4 Guangdong Province is located in southern China, with a moderate climate and abundant produce all year round. As one of the earliest ports open to foreign trade, the province has developed a culinary culture with its own characteristics that has exerted a far-reaching
influence on other parts of China as well as throughout the world where it is the most commonly available Chinese cuisine. Guangdong cuisine is famous for its seafood as well as for its
originality and refined cooking processes. Various soups in this cuisine are loved by people all over the country.
4广东省在中国南部,全年气候温和,物产丰富。它还是最早对外开放的通商口岸之一。广东的餐饮文化独具特色,对中国其他地方乃至全世界产生了深远的影响。广东菜以其好生猛海鲜、追求新奇、细致考究的烹饪方法而著称。广东菜中的各式煲汤如今已深受全国各地人民喜爱。
5 Zhejiang cuisine is light and exquisite, and is typical of food from along the lower
Yangtze River. One famous dish is West Lake Vinegar Fish, which looks pretty and has the delicate refreshing flavors of nature. Many Chinese restaurants in China, as well as in other parts of the world, serve this dish, but often the flavor is less authentic compared to that found in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, which has unique access to the fish and water of West Lake.
5浙江菜口味清淡,精致玲珑,是长江下游区域菜肴的代表。西湖醋鱼是其中的一道名菜。这道菜鲜美,酥嫩,带着自然的清香。中国乃至世界各地的中餐馆大都能找得到这道菜,但口味往往不及在浙江杭州吃得那般纯正。因为只有杭州拥有来自西湖的鱼和水。 6 Every Dish Has a Story
The names of Chinese dishes are diverse, but behind each of the famous dishes is an interesting story explaining why it is popular. A good name can make the dish more interesting; however, some names are so eccentric that they may confuse people, both Chinese and foreigners. If you only translate the names literally with no explanation, you could make a fool of yourself. 6每道菜都有一段故事
中国菜名五花八门,而每道名菜都有一段有趣的故事,说明它如何博得人们的喜爱。一个好名字能使这道菜更有意思;但有些菜名太怪异了,听起来让人一头雾水,不要说外国人难以理解,就是中国人往往也不是很清楚。你要是望文生义,准得闹出笑话来。
7 Take Goubuli steamed buns in the city of Tianjin for example. These popular buns are all of the same size and handmade. When served in neat rows on a tray, they look like budding chrysanthemum flowers. The wrapping is thin, the fillings are juicy, the meat, tender and the taste delicious and not at all greasy. Then, why the name?
7拿天津“狗不理”包子来说吧。“狗不理”纯手工制作,大小均等,深受欢迎。这些包子整整齐齐地放在托盘上时,看上去就像是含苞欲放的菊花。皮儿很薄,馅儿饱蘸肉汁,口感柔软,香而不腻。可为什么叫“狗不理”呢?
8 There is an interesting story behind it. Goubuli steamed buns were first sold in Tianjin out 150 years ago. A local man by the name of Gouzi (Dog) worked as an apprentice in a shop selling baozi (steamed buns). After three years, he set up his own baozi shop. Because his buns were so delicious, he soon had a thriving business with more and more people coming to buy his buns. As hardworking as Gouzi was, he could not keep up with demand so his customers often had to wait a long time to be served. Impatient, some people would call out to urge him on, but as he was so busy preparing the buns, he didn't answer. People therefore came to call his buns
Goubuli, meaning \promotional effects, and has been used ever since. Goubuli is now a time-cherished brand name in Tianjin.
8“狗不理”的背后有一段有趣的故事。大约150年前,“狗不理”包子在天津初次亮相。当地有个小伙子,名叫狗子,在一家包子店当学徒。三年后,自己单独开了一家包子店。他做的包子味道鲜美,因此生意十分红火,吸引了越来越多的顾客。狗子工作十分卖力,可他还是满足不了大家的需要,顾客们只得等很长时间。有些顾客等得不耐烦了,就在外面嚷嚷着催他快点,可狗子忙着做包子呢,哪有时间搭理。后来人们就把他做的包子称作“狗不理”,意思是“狗子不搭理他们”。可就是这个有点怪里怪气的名字,反倒起了很好的广告作用,这个名字一直沿用到了今天。如今“狗不理”已经成为天津的老字号。 9 In Zhejiang cuisine, there is a well-known dish called Dongpo Meat. This dish of streaky pork is prepared over a slow fire where the big chunks of pork are braised with green onion, ginger cooking wine, soy sauce, and sugar. The finished dish is bright red in color and the meat is tender and juicy and, like the Goubuli buns, not at all greasy. This dish was named after Su Dongpo (1037-1101), a great poet of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), who created it when he was an official in Hangzhou. It is said that, when he was in charge of the drainage work for the West Lake, Su Dongpo rewarded workers with stewed pork in soy sauce, and people later named it Dongpo Meat, to commemorate this gifted and generous poet.
