Unit Three Chinese Food

IV Exercises

I Pre-reading Qs

II Text Analysis

III After reading

I Pre-reading

Discussion Qs:

-What do you know about the difference between Chinese and western eating habits?

-Do you like brunch? Do you believe that "we are what we eat?" How many meals a day do you think should

be eaten? Do you usually eat at home or at a

restaurant? If you were on death row, what would you

request for your last meal?

Bitter melon

1. I'm freezing my buns off today! I wish I'd brought my coat to school!

I forgot my coat today. I am very cold. The buns are freezing.

2. These idioms are a piece of cake to learn!

The idioms are eating cake. These idioms are difficult to learn. These idioms are easy to learn.

3.  Wife:   Honey, guess what? We have a bun in the oven! Iheard from the doctor today.      Husband: Oh, that's great! I'm so happy!

They are going to have buns for dinner. They are going to have a baby. The wife is baking some buns for the doctor.

4.  Susan: Hi! What are you talking about?       Mary: Oh, we are talking about Hollywood beefcake. Who do you like?      Susan: I think Arnold Schwartzenegger is beefcake!

Arnold is very handsome. Arnold lives in Hollywood. I am hungry.

5. I saw a very cheesy movie last night. You wouldn't believe how bad it was!

The movie was excellent.

The movie was expensive. The movie was poorly made.

6. I just bought the newest cheesecake poster of Pamela Lee to hang in my dorm room.

I bought a poster of a pretty girl.

I love to eat cheesecake. Pamela Lee likes to eat cheesecake.

7. When I went skating yesterday, I fell on my buns four times! Ouch!

I fell on my buttocks. I fell on my bread. I fell on my friend.

Fine dried noodles

Dumplings in soup/ wonton

Pot sticker

Boiled dumpling

dumpling

Glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves

Quotes What is food to one man may be fierce poi

son to others. Lucretius

He was a bold man who first swallowed an oyster. James I

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.Virgina Woolf

Man does not live by bread alone.Moses

All happiness depends upon a leisurely breakfast.John Gunther

A smiling face is half the meal.Latvian Proverb

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.  ~Voltaire

We think fast food is equivalent to pornography, nutritionally speaking.  ~Steve Elbert

II Text Analysis Structural Analysis: Paragraphs 7-9 constitute the third part of

the text. Para 7: The traditional high-quality Chinese

meal is a serious matter, fastidiously prepared and fastidiously enjoyed.

Para 8: The enjoyment must match the preparation.

Para 9: The smooth harmonies and piquant contrasts in Chinese food are an expression of basic assumptions about life itself.

Text Structure: Para1-4: The author discusses the contrast between

the Chinese attitude and the Western attitude toward food.

Para 5-6: The part explains how Chinese food has

become an international food. Para 7-9: The writer discusses the nature of Chinese

food in this part.

Rhetorical features: eg:Many people in the West are gourmets

and others are gluttons. alliteration: repetition of the first sound or letter of a

succession of words, which helps to convey a sort of melodious quality.

Qs Para 1-4 How is food different from music, a lecture,

a conversation? (never be integrated into one’s body or spiritual

and moral fibre, one may not attend to them whole-heartedly/ Yet food is different. It requires our serious treatment. )

How does the author make his idea clear? (comparison contrast raising two questions)

Why is it a difficult question for a westerner?

(food is no more than something that satisfies their hunger. They could hardly see its moral effect. )

What’s the Chinese attitude towards food? (the first happiness in life) What does “to eat with a capital E” mean? (to be entertained socially so the environment and

the position are deemed as the crucial factors to consider. But for Chinese, eating is the sole purpose)

Para 5-6 Why does the author mention “from Hong Kong t

o Honolulu to Hoboken to Huddersfield”? (located in different areas; randomly chosen just

to show the ubiquity of Chinese food. ) What has helped the spread of Chinese food to t

he rest of the world? (people from Hong Kong opened restaurants; th

en , western people became interested in the pursuit of sensual pleasure, break the old western habits; third, sensual concept is an inherent element of Chinese food. )

Para7-9 (nature of Chinese food)

- How does the writer explain that the traditional high-quality Chinese meal is a serious matter?

- - (figures to show how complicated and time-

consuming it is to prepare the Chinese meal. Lists several methods to show cooking is no easy task. )

- Why is a Chinese meal compared to a religious ceremony?

