Cultural rules determine every aspect of food consumption. Who eats together def

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Cultural rules determine every aspect of food consumption. Who eats together defines social units. For example, in some societies, the nuclear family is the unit that regularly eats together. The anthropologist Mary Douglas has pointed out that, for the English, the kind of meal and the kind of food that is served relate to the kinds of social links between people who are eating together. She distinguishes between regular meals, Sunday meals when relatives may come, and cocktail parties for relatives and friends. The food served symbolizes the occasion and reflects who is present. For example, only snacks are served at a cocktail party. It would be inappropriate to serve a steak or hamburgers. The distinctions among cocktails, regular meals, and special dinners mark the social boundaries between those guests who are invited for drinks, those who are invited to dinner, and those who come to a family meal. In this example, the type of food symbolizes the category of guest and with whom it is eaten.
In some New Guinea societies, the nuclear family is not the unit that eats together. The men take their meals in a men’s house, separately from their wives and children. Women prepare and eat their food in their own houses and take the husband’s portion to the men’s house. The women eat with their children in their own houses. This pattern is also widespread among Near Eastern societies.
Eating is a metaphor that is sometimes used to signify marriage. In many New Guinea societies, like that of the Lese on the island of New Ireland in the Pacific and that of the Trobriand Islanders, marriage is symbolized by the couple’s eating together for the first time. Eating symbolizes their new status as a married couple. In U.S. society, it is just the reverse. A couple may go out to dinner on a first date.
Other cultural rules have to do with taboos against eating certain things. In some societies, members of a family group, arc not allowed to eat the animal or bird that is their ancestor. Since they believe themselves to be children of that ancestor, it would be like eating that ancestor or eating themselves.
There is also an association between food prohibitions and rank, which is found in its most extreme form in the caste (social class) system of India. A caste system consists of ranked groups, each with a different economic specialization. In India, there is an association between caste and the idea of pollution. Members of highly ranked groups can be polluted by coming into contact with the bodily secretions, particularly saliva（唾液）,of individuals of lower-ranked castes. Because of the fear of pollution, Brahmans and other high-ranked individuals will not share food with, not eat from the same plate as, not even accept food from an individual or from a low-ranking class.
小题1:According to the passage, who will NOT eat together?

A．The English during regular meals.

B．Americans on their first date.

C．Men and women in Near Eastern societies.

D．Newly-married people on the island of New Ireland.