Growing up in England with a British father and a Chinese mother, I’ve enjoyed food from both countries ever since I was able to hold a knife and fork — and chopsticks!
Mum has sweet memories of the food from her hometown in Sichuan, and often cooks spicy dishes. On account of this, Dad has come to love hot pot! But there are still some dishes that Dad dare not try even after many years of marriage to my mother. He once told me he was surprised by what he saw on the table when he first visited my mother’s parents in China. He was even shocked at their wedding when he saw how the Chinese ate almost every part of an animal. Even today, he still does not easily take to eating things like chicken feet.
But I enjoy that sort of food myself. Last week, I went to the butcher’s and asked, “Do you have pigs’ ears?” “No,” the butcher (屠夫) said, pulling at his own ears, “just these ordinary ones.” He must have thought I was joking.
Dad can cook a super “full English breakfast” of bacon, eggs, beans, sausages and toast with butter. Mum and I just have to find a way to get him into the kitchen! He also does a typical Sunday roast. We all love roast beef and vegetables, but Mum says we’d better not eat too much roast food as it may make us suffer from heat inside our bodies, according to traditional Chinese medicine.
I’ll never forget my visit to China. Mum encouraged me to try different kinds of food, and I did! I loved everything. But just when I thought I could deal with all Chinese food, I came across stinky tofu, a terrible grey thing that looked and smelt like a burnt sports shoe. “You needn’t try it if you don’t want to,” Mum said, but I gathered all my courage to take a bite and was amazed to find it wasn’t that bad. It reminded me of blue cheese, a similarly strong smelling type of food you either love or hate. Maybe I’ll fall in love with stinky tofu someday.
People say that one man’s meat is another man’s poison, but I feel at home with different food from both China and Britain. To me, there’s nothing better than a cross-cultural afternoon tea of English biscuits and a cup of Chinese oolong tea in a fine china cup!
4. What do you know about the author’s taste for food?
A.He prefers British food to Chinese food. |
B.He has tried but cannot stand Chinese food. |
C.He will never get used to some Chinese food. |
D.He enjoys British food as well as Chinese food. |
5. What can we infer from the paragraph 2 and 3?
A.The author just played a trick on the butcher. |
B.Almost no people in England eat pigs’ ears. |
C.Pigs’ ears are popular in Britain. |
D.The butcher was interested in pigs’ ears. |
6. What does the underlined sentence mean?
A.People have different tastes for food. |
B.Some food can be harmful to health. |
C.A good diet can build up one’s health. |
D.People ought to digest different food. |
7. How does the author feel about the cross-cultural food?
A.Puzzled. | B.Upset. | C.Concerned. | D.Pleased. |