文字稿

Yang Li
大家好，我是楊莉。歡迎收聽BBC英語教學節目《你問我答》。每期節目，我們都會從大量的來信或錄音中挑選一個最有代表性的問題給予解答。有英語學習方面的也有英國文化習俗方面的。今天我們回答來自山東的 April 提出的一個禮儀問題。請聽她的錄音。

Question
My name is April. I'm from Shandong province. I have a question. I want to know something about table manners in the UK. 

Yang Li
謝謝 April。先前的餐桌禮儀（上）篇的節目里我們介紹了英國基本餐桌禮儀。今天是續集，看看出席正式宴請時的一些禮儀要求 formal dinner etiquette，這樣在你赴宴時就不會疑惑和緊張了。今天的禮儀專家有請我的同事 Neil。看看他有哪些提示。

Neil
First of all, if you have special dietary requirements please let the host know beforehand. For instance if you are a vegetarian you will be given the vegetarian option.

Yang Li
首先，如果你要是有什么忌口或特別要求，一定提前告訴做東的主人。比如你是一位素食者，那么主人會給你安排素食餐的。

Neil
Remember always dress smartly. Generally speaking the invite will have a dress code. Usually suit for a man and evening dress for a woman.

Yang Li
記住穿著要精神。一般來說請柬上會注明著裝要求，通常情況下會要求男士穿西裝，女士穿晚禮裙。

Neil
With banquets, you will find that seats are pre-arranged. Just find your name and be seated. 

After you are seated, wait for your host to make the first napkin move. When the host puts the napkin on his or her lap, the guests should follow suit.

Yang Li
如果是正式宴請，座位都會事先安排好，而且桌子上會有名字卡片，你只需要對號入座就是了。入座之后，你一定要等主人先動手去拿餐巾，然后看主人把餐巾放到他/她的腿上，模仿去做就成。

Neil
Formal dinners usually start with wine and will be poured from the right. Please wait until your host has lifted his or her glass before you drink yours. If you don’t want wine, place your fingertips lightly on the rim of the glass when the server approaches to pour. You can say "I'm not having any today".

Yang Li
正式宴請一般都會以葡萄酒開始。服務員從右邊斟酒。請等主人舉杯開始喝酒時你再開始喝。如果你不想喝酒，可以在服務員來斟酒時輕輕地把手指尖兒擋在酒杯邊上，你可以說“我今天不喝酒了”。

不過恐怕最讓中國人頭疼的還是擺在面前的一系列刀，叉，勺。怎么辨認和使用？我們聽聽 Neil 怎么說。

Neil
The number of pieces of cutlery will indicate the number of courses you can expect, and the general rule is to start from the outside. As far as I know you may expect up to seven courses, in this order: soup, fish, sorbet, or another palate cleanser, a meat or fowl dish, cheese, dessert, and coffee. Note that food is served from the left and empty plates are cleared from the right. Wine is poured from the right.

Yang Li
從餐具的數量就能看出將上多少道菜。使用規則嘛，從外面的一圈開始。Neil 說，據他所知，正式宴請的菜單上最多會有七道菜。一般順序是湯，魚，果汁冰沙或清口菜，肉或家禽，還有奶酪，甜點和咖啡。注意每道菜都是從左邊端上來，空盤子從右邊撤下去。酒則從右邊滿上。

Neil
There's another interesting thing about formal British table manners. You can use your cutlery to signal when you are finished or you are resting. Try to visualise the face of a clock, when you have finished eating, you can place both the knife and fork at about the 10:20 position with the points at 10 and the handles at 20. However if you are just pausing you should place your knife and fork on the plate with an inverted V shape with the prongs pointing down.

Yang Li
還有一個有意思的英國餐桌禮儀就是如何用刀叉來表示自己吃完了還是停頓休息一下。設想一個時鐘，如果把刀叉并在一起放在10點20分的角度就表示“吃完啦”。如果是停頓一下，就需要把刀叉分開，形成倒 V 字形，叉子齒尖朝下，刀刃面朝里。

 好了，希望大家有機會實踐一下以上這些正式場合的就餐禮儀。謝謝 Neil， 也謝謝 April 的問題。我們的郵箱是 questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk 歡迎把你的問題以錄音形式發送給我們。謝謝收聽。再會。