9浙江菜里有一道深受欢迎的菜,叫东坡肉。这道菜是把五花肉切成大块,配上青葱,在锅底放些生姜,然后加料酒、酱油和糖用慢火做出来的。这道菜色泽红亮,酥嫩多汁,如“狗不理”一样毫无肥腻之感。它以北宋时代大诗人苏东坡的名字命名。苏东坡在杭州做官时发明了这道菜。据说,他当时负责西湖的排污工程,经常拿红烧肉犒劳工人。后来为了纪念这位才华横溢、慷慨大方的诗人,人们就把它称作东坡肉。
10 Fujian cuisine boasts a famous dish called Buddha Jumping over the Wall, the number one dish of the province. This dish is prepared with more than 20 main ingredients including chicken, duck, sea cucumber, dried scallop, tendon, shark lip, fish maw and ham. All these
ingredients are placed into a ceramic pot, with cooking wine and chicken broth, and then cooked over a slow fire until the meat is tender and juicy and the soup becomes smooth and thick. Then it is served with more than a dozen garnishes such as mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots and pigeon eggs. It is famous for leaving a lingering aftertaste in the mouth. The story behind the name of the specialty goes as follows:
10佛跳墙是福建莱里的一道名菜,亦被称作福建第一菜。这道莱的主料不下20种,有鸡肉、鸭肉、海参、干贝、蹄筋、鱼唇、鱼肚、火腿配料10多种,有蘑菇、冬笋、鸽蛋等。所有的原料均放在一个陶罐里,加上料酒和鸡汤后,用文火炖,一直炖到肉汁鲜美,柔润细腻,汤味浑厚。轻舔一口,余香满口。这道特色菜的背后有这么一个故事:
11 Buddha Jumping over the Wall was created in a restaurant called Gathering Spring Garden in Fuzhou, Fujian, during the reign of the Qing Emperor, Guangxu (1875-1908). It was named Eight Treasures Stewed in a Pot and the name was later changed to blessing and Longevity. One day, several scholars carne to Gathering Spring Garden for a meal. When the dish was served, one of the scholars improvised a poem: \lifts, / One whiff and the Buddha Jumps the wall, abandoning the Zen precepts” Hence the name of the dish!
11佛跳墙是由福州市一个叫聚春园的餐馆在清朝光绪年间发明的,早先菜名为八珍锅,而后改为福寿全。一日,几位秀才到聚春园饮酒。菜上桌时,其中一位即兴赋诗一首“坛启荤香飘四邻,佛闻弃禅跳墙来。”佛跳墙这一菜名便由此得来。 12 Warmth and Hospitality Expressed by Food
In the eyes of Chinese, what is important about eating, especially at festivals, is to eat in a warm atmosphere. Often the young and old still sit in order of seniority, and the elders select food for the young while the young make toasts to the elders. Chinese people like to create a lively, warm, and harmonious atmosphere during meals. 12食物传达的温馨和盛情
在中国人看来,吃最重要的,尤其在过节时,莫过于是吃饭时的温馨气氛。吃饭时,年长的和年少的按照年龄大小依次坐好,在欢乐祥和的气氛中,说说笑笑。席间,长辈为晚辈夹菜,晚辈给长辈敬酒,营造出一派欢乐、温馨、和谐的气氛。
13 A hostess or host in China will apportion the best parts of the dishes to guests. Using a pair of serving chopsticks, she or he places the best part of a steamed fish or the most tender piece of meat on the plate of the most important guest. Such a custom is still popular, especially among the elder generation, as a way of expressing respect, concern and hospitality. 13在中国,主人会把最好的莱分给客人。他们用公筷把清蒸鱼最好的部分或最嫩的肉夹给最重要的来宾。这种习俗用来表达尊敬、关怀和好客之意,至今在老一辈的中国人中还是很流行。
14 Such culinary customs have had a certain influence on the character of the Chinese people. In a. sense, it has strengthened the collective spirit of the nation. At a party or a banquet, everyone first takes into consideration the needs of the group; with the eating process also being a time to show humility and concern for others.
