L/O/G/O

How to Plan Perfect Dinners?

Unit 7

Activities

Who Shall We Invite to Dinner?

What Can We Have for Dinner?

What Ingredients Should We Buy?

Talking about the Use of Chopsticks

Talking about Preparations for Dinner Parties4

3

2

1

5

Task 1 What Shall We Invite to Dinner?

1. Work in pairs and make up dialogs for the situations given below.

1) Bob and Doug share the same apartment. They are going to invite some friends over for dinner next weekend. Both seem to have a lot of friends. But their apartment is small and not everyone can fit inside—they have to decide who to invite. Read the beginning of the dialog and go on with the conversation about who should be invited. Bob: Doug, I’m thinking of doing something

next weekend when we have finished all the exams.

Doug: Tell me about what you’ve got in mind.

Bob: What about inviting some of our friends over for dinner?

Doug: Good idea! I miss them so much. Everybody seems to have disappeared during the two weeks of exams.

Bob: How many guests do you think we should invite?

Doug: The more the better.

Bob: Well, that may not be possible. Look at this apartment. It’s only big enough for seven or eight people.

Doug: You’re right. Well, we certainly want James and Sean to come. Who else?

Bob: What about Sara, the girl you saw at the cafeteria the other day.

Doug: That’s right.确定了赴宴的客人之后，Bob和 Doug是否应该讨论怎样和何时通知客人呢？他们两人是否应该做一个分工？

2) Shasha and Ming are from China and have been in the US for two months. They would like to hold a dinner party to

express their gratitude to those who have helped them get settled. They are now having a discussion about who to invite for the dinner party. The beginning of the dialog is provided below. Shasha: I didn’t realize it’s been

two months since we came to the States.

Ming: Yes, how time flies!

Shasha: Do you think we should invite those people who have helped us settle down to our place for a Chinese dinner some time?

Ming: Wow! What a wonderful idea! When? This weekend?

Shasha: This weekend would be a short notice for our guests. What about next weekend?

Ming: No problems with me. Shasha, I’d love Rose to come for dinner.

Shasha: Which one, our landlady or the Rose who works at the international office?

Ming: Oh, I forgot there are two Roses. I think both of them. They are such nice people.

Shasha: And David from my hometown, who’s been here for two years.

Ming: I know David. Who else?

2. Work in groups of four students and role-play the situation given below. Mark, Sarah, James, and Sean are members of a rock band.

Recently they won an award at a local music festival. They want to hold a dinner party to share their success and happiness with their friends. They are now discussing who to invite to this dinner party, how many people they could invite, the time and place for the dinner party. The beginning of the conversation is provided below. Try to carry on the conversation. Sean: This is the first prize I’ve

got in my whole life! I want to have a celebration party. What do you think?

Mark: I can’t agree more. I love parties, you know.

James: I think you just love eating, don’t you?

Mark: Usually, yes! But this time it’s different, it’s about the prize.

朋友赴一般的家宴，主人提前一两周打电话或当面邀请即可。但如果是请人参加正式宴会，则需要提前一两周寄出请柬。这样做的原因是：一、为了显示宴会的重要性；二、做出安排；三、为主人更好地让受邀客人有足够的时间为出席宴会准备宴会提供方便。

Sarah: Just the four of us? James: If we have a party, I guess we should invite more

people. Mark: Who? Our friends or our parents? Sean: Our parents are too far away to come. What about

those people who have helped us along? James: That’s a good idea. The first one that comes to my

mind is Mr. Brown, who let us practice in his basement.

Mark: I’ve got one, too. Tim.

以下是一份正式请柬的样本。 RSVP ：请回复。源自法语（ Repondez-vous, s’il vous plais ），现已成为英语中的常用词，即可作名词，也可作动词。 Mr. John and Ms. Rosy Regan are cordially invited for

dinner On Friday, June 7th 7 o’clock pm

Apt. 21-5, Panlong Plaza 278 Main Street

West Springfield MA 01234

Ann Berle

RSVP: 422-567-4321

Prof. Lisa Rovine Requests the honor of your company for

The Graduates’ Goodbye Dinner Friday, the seventh of March

At seven o’clock in the evening At the Banquet Hall, Grand Hotel

278 Main Street West Springfield

MA 01234

RSVP: Ann Berle

422-567-4321

以下是一份措辞更为正式的请柬。

Task 2 What Can We Have for Dinner?1. Work in pairs and role-play the dialogs for the situations given below.

1) Last week, Bob and Doug invited their friends to come over for dinner this weekend. Now they are talking about what to treat their friends with.

2) Shasha and Ming decide to invite their friends over to a home-cooked Chinese dinner. So they have to decide what to cook. Both of them learned to cook before they left China. This is a good opportunity to show their skills!