- (just like a religious ceremony that follows significant ritual procedure, a Chinese meal proceeds with carefully planned dishes, where the harmonies and contrasts of elements not only whet one’s appetite but also manifest the Chinese view on life. )

What else must be pleased besides the palate? Why?

(The eye, too. The philosophy that underlies Chinese food and everything else is Taoism, which signifies the proper human conduct and the ultimate harmony of the universe. In the enjoyment of food, the eye, as well as the palate, is the essential element to please. If the eye fails to be pleased, these essential elements are no longer in harmony. )

Language Points: Para1-4 attend to : to take care of , look after, deal

with eg: His company helps employees ~ the

ir elderly relatives. indifferent: without interest or concern eg: She was utterly ~ to his irritation. He is ~ to praise or blame, about s

uccess or failure.

-profoundly: extremely eg: He could hardly calm down after that ~ di

sturbing experience. -derive from: to come from a source or origin eg: The word “deduct ” ~s from Latin.

- ecstasy: sudden intense feeling or excitement- eg: He is in an ~ of joy. - smother: to cover closely or thickly eg: The cook ~ed a steak with mushrooms.

Para 5-6

-marked: striking; conspicuous eg: John worked really hard. He showe

d ~ improvement in all the tests. There is a ~ increase in economy. -assert: to declare strongly eg: He ~ed boldly that he was innocent

of the crime. It is nonsense to ~ that smoking d

oes not affect people’s health.

-ubiquitous: seeming to be everywhere eg: His ~ influence was felt by the whole family. Earth’s ~ atmosphere is essential for life. -bedeck: to decorate; to hang ornaments or decoration

s on eg: He led us into a room ~ed with tinsel. -infamous: deserving of or causing an evil reputation eg: He is ~ for saying that cheating is the way the g

ame is played.

sensual: pertaining to, inclined to, or preoccupied with the gratification of the senses or appetites; carnal; fleshly.

adj. 沉湎于声色口腹之乐的；肉欲的；与官能享受有关的 感官上的

Chop suey:

-crucial: of highest, greatest, or most critical importance

eg: The behavior of the oceans is a ~ aspect of global warming.

- Part and parcel: an essential part that must not be ignored

- eg: Unemployment is ~ of the bigger problem- a sagging economy.

-

-average: typical, common, ordinary eg: People of ~ intelligence can read novels a

ppreciatively. - inherent: existing as a natural and permanent qu

ality- eg: The drug has certain ~ side effects. - - phenomenal: very remarkable, amazing- eg: He enjoyed ~ success as a race car driver.

- She has ~ memory.

Chop suey

fastidiously: with excessive care or delicacy.

eg: He stared ~ at the dirty table. He ~ copied every word of his notes onto cle

an paper. chore: a hard or unpleasant task; a smal

l job that someone has to do regularly eg: It is a real ~ to stand in line to buy food ever

y day.

contrive: to make or invent something in a skillful way

eg: In 1862, a technique was ~ to take a series of photographs showing stages of movement.

alter: to change eg: Her schedule has ~ed dramatically.

conform to : to act in accordance with; to comply with

eg: Her clothes are ~ed to fashion

Palate: the sense of taste eg: We’ll have a dinner to delight the palat

e. Elusive: hard to express or define eg: He tried to recall the ~ thought he had

had months before. Piquant: having a pleasantly sharp or stron

g taste eg: With the ~ tomato sauce, the dish tast

es much better.

III After reading Fill the blanks with the proper words in the Text. Dance is an i part of the culture. Water is c to our survival.- It’s best to accept that some

inconveniences are p of travel.- The goods are of a quality. - The hall was b with flowers.- (inherent crucial part and parcel average

bedecked)

The story d from a very common folktale.

- They went into e over the view.

- The pasta was s with a creamy sauce.

His self-blame gave her some hope that he would a her opinion.

Having strangers criticize us is p offensive to us. (derived from ecstasies smothered attend to

profoundly)

The medical council disqualified him for i misconduct.

I let my p decide what I eat. The meaning of the poem was somewhat e

. The coat was so long, so I took it back to the

store to have it a . He c a swing from hanging vines. As a child, one of my c was to feed

the animals.

(infamous palate elusive altered contrived chores)

Reading task

Text II