The first language of Mina's Restaurant

陕西 王婷

主题语境：手语与生活 篇幅：362词 建议用时：7分钟

1Mina's Restaurant in the Songzhuang suburb of Beijing is distinctive not only for its impressively quiet atmosphere and frequently seen artists but for its deaf waiters.

2Sign language is the first language at Mina's Restaurant,and even though most employees are deaf,the restaurant runs in good order serving Sichuan-style dishes.Since 2008 when it first opened,Mina's Restaurant has provided jobs for more than 60 hearing-impaired people,which helps to solve the problem of deaf people's employment.

3The owners are a couple with kind hearts—Mi Na and Su Qing.Su was a TV director and had made a documentary film calledTheAgeofSignLanguage,with Mi,his wife.Mi used to be a costume designer and art auctioneer.She is now a cook taught by her father.“Su Qing and I have done a wide range of jobs,but shooting films and documentaries is what we enjoy and keep doing in our spare time,” Mi said.It later became the reason for opening the restaurant.

4 “It's a long story,” Mi recalled,describing the experience of Su's eldest brother,who became deaf as a result of drug misuse when he was young.His parents could not pay enough attention to the boy after he lost his hearing.They had no idea how to raise a deaf child.Su,however,remained on good terms with his brother,and even learned sign language by himself,which enabled him to understand deaf people.

5He remained curious about the silent world,so when he later got the chance to shoot a documentary,he immediately decided to make one about this unique group of people,andTheAgeofSignLanguagewas born.“At that time I was young and bold enough to try anything new in Beijing,so I made up my mind to open a restaurant,” Mi said.“I had never thought about hiring deaf employees until Su proposed the idea.”

6The couple believed artists would be the majority of their customers,as many of them live in Songzhuang.“Artists seem more tolerant of others,so I accepted his idea,” Mi said.When the restaurant was opened in 2008,they had only four deaf waiters.Over the past 14 years,around 60 deaf people have worked there.

Reading

Check

Detail 1.Why is Mina's Restaurant unique in Beijing?

A.It is owned by artists.

B.It employs deaf waiters.

C.It runs in good order.

D.It serves Sichuan-style dishes.

Detail 2.What can we know about Mina's Restaurant according to the text?

A.Employees of it are all deaf.

B.It provides jobs for deaf people.

C.It made people understand the deaf.

D.Employees of it all use sign language.

Detail 3.What inspired Su Qing to make a documentary?

A.His love for cooking.

B.His job as a TV director.

C.His interest in art auctions.

D.His curiosity about the silent world.

Inference 4.What is Mi's attitude to the idea of hiring deaf employees?

A.Uncaring. B.Negative.

C.Supportive. D.Suspicious.

Language

Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

“Su Qing and I have done a wide range of jobs,but shooting films and documentaries is what we enjoy and keep doing in our spare time,” Mi said.米说：“苏青和我做过各种各样的工作，但拍摄电影和纪录片是我们喜欢的，并且在业余时间一直在做的事情。”

【点石成金】本句中，what引导的是一个表语从句，what在表语从句中作宾语。

Ⅱ.Fill in the blanks with the words and phrases in the box in proper forms.

distinctive even though as a result of unique make up one's mind

1.Millions of people are threatened with starvation ________ drought and poor harvests.

2.I have many facts to chew upon before I ________.

3.His past experience made him ________ suited to leading the campaign.

4.Jamaican reggae music is quite ________ from North American jazz or blues.

5.He's the best teacher ________ he has the least experience.