和中国人一样，许多英美国家的人出于身体的原因，在食物上有许多禁忌。如在中国常见的海鲜过敏，还会有人坚果（花生，核桃，榛子等）过敏，味精过敏等。在确定请客菜单时一定要对这些问题有所考虑，以免出现令人难堪的局面。

Suggested menu:

a. Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁 b. Crispy Chicken 香酥鸡 c. Steamed Mandarin Fish 清蒸桂鱼 d. Sautéed Assorted Vegetables 素什锦 e. Yu-Shiang Eggplant (Eggplant Sautéed with Spicy Garlic Sauce) 鱼香茄子f. Scrambled Eggs with Tomato 西红柿炒鸡蛋 g. Mapo Tofu (Sautéed Tofu in Hot and Spicy Sauce) 麻婆豆腐 h. Egg Drop Soup 蛋花汤i. Fried Rice with Eggs 炒饭 目前英语国家出现了越来越多的素食主义者。有些人只是不吃肉类而已（ vegetarian）但有的人是严格的素食者（ vegan），不吃任何与动物有关的食品。还有一些人因为宗教的缘故，对食物也有特殊的要求。请客时应照顾和尊重客人的这些习惯，但也应避免直截了当的询问，以免造成打探他人隐私的 印象。

2. Work in groups of four students and make up conversations for the situations given below.

1) Bob, Sarah, James, and Sean are good at rock music but don’t know much about cooking. So they decide to have the dinner party at a restaurant. They are having a discussion about what sort of restaurant they should take their friends to.

2) Frank, Barbara, Lewis, and Mary work as a team in a sales company. They have just made a lot of money for the company and have been rewarded with a handsome bonus. They decide to invite some of their colleagues to a dinner party at a Chinese restaurant. First, they have to work out a budget for the meal and how much each of them will share toward the cost. They also want to decide on the number of courses and what specific dishes to order.

在英语国家，因各国的法律不同，人们在餐馆的消费也不尽相同。拿酒水来说，很多澳大利亚的餐馆是不允许卖含酒精饮料的。客人要喝酒，就只能自己携带。所以，在这个国家，经常可以看到餐馆前有 BYO的标识，即： Bring Your Own（请自带酒水 ) 。

Task 3 What Ingredients Should We Buy?

1. You and one of your classmates are to play the roles of Bob and Doug in the situation given below. Bob and Doug have decided to make jiaozi for their friends. Now they’re working out a shopping list of the ingredients needed for making jiaozi and the amount they need for each ingredient.

Suggested ingredients for making jiaozi: cooking oil olive oil sesame oil

ginger

green chives soy sauce vinegar salt garlic minced pork/chicken beef/turkey

炒菜油橄榄油芝麻油生姜韭菜酱油醋盐大蒜猪 / 鸡 / 牛 /火鸡肉馅

eggs cooking wine carrot cabbage onion pepper powder wheat flour starch wrapping filling

鸡蛋料酒胡萝卜卷心菜 洋葱胡椒粉面粉 淀粉饺子皮 饺子馅

2. You and one of your classmates are to play the roles of Shasha and Ming in the situation given below. Shasha and Ming have decided on the menu in Task 2. Now they’re talking about what they need to make the dishes. They need to consider the following: 1) What ingredients do they have to buy? 2) Where can they get those ingredients? 3) What drinks do they want to buy?

Work in a group of four or five students. One of you is to chair the discussion of the topics given below.

1) What are the basic stages of preparation when you plan to invite people to dinner? Should anything be done in a different way if it is a gathering of family members, personal friends or people from work?

2) What do you think the hosts should do with their very young children when they have a dinner party at home with their friends? Do you think it is a good idea to hire a babysitter or to put the kids to bed before the dinner starts? Why/Why not?

3) Do you know anything about the difference between the Chinese and English-speaking people in organizing dinner parties? If you do, what are they?

Task 4 Talking about Preparations for Dinner Parties

Task 5 Talking about the Use of Chopsticks Read the following taboos concerning the use of chopsticks. Then with the help from your teacher, try to compare the Chinese table manners with those of the English-speaking people.

1) Don’t dig in the food on a plate but just get the piece that you want to get.

2) Don’t pick one piece then drop it back in the plate and change to another piece.

3) Don’t let your chopsticks be covered with food juice or residue.

Task 5 Talking about the Use of Chopsticks

4) Don’t use chopsticks to beat any utensils to make any noise.

5) Don’t wave your chopsticks.

6) Don’t use chopsticks like forks.

7) Don’t use chopsticks as toothpicks.

8) Don’t lick or suck your chopsticks.

9) Don’t put chopsticks vertically in rice in a bowl since it resembles the incense sticks for the dead.

Enjoy Yourself

The culinary delights of China are tantalizing selection to tickle your taste buds, but what does it all mean? Beijing's restaurant menus have been given a linguistic makeover in a bid to tempt visitors to the Olympic host city to eat the local cuisine, but some of the descriptions seem to have left some frustrated, let alone famished. This restaurant's specialty is steamed hair-fish, but foreign customers might puzzle over the English description, "Six must occupy cooks in a covered vessel the hairtail". While steamed chicken is described as the intriguing chicken without sexual life. China's capital has taken great pains to prepare the city for an influx of Olympic visitors especially in the Food Department. Chinese cuisine has developed over a long period of time. Chinese food is rich and varied. 

How to Translate the Olympic Menu

Enjoy Yourself But this boomerang of a measure has some officials worry. An official booklet has now been issued to restaurants containing rather more bland English translations for local dishes. Some restaurants have gone against the grain, preferring their own quirky translations, offering delicacies, such as wonderful fragrant fat cow. Foodies think bland translations will stop visitors from experiencing real Chinese food. You should first let people try this type of food, so that they realize how good Chinese food is, then they should go to go-street and try the more genuine flavors or even better food cooked in a Chinese home. That's the most genuine Chinese food. So, although "The clever and dexterous woman rips the cabbage" may not appeal to the less adventurous eaters, there's hope the good sports won't mind a little food lost in translation.  Suranjana Tewari Reuters.