【英语听和读】食物

 Yvonne: In the past, English food has often been described as boring and tasteless. But

times have certainly changed and now many restaurants, particularly in

London, serve interesting dishes – and people enjoy cooking delicious meals

for their friends. So now, English food is officially delicious – or is it?

I’m Yvonne Archer¹ and you're listening to Entertainment from

bbclearningenglish.com!

Digby Anderson was Director of Britain's Social Affairs Unit which looks at

issues affecting society and at how individuals can be more responsible. But

he's now retired³ and has just written a book called "The English at Table" in

which he expresses some very strong opinions. Digby thinks English food is

awful because we're "lazy and ignorant⁴" – we don't enough about food or much

else. So what do English people eat? Which five places does Digby say we

have to look in to find out?

INSERT

If you want to know what the English eat, you don't look at high quality restaurants. Ninety

seven per cent of English people don't go to them anyway. What you look at is what they eat

in airports, on the streets, in hospitals where the food is vile⁵, in schools where we now know

the food is awful… Anywhere - especially in the home, because they still eat in the home.

Yvonne: So according to Digby Anderson, if we want to know what English people eat,

it's not worth looking in what he calls 'high quality restaurants' – restaurants

where the best food is served – because 97% of us don't go to them. Hmmm,

I'm not sure that many of my friends would agree. 

Entertainment © BBC Learning² English

Page 2 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

INSERT

What you look at is what they eat in airports, on the streets, in hospitals - where the food is

vile - in schools, where we now know the food is awful. Anywhere - especially in the home

because they still eat in the home.

Yvonne: Airports, on the streets, in hospitals, in schools and at home are all places

where English people can be found eating. But did you notice the adjective⁶

Digby used to describe English hospital food? He said it's 'vile' – it's so terrible

that it's sickening.

Of course, food outside the home can be vile and unhealthy – and that's why

there's nothing better than a home-cooked meal eaten around the family table.

But is this always the case? Where does Digby think most English families eat

their meals - and who does he say does most of the cooking?

INSERT

They don't of course eat at tables - 40% don't have a table to eat off. They eat off sofas where

the food goes mostly down the back of the sofa and they don't eat together at home. The

people that do the cooking at home, which is mostly the wives and mothers, rarely go

shopping, they shop as seldom as they possibly can – it isn't that they don't like shopping –

they shop for anything…they love shopping, but not food.

Yvonne: Oh dear – Digby is quite rude about the English and their food. He says that

40% of English people 'don't have tables to eat off' – so they don't even own a

dining table where they can eat their meals. They usually eat while sitting on

sofas – and that's where a lot of the food goes - 'down the back of the sofa'.

Yuck! And who does most of the cooking? Yes, he says the wives and mothers

– the women - who love shopping but apparently⁷, not for food!

INSERT

They shop carelessly, they don't cook carefully. They're not practised in what they do and as a

result their families can't be bothered to come together to eat. 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English

Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Yvonne: Digby thinks that people aren't practised in cooking – they don't do it often

enough to become good at it. Allegra McEvedy is about to publish a new

colour cookbook of her own and has this advice for us all so that we can eat

well:

INSERT

You need to plan your menus, you need to plan when you're going to shop, where you're

going to shop and what you're going to eat and with a little bit of planning you can eat well

with very little time input⁸.

 

Yvonne: So if we plan what we're going to eat and when we're going to shop for it,

eating well shouldn't be too difficult. And as Allegra put it, we can 'eat well

with very little time input' – without spending too much time preparing the

food. Perhaps Digby agrees. Let's hear what they have to say to each other…

INSERT

Digby: It is no use thinking that you can not bother to cook all week and then do one big

meal on Sunday or that you can just wait until you have some people round for a

dinner party. You've got to do it everyday otherwise you might as well just give

up.

Allegra: Well, I think everyday isn't realistic in this day and age. Everyone works⁹ hard, I

mean everyone I know works hard - they don't get in until very late…

Digby: Nonsense¹⁰!

Yvonne: While Digby believes that people should cook every day, Allegra thinks that

this is 'unrealistic' – it's not really possible, because people work very hard and

get home late. But Digby simply says that's 'nonsense'! Perhaps you think he

has a point. Is it important for families to eat together? And are home cooked

meals always the best - even if we're not very good at cooking? 

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 ignorant   

adj.无知的，没有学问的，愚昧的，不知道的

参考例句：

• They are unbelievably ignorant.他们无知到令人难以置信的地步。
• He's not stupid,merely ignorant.他并不愚蠢，只是无知。

5 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

6 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

9 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

10 nonsense   

n.胡说，废话

参考例句：

• Go along with you! What you say is all nonsense!去你的！你说的全是废话！
• "Don't talk nonsense",she said sharply.“别胡扯”，她严厉地说。