过河”，“海底捞月”。他解释拨草寻蛇是举起筷子往盘里的食物拨来搅去，像进行一场激烈的寻宝游戏，沾满唾液的筷子被洗刷干净，才挑起自己爱吃的一块，是多么恶心的事。罗通扫北即是把碟子里的菜扫个精光，不留余地；飞象过河就是用筷子去夹对面的菜肴；海底捞月就是用汤匙不停地捞起汤里的珍品给自己。老爸不只边吃边重复他的四戒，还常瞪大眼看我们举筷动匙。只要我们当中有人破戒，必被他严厉苛责，那顿饭好难下咽！
When I was young, my father often reminded us of the four things that we could not do at the dinner table: “poking at the grass to look for snakes”, “conquering the north like Luo Tong”, “crossing the river like a flying elephant” and “fishing for the moon from the bottom of the ocean”. He explained that “poking at the grass to look for snakes” means to poke at and fiddle with the shared food like one was on an exciting treasure hunt, wiping one’s saliva-covered chopsticks clean on the food before picking up the piece that one wants. That is extremely disgusting. “Conquering the north like Luo Tong” means to clean the plate of all its contents without leaving anything behind. “Crossing the river like a flying elephant” means reaching over with chopsticks to take food from the shared plate, and “fishing for the moon from the bottom of the ocean” means to continually scoop for the best ingredients from the bottom of a shared bowl of soup. My father not only repeated these four taboos while eating but also glared at us as we raised our chopsticks and picked up our spoons. Anyone breaking these taboos will be severely criticised and will have an uncomfortable rest of the meal.
其实，有关进餐礼仪，是不需要花钱请专家来指导的。为人父母常常跟孩子一起用餐，就应该教导孩子这些最基本的礼仪，并且在日常生活中一一实践。如果家家如此，自助餐上的失礼现象就自然消失。国人的素质才会随同经济发展节节攀升，优雅社会便指日可待了！
Actually, when it comes to dining etiquette, one need not spend money to hire an expert to conduct training. When parents eat with their children, they should teach their children such basic etiquette and practice what they teach in their daily lives. If every family is like this, the rude behaviour that we see at buffets will cease to be and the quality of our citizenry will continue to rise in tandem with our economic growth. A gracious society will be created soon!
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