1 . About a decade ago, I attended a dinner in Guangzhou. The bird’s nest soup was gentle and delicious, the fish fresh and perfectly steamed. The most memorable dish, however, was the plain soup served at the end. Made from chicken, probably with ham as well, it was simple but perfect.

Ending a banquet with soup may seem odd to Westerners, accustomed as they are to sweets at a meal’s close. But, as Fuchsia Dunlop, an English food writer, explains in her new book, Invitation to a Banquet, “The transparent soup is an ideal conclusion to a meal.”

Invitation to a Banquet is Ms Dunlop’s seventh book. Unlike those for which she is best known, including The Food of Sichuan, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, and Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook(about Hunanese cuisine), this is not a cookbook. Instead, she has chosen 30 dishes and used each to illustrate different aspects of Chinese cuisine—and, in turn, Chinese life and history.

“Westerners have traditionally assumed that the Chinese eat animal parts because they are poor, when in fact turning up one’s nose at pigs’ heads and legs shuts the door on a wide range of foods that are really wonderful,” Ms Dunlop argues in the book.

In short, Ms Dunlop has made a convincing case for the superiority of Chinese cuisine, but in a delighted and expansive rather than chauvinistic (沙文主义的) way. She shows how it has absorbed foreign influences(as other cuisines have, too), how it has changed with China’s increasing wealth and how central it is to the country’s intellectual and cultural history.

She makes an equally good case in this book that the Chinese food most Westerners can find at their local takeaway is neither inauthentic nor wrong. Instead, it reflects local tastes which are as representative of the cuisine’s diversity as a frozen pizza is of Italy’s adventurousness. The local takeaway has made the real thing more accessible than ever outside China.

1. Which word best describes the author’s impression of the dinner in Guangzhou?

A．Favorable.

B．Conservative.

C．Negative.

D．Unclear.

2. Which book should readers select if they are interested in Chinese history?

A．Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper.	B．The Food of Sichuan.
C．Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.	D．Invitation to a Banquet.

3. What does Ms Dunlop suggest Westerners do concerning Chinese cuisine?

A．Avoid eating pigs’ heads and legs.	B．Go to the most expensive restaurants.
C．Be open-minded about any Chinese food.	D．Don’t try the local takeaway outside China.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A cookbook.

B．A book review.

C．A biography.

D．A travel journal.