Do the British still drink afternoon tea?英国人还喝下午茶吗?

崔海燕

语篇导读

下午茶是饮食文化的一种表现形式，活动时间在午餐和晚餐之间。近代的下午茶来自英国维多利亚时代的英式下午茶，人们一边吃着西式糕点一边喝茶。可是现在时代变了，人们的口味也变了，下午茶还在吗？

We regular British people drink tea and eat snacks whenever we feel like them—8 am， 9 pm and 2 am. In my house while I was growing up， we would have a big dinner at lunch time and then drink tea. This would consist of a sandwich and a piece of cake that we ate in front of the TV set. Even now the meal after work or school is called tea whether you drink tea or not and whether it consists of sandwiches or is a main meal.

However， if we visit someone in the afternoon， they will make some scones， cakes， sandwiches and other delicious food to be served， and I suppose that is technically “afternoon tea”.

Children come home from school at 4 pm. Mum or Dad will make them a drink and something to eat. Maybe a sandwich， maybe some cakes， maybe a cup of tea. Mum or Dad will probably join in. What do you call this？ Afternoon tea！

I go shopping with friends or families to the town centre. We’ve looked in all the shops and now we need to sit down and think about which shops to return to for those final purchases. Look at the watch， it’s almost 4 pm. It may be that we sit down for a cappuccino and a couple of macaroons but I can only think of one word to describe this... afternoon tea.

We’re in the office. Boring！ We’ve more or less finished for the day but the clock says no（it’s 4 pm）. Someone puts the kettle on and we sit down for a chat about the next few days. Oh， someone found a box of cupcake. Wow！ We’ve just had... afternoon tea！

典句賞析

1.Even now the meal after work or school is called tea whether you drink tea or not and whether it consists of sandwiches or is a main meal. 甚至现在放学或下班之后吃的东西都叫“茶点”，无论你喝不喝茶，也不管你是吃三明治还是吃正餐。

whether you drink tea or not and whether it consists of sandwiches or is a main meal是并列的两个条件状语从句。whether... or not...意为“是……还是不是……”。

【即时尝试】无论你是否喜欢这个意见， 我都将继续做下去。

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2.It may be that we sit down for a cappuccino and a couple of macaroons but I can only think of one word to describe this... afternoon tea. 我们可能会坐下来喝杯卡布奇诺（热牛奶咖啡），吃几块马卡龙（蛋白杏仁饼干）。但我只能想出一个词来描述这些，那就是“下午茶”。

that引导的是表语从句，尽管that在此处没有词义，但也绝对不可以省略; cappuccino音译为“卡布奇诺”，意为“热牛奶咖啡”;macaroon音译为“马卡龙”，指蛋白杏仁饼、蛋白椰子饼干;动词不定式短语to describe this作后置定语，修饰way。

【即时尝试】他的建议是，我们应该保持冷静。

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（答案见第63页）

译文助读

我们普通的英国人随时都可以喝茶、吃点心——上午8点，下午9点和凌晨2点。在我家，从我小时候开始，我们午餐时间都会先吃一顿很丰盛的正餐，然后再喝茶。喝茶时还会看电视、吃三明治或蛋糕。甚至现在放学或下班之后吃的东西都叫“茶点”，无论你喝不喝茶，也不管你是吃三明治还是吃正餐。

然而，如果我们下午去拜访别人，他们会准备一些烤饼、蛋糕、三明治，还有一些其他美味的食物招待我们，我觉得那才是真正意义上的“下午茶”。

孩子们下午4点放学回家后，妈妈或爸爸会给他们准备点吃的和喝的。可能是三明治、蛋糕，也可能是一杯茶，妈妈或爸爸也可能会一起吃。你管这个叫什么？下午茶！

我和朋友或家人去市中心购物，已经逛完了所有的商店，现在需要坐下来想想该回哪家店把看中的东西买下来。看看表，差不多下午4点了，我们可能会坐下来喝杯卡布奇诺（热牛奶咖啡），吃几块马卡龙（蛋白杏仁饼干）。但我只能想出一个词来描述这些，那就是“下午茶”。

我们坐在办公室里，觉得很无聊！一天的工作差不多都做完了，但还没到下班时间（才下午4点钟）。有人会烧点水，然后我们坐在一起聊聊未来几天的事。哦，有人找到一盒纸杯蛋糕。哇哦，我们刚刚喝了……下午茶！