A bite of mother's foods

山東臨沭第一中學 朱 衛

文章詞數 9 7 9 建議用時 1 8′ 難度系數 ★★★

精彩導讀

媽媽給我的食物是最好的食物，它陪伴著我從中國走向英國，從兒時走向成年。媽媽做的食物，讓我想起英國人在唐人街商鋪購買的中國零食，這些零食能讓他們快樂，真切、真正地與中國文化相連，真好。

未讀先知

1.tidy v.整理

2.schedule n.明細表

3.attentively adv.專心地

4.entire adj.全部的；整個的；完全的

5.effortlessly adv.輕易地；不費力地

6.remark v.說起；談論

7.casually adv.隨意地；隨便地

8.starve v.（使）挨餓；餓死

9.nutritional adj.營養的

10.essential adj.必不可少的；極其重要的；本質的

11.convey v.表達；傳達

12.massive adj.巨大的

13.diverse adj.不同的；多樣化的

On the last evening of my mom's most recent trip to visit me in London，she sat across the table peeling a bowlful of pomegranate（石榴）seeds.

“Eat this tomorrow after I'm gone， you lazy bee，”she teased，tidying the piles of books and clothes across the table waiting to be packed into her luggage.

Mom knows me too well:pomegranate seeds are my favorite.They never appear on my food schedule though，as I lack the patience to peel them one by one.

最近，媽媽來倫敦看我。臨走前一晚，她坐在桌子對面，剝了一大碗的石榴籽。

“明天我走之后，把這個吃了，你個懶蟲。”她一邊剝一邊笑話我，盡管她還沒有把桌對面成堆的書和衣物等打包裝好。

媽媽太了解我了：石榴籽是我的最愛。但它們從未出現在我的食物清單上，因為我沒那個耐心去一顆顆地剝出來。

其實媽媽也沒那個耐心。只是為了我能吃上，她甘愿去做。

她的手輕柔敏捷地移動，眼睛緊緊盯著那一顆顆小小的多汁的石榴籽，生怕弄碎了它們。

當我次日起床，打開冰箱一看，果不其然，一瓶圓潤鮮亮的石榴籽正等著我呢。

自從我10年前離家赴倫敦求學開始，食物一直是媽媽來看我的必備禮物。

每次來，她都會把冰箱裝滿各種手工餃子、米糕、八寶飯、芝麻餡的湯圓，還有好多我沒法用英文描述的甜食。

我喜歡看她揉面團，將那松散的面粉變成一片片圓形的餃子皮，仿佛一片片小花瓣。她毫不費力地將那些餃子皮折成月牙形狀的餃子，然后挨個在盤子里擺好。

每每到了離別時分，媽媽從不說她有多想我，或者有多愛我，而只是隨意地提那么一句：“我不在你身邊的時候，別餓著啊。”

媽媽生在那樣一個時代，那時候，人們用食物來表達愛意。

二十世紀六十年代，媽媽生于一個工廠會計家庭。在那個計劃經濟時期，對百姓來說，食物就是天。

她每天放學后最愛做的事，就是去看一位老奶奶，老奶奶會給她吃芝麻油拌米飯。“嗯，在那個年代，那就是我們能想到的最好的食物了。”她說。

高考前的一個月，媽媽為高考復習時，外公外婆把家里最有營養的食物拿出來給她——每天一個雞蛋。“天啊，那些雞蛋給了我學業上好大的壓力。”

Mom doesn't have the patience either，except when it comes to feeding me.

Her hands moved gently and swiftly，while her eyes looked carefully at the little watery seeds，attentively trying not to crush them.

When I woke up the next day and opened the fridge.Sure enough，waiting for me was a clear jar of perfect smooth and shiny pomegranate seeds.

Ever since I left home to study in London ten years ago，food is a big part of mom's London visits.

With each trip，she would be sure to fill the entire fridge with hand-made dumplings， rice cakes， rice puddings，sesame-filled sweet dumplings and many other sweets I struggled to find English translations for.

I love watching her knead （揉捏）the dough （生面團），turning the loose flour into individual（單獨的）round layers of dumpling wraps，like little flower petals.Her hands would effortlessly fold up these wraps into moon-shaped dumplings，and place them neatly into a tray.

Whenever it's time to say goodbye，mom would never say that she misses me， or that she loves me.Instead，she'll remark casually: “Don't starve yourself while I'm not with you.”

Mom belongs to a generation when food is an expression of love.

In the 60s，my parents were born in a family of accountants in a factory at a time when China was still in a planned economy，food meant everything.

Her favorite after-school activity was visiting an old grandma，who would feed her rice mixed with sesame oil.“Mmm...that's the best food we could hope for then，” she would say.

During her last month at high school，when she was studying for her university entrance exam，my grandparents gave her the best ever nutritional food they could afford—an egg every day. “Gosh， the egg put so much pressure on my studies.”

By the 1990s， when I was born，food was no longer so scarce （缺乏的）in China.So my understanding of why food is so essential to the Chinese culture mostly comes from my mom's stories.

In my mother's generation，people would greet each other using the phrase of “Have you eaten？ ” instead of the more familiar “How are you？ ”.We don't do that in China any more，but I still look forward to the ritual （禮節）of my whole family gathering together to prepare food across a big kitchen table at special occasions，such as the Chinese New Year.