14这种饮食习俗对中国人的性格也有几分影响。从某种意义上说,它增强了人们的集体主义精神。无论在聚会还是在宴席上,人们首先考虑大家的需求,把吃饭当成是谦卑有礼和关怀他人的场合。
15 In China, food eaten during festivals is particularly important. At different festivals, people partake of different fare. For example, on the eve of the Spring Festival, people in the north always eat. jiaozi, meat and vegetable dumplings, at family reunions. This is a way of bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the New Year. The Lantern Festival is a day of
celebration, and on this day people like to eat yuanxiao, sweet dumplings made of glutinous rice flour, to symbolize family reunion and perfection. At the Duanwu Festival, people eat zongzi, glutinous rice wrapped in triangular shape in reed leaves, to commemorate the beloved poet Qu Yuan (c.1339-c. 278 BC), who drowned himself in the Miluo River after being politically wronged. Legend has it that people at the time threw zongzi into the river in the hope that the dragon would not take him away. This later gradually developed into a custom of making and eating zongzi during the Duanwu Festival.
15中国人特别在乎过节时吃什么,不同的节日吃不同的食物。比如除夕夜全家团圆时,北方人吃肉饺或菜饺,象征辞旧迎新。元宵节吃元宵,元宵是糯米粉做的甜团子,象征家庭团圆、美满。端午节吃粽子,人们用芦苇叶子把糯米包成三角形的粽子是为了纪念受人爱戴的诗人屈原。屈原因遭政治迫害自沉于汨罗江。传说古时候人们把粽子投到江中,希望水中的龙不要带走他。之后,端午节包粽子和吃粽子的习俗就慢慢形成了。
Unit Three
Leisure without literature is death and burial alive. —Seneca, Roman philosopher
WHY HARRY'S HOT?
没有文学的休闲生活犹如死亡抑或活埋。 ——西尼加(古罗马哲学家)
《哈利波特》风行之迷
1 J. K. Rowling swears she never saw it coming. In her wildest dreams, she didn't think her Harry Potter books would appeal to more than a handful of readers. \people to like them,\obviously. It strikes a chord with an enormous number of people.\35 million copies in print, in 35 languages, the first three Harry Potter books have earned a conservatively estimated $480 million in three years. And that was just the warm-up. With a first printing of 5.3 million copies and advance orders topping 1.8 million, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth installment of the series, promises to break every bookselling record. Jack Morrissey, 12, plainly speaks for a generation of readers when he says, \books are like life, but better.\
1J.K.罗琳发誓说自己从来没有过这种预想。她做梦也没有想到会有那么多人对她的书感兴趣。“我从来没有指望过有这么多人喜欢它,”在最近的一次访谈中她仍然这样说,“可是,很显然,我大错特错了。它在许多人心中产生了共鸣。”她说得很委婉。《哈利波特》系列丛书的前三册被翻译成了35种语言,已出版3,500万册,据保守估计,这三册书在三年时间里已经赚了四亿八千万美金。而这还只是个开始。《哈里波特》系列丛书的第四册《哈利波特与火焰杯》初版530万册,加上高达180万册的订单,有望创造新的畅销书销售记录。12岁的杰克·莫里西的话很清楚地表达了他们这一代读者的想法。他说:“《哈利波特》就如同生活,但比生活更美好。”
2 Amazingly, Rowling keeps her several plotlines clear of each other until the end, when he deftly brings everything together in a cataclysmic conclusion. For pure narrative power, this is the best Potter book yet.
2让人称奇的是,罗琳让每一册书的情节相互独立,但最后,她却能够巧妙地把它们衔接起来,形成一个意想不到的结局。单从叙述能力而言,《哈利波特与火焰杯》也是《哈利波特》系列丛书中最好的一本。
3 When the book finally went on sale at 12:01 am. Saturday, thousands of children in Britain and North America rushed to claim their copies. Bookstores hosted pajama parties, hired
magicians and served cookies and punch, but nobody needed to lift the spirits of these crowds. In one case, customers made such a big, happy noise that neighbors called the cops. At a
Borders in Charlotte, N.C., Erin Rankin, 12, quickly thumbed to the back as soon as she got her copy. “I heard that a_ major character dies, and I really want to find out who,\minutes later she gave up. “I just can't do it. I can't read the end first.\
3当这本书终于在星期六午夜12:01面市时,在英国和北美,成千上万的孩子争相购买。书店举办了睡衣派对,邀请了一些魔术师表演,并提供曲奇饼和潘趣酒,可是没人需要这些,因为人们个个情绪高涨。有一次,顾客们发出了巨大的欢呼声,以致邻居们实在难以忍受而报了警。在美国北卡罗来纳州的夏洛特市“边界”连锁书店,12岁的艾琳·兰金一拿到书就快速翻到最后一页。“我听说有一个主角死了,我真的很想知道是谁,”她说。但是几分钟后她放弃了。“我做不到,我不能先看书的结尾。”