Unit 9 Text I

Chinese Food

Warm-up Activity

Discuss two questions about Chinese food:

1. How important is food to us Chinese?

2. What are the characteristics of Chinese cuisine?

Chinese Food

Dim Sin Gai (sweet and sour chicken)

Shao Shing soup

Kuo-Tioh (northern style)

Ging Ai Kwai (steamed aubergines)

Words and Expressions

Attend to

e.g. Mary attended to the children’s stories patiently.

e.g. He had to spend a lot of time attending to his work as a green-hand.

to deal with, take care of, look after

glutton

A person who regularly eats and drinks more than is needed

e.g. You’ve eaten the whole pie, you glutton.

sage

a very wise man

e.g. Confucius is the most admired ancient sage in china.

e.g. He was a well-known sage craftsman in the village.

Derive from derive great pleasure from one’s study e.g. She derived no benefits from the course of

drugs.

smother

1.To cover closely or thickly

e.g. my sister smothers the salad with oil.

2. Restrain, hide

e.g. the local government tried to smother the traffic accident, but it was soon discovered by a reporter.

3.Braise, stew

e.g. Smothered beef is very delicious.

lavishTo give a lot or too much of sth

1.Lavish sth on sb

e.g. the old couple lavished care upon their grandchildren.

e.g. Laura lavishes money on clothes.

e.g. the press lavished praises on the new pop star.

2. Be lavish in/of / with

e.g. he was lavish in praising the project.

e.g. the pupil is lavish of money.

e.g. He was lavish with his praise.

texture

1. Build up

e.g. Silk is cloth of close texture.

2. Textile

e.g. The texture in Hang Zhou has spread all over the world.

3. character, essence

e.g. This dance style bears obvious texture of the culture of the Tang Dynasty.

Fowl n.

e.g. we kept a few fowls and some goats.

e.g. we had fish for the first course, followed by roast fowl and fresh vegetables.

Contrive v.

To make or invent sth is a skillful way

e.g. The engineer contrived a new kind of tape recorder.

Attempt

e.g. He even contrived a robbery when he was penniless.

Bedeck v. to hang decorations, jewels , flowers, etc. on e.g. The little girl bedecks her room with many

toys.

Exotica n. Exotic adj. e.g. mangoes and other exotic fruits e.g. Exotica are always attractive to the young.

The Structure of the Text

The text can be divided into three parts:

Part I (paragraphs1-4)

Part II (paragraphs 5-6)

Part III (paragraphs 7-9)

The Main Idea of Each Part Part I (paragraphs1-4) The first part discuss the difference in Chinese and western

attitudes towards food. Part II (paragraphs 5-6) The second part deal with reasons of the international success of

Chinese food. Part III (paragraphs 7-9) The third part elaborates on the nature of Chinese food.

The Rhetorical Features of the TextIt seems that the author dose not employ one particular rhetorical device intensively, though some rhetorical features are scattered throughout the whole essay. For instance alliteration is utilized here and there.

Examples :

Many people in the west are gourmets and others are gluttons.

To making you a saint or a sinner

Everywhere from Hong Kong to Honolulu to Hudderfield

The Function of Alliteration in the Text:

The underlined parts show repetition of the first sound or letter of a succession of words, which helps to convey a sort of melodious quality, thus making those words sound more pleasing and impressive.

More Examples of Alliteration

1. Peter piper picked a peck of pickled pepper 2. She sells seashells on the seashore 3. The rolling English drunkard made the rolling

English road. 4. Penny wise , pound foolish. 5. Practice makes perfect.

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The Paraphrase of Some Long and Complicated Sentences in the Text:

1.To be smothered with loving care throughout its preparation and to have time lavished on it in the final pleasure of eating

Paraphrase:

To prepare carefully and to have time enjoying the food

Food to my countryman is one of the ecstasies of life

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2. Food to my countryman is one of the ecstasies of lifeParaphrase:To the Chinese people, food is one of the things that can give them great pleasure3.One may attend to matters of business

Paraphrase: One may deal with matters of business

4. It is ubiquitous

Paraphrase: It could be found everywhere

5. Restaurants bedecked with dragons and delicate landscape-serving such exotica as Dim Sin Gai

Paraphrase : Restaurants which are decorated with dragons and

beautiful pictures of landscape and serve new dishes as Dim

Sin Gai

6. all these have become much more a part and parcel 6. all these have become much more a part and parcel of the average person’s life than they have ever beenof the average person’s life than they have ever beenparaphrase:paraphrase:

All of these things meant little to them but now they All of these things meant little to them but now they play an indispensable role in ordinary people’s lifeplay an indispensable role in ordinary people’s life

7. An element that links this cuisine with that most typical and yet elusive concept TaoParaphrase:A factor that connects the Chinese cooking with the most typical and different concept Tao

8.The smooth harmonies and piquant contrasts in Chinese food are more than just the products of recipes and personal enterpriseParaphrase:The smooth congruity and sharp differences in Chinese food are not only the results of recipes ad personal efforts

Grammar rules in this unit

Relative clause

Finite relative clause and nonfinite relative clause

Relative pronouns :

Who, whom, (people) whose

Which, that (something)

Relative adverbs:

When (time) , where (place), why (reason)

Examples of Finite Relative Clauses

e.g. The people (antecedent) who (relative pronoun) worked for him lived in mortal fear of him.

e.g. There will be a time (antecedent) when (relative adverb) people the world over will live a happy life under the sun of socialism.

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Examples of Infinite Attributive Clause

e.g. He went to the U.S.A. and worked so hard and finally won the Nobel Prize, which surprised everyone that knew him. (infinite attributive clause)

e.g. The ambassador, who had long been interested in Asian affairs, was flattered.

e.g. The restaurant manager, to whom I complained about the service, apologized for it.

More Examples of the Attributive Clause

e.g. Here is the boy who damaged the vase.

e.g. My cousin, who is an engineer, went to Europe last week.

e.g. The chair which I sat was a broken one.

e.g. Can you see the house where Shakespeare once lived?

e.g. The reason why I was alone in the mountain is that I had a difficulty with my guide.

More Examples of the Attributive Clause

e.g. The chairman, who spoke first, sat on my right.

e.g. His speech, which bored everyone, went on and on.

e.g. The chairman’s daughter, whose name is Ann, gave me a patient smile.

e.g. I’m seeing the manager tomorrow, when he will be back from New York.