A bite of mother's foods

山东临沭第一中学 朱 卫

文章词数 9 7 9 建议用时 1 8′ 难度系数 ★★★

精彩导读

妈妈给我的食物是最好的食物，它陪伴着我从中国走向英国，从儿时走向成年。妈妈做的食物，让我想起英国人在唐人街商铺购买的中国零食，这些零食能让他们快乐，真切、真正地与中国文化相连，真好。

未读先知

1.tidy v.整理

2.schedule n.明细表

3.attentively adv.专心地

4.entire adj.全部的；整个的；完全的

5.effortlessly adv.轻易地；不费力地

6.remark v.说起；谈论

7.casually adv.随意地；随便地

8.starve v.（使）挨饿；饿死

9.nutritional adj.营养的

10.essential adj.必不可少的；极其重要的；本质的

11.convey v.表达；传达

12.massive adj.巨大的

13.diverse adj.不同的；多样化的

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，妈妈来伦敦看我。临走前一晚，她坐在桌子对面，剥了一大碗的石榴籽。

“明天我走之后，把这个吃了，你个懒虫。”她一边剥一边笑话我，尽管她还没有把桌对面成堆的书和衣物等打包装好。

妈妈太了解我了：石榴籽是我的最爱。但它们从未出现在我的食物清单上，因为我没那个耐心去一颗颗地剥出来。

其实妈妈也没那个耐心。只是为了我能吃上，她甘愿去做。

她的手轻柔敏捷地移动，眼睛紧紧盯着那一颗颗小小的多汁的石榴籽，生怕弄碎了它们。

当我次日起床，打开冰箱一看，果不其然，一瓶圆润鲜亮的石榴籽正等着我呢。

自从我10年前离家赴伦敦求学开始，食物一直是妈妈来看我的必备礼物。

每次来，她都会把冰箱装满各种手工饺子、米糕、八宝饭、芝麻馅的汤圆，还有好多我没法用英文描述的甜食。

我喜欢看她揉面团，将那松散的面粉变成一片片圆形的饺子皮，仿佛一片片小花瓣。她毫不费力地将那些饺子皮折成月牙形状的饺子，然后挨个在盘子里摆好。

每每到了离别时分，妈妈从不说她有多想我，或者有多爱我，而只是随意地提那么一句：“我不在你身边的时候，别饿着啊。”

妈妈生在那样一个时代，那时候，人们用食物来表达爱意。

二十世纪六十年代，妈妈生于一个工厂会计家庭。在那个计划经济时期，对百姓来说，食物就是天。

她每天放学后最爱做的事，就是去看一位老奶奶，老奶奶会给她吃芝麻油拌米饭。“嗯，在那个年代，那就是我们能想到的最好的食物了。”她说。

高考前的一个月，妈妈为高考复习时，外公外婆把家里最有营养的食物拿出来给她——每天一个鸡蛋。“天啊，那些鸡蛋给了我学业上好大的压力。”

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 （生面团），turning the loose flour into individual（单独的）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 （礼节）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 （突然出现），offering an increasingly diverse r ange of real Chinese snacks and regional products，which helps me to rekindle（重新点燃）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 （真实的）and real way to connect with the culture of China.

到了九十年代，也就是我出生的时候，中国的食物已经没有那么紧缺了。所以，关于食物在中国文化中占据了“天”的位置，大都是我从妈妈的故事里了解的。

在我妈妈那个年代，人们见面打招呼会说“你吃了吗？”，而不是我们更熟悉的“你好吗？”中国人现在已经不这么说了，但是我仍然对春节等特殊节日里全家人聚在一起，在大大的厨房桌台上准备食物的传统感到期待。

这些幸福的童年回忆一直陪伴着我。有趣的是，生活在健康意识极强的伦敦，我学会了在Waitrose购物时，去关注食物的卡路里和碳水化合物含量。

妈妈做的手工饺子没有任何产品标签。没有能量值、脂肪含量，也没有“每天五个”的说明。相反，我每吃一口，都能尝到爱和家的味道。

过去的几年里，伦敦的唐人街发生了翻天覆地的变化。新店铺和饭店层出不穷，能提供品种愈加丰富的地道中国小吃和特产。这使我重新燃起了童年的美好回忆。

去那些店铺“淘宝”的时候，我看到很多英国人手里也拿着大袋零食。我很高兴看到食物能让他们快乐，并真正地与中国文化相连，真好。

巧笔妙记

Ⅰ.热词积累

1.fill...with...用……填充……

2.struggle to do努力做

3.belong to属于

4.hope for希望得到

5.put pressure on对……施加压力

6.look forward to盼望

7.in terms of依……；从……方面；用……的术语

8.a range of一系列的；一些

Ⅱ.典句剖析

1.非谓语动词的用法

……她一边剥一边笑话我，尽管她还没有把桌对面成堆的书、衣物和电子设备等打包装好。

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

【点石成金】句中非谓语动词与主语she是主谓关系，作伴随状语，应使用现在分词形式。动词wait与逻辑主语the piles of books and clothes是主谓关系，应使用现在分词作后置定语，相当于which were waiting...

【答案】tidying； waiting

2.when引导固定句型“当谈到……的时候”

其实妈妈也没那个耐心。只是为了我能吃上，她甘愿去做。

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

【点石成金】When it comes to...“当谈到……的时候”为固定句型，短语come to中的to为介词，后接动词时，应用动名词形式。

当谈到学习英语诗歌时，我们很多人非常兴奋。

Many ofus feltexcited_________________English poems.

【答案】feeding；when it came to learning

读后创写

In this passage the author takes time as the clue to recount （叙述）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月刊读后创写获奖作品展示

彭静娆 江苏徐州七中

指导老师 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.