Such fond childhood memories have stayed with me.It's funny that living in the super health-conscious city of London has taught me to think about food in terms of calories and carbon content when I shop at Waitrose.

Well，mom's home-made dumplings don't have any food labels.No calorie calculation，no fat percentages，nothing on the package telling me to eat my “five a day”.Instead， every bite of mom's food conveys the taste of love，and of the feeling of home.

Over the last few years，London's Chinatown has undergone a massive face-lift（翻新）.New shops and restaurants are popping up （突然出現），offering an increasingly diverse r ange of real Chinese snacks and regional products，which helps me to rekindle（重新點燃）my sweet childhood memories.

During those “treasure hunting”shopping trips，I would also see many British shoppers carrying big bags of snacks.I am glad that food can help to create for them a happy，tan gible （真實的）and real way to connect with the culture of China.

到了九十年代，也就是我出生的時候，中國的食物已經沒有那么緊缺了。所以，關于食物在中國文化中占據了“天”的位置，大都是我從媽媽的故事里了解的。

在我媽媽那個年代，人們見面打招呼會說“你吃了嗎？”，而不是我們更熟悉的“你好嗎？”中國人現在已經不這么說了，但是我仍然對春節等特殊節日里全家人聚在一起，在大大的廚房桌臺上準備食物的傳統感到期待。

這些幸福的童年回憶一直陪伴著我。有趣的是，生活在健康意識極強的倫敦，我學會了在Waitrose購物時，去關注食物的卡路里和碳水化合物含量。

媽媽做的手工餃子沒有任何產品標簽。沒有能量值、脂肪含量，也沒有“每天五個”的說明。相反，我每吃一口，都能嘗到愛和家的味道。

過去的幾年里，倫敦的唐人街發生了翻天覆地的變化。新店鋪和飯店層出不窮，能提供品種愈加豐富的地道中國小吃和特產。這使我重新燃起了童年的美好回憶。

去那些店鋪“淘寶”的時候，我看到很多英國人手里也拿著大袋零食。我很高興看到食物能讓他們快樂，并真正地與中國文化相連，真好。

巧筆妙記

Ⅰ.熱詞積累

1.fill...with...用……填充……

2.struggle to do努力做

3.belong to屬于

4.hope for希望得到

5.put pressure on對……施加壓力

6.look forward to盼望

7.in terms of依……；從……方面；用……的術語

8.a range of一系列的；一些

Ⅱ.典句剖析

1.非謂語動詞的用法

……她一邊剝一邊笑話我，盡管她還沒有把桌對面成堆的書、衣物和電子設備等打包裝好。

...she teased， ________（tidy）the piles of books and clothes across the table _______（wait） to be packed into her luggage.

【點石成金】句中非謂語動詞與主語she是主謂關系，作伴隨狀語，應使用現在分詞形式。動詞wait與邏輯主語the piles of books and clothes是主謂關系，應使用現在分詞作后置定語，相當于which were waiting...

【答案】tidying； waiting

2.when引導固定句型“當談到……的時候”

其實媽媽也沒那個耐心。只是為了我能吃上，她甘愿去做。

Mom doesn't have the patience either，except when it comes to _______（feed） me.

【點石成金】When it comes to...“當談到……的時候”為固定句型，短語come to中的to為介詞，后接動詞時，應用動名詞形式。

當談到學習英語詩歌時，我們很多人非常興奮。

Many ofus feltexcited_________________English poems.

【答案】feeding；when it came to learning

讀后創寫

In this passage the author takes time as the clue to recount （敘述）a few short stories about his/her mother's delicacies.We can easily find the time clues，which can be mainly listed as follows：

On the last evening of my mom's most recent trip...

Ever since I left home to study in London ten years ago...

By the 1990s，...

Over the last few years，...

With these time clues，readers can easily grasp the structure of the passage and have a better understanding of how the story is developed.

Task：

Have you ever got your mother's delicacies in your life？ What are they？ Please share your own story about your mother's delicacies that conveys your mother's affection for you or your family with your classmates or friends.You can use time as a clue to tell your story to make the structure clear.

Please contribute your story to us with about 200 words.All manuscripts should be sent in the form of word documents to our contributing E-mail address 1437669942@qq.com.Please indicate the school， teacher's name， student's name， zip code and any other indispensable information if necessary.Thus，we can securely send the prize and certificate to you without any mistake.

8月刊讀后創寫獲獎作品展示

彭靜嬈 江蘇徐州七中

指導老師 彭向梅

The author losing his wife broke down but got through the pain by reflecting upon how he put a bag of frozen peas back.

The story sets me thinking deeply.Our life is like the peas，rolling in all directions.To recollect the peas，it takes a positive attitude and persistence for us to face unexpected miseries throughout our life.

Although life is full of ups and downs，we still should develop a positive attitude as it is the failure itself that strengthens our motivation to move on.Where there is suffering，there is also the power to defeat the difficulties.

Take Stephen Hawking for example.Disabled as he was，he always stayed positive in face of suffering，making marvellous achievements finally.So it's not the rolling peas but the attitude we take that makes a difference.Whatever suffering lies ahead，we can march on with a positive attitude guiding us all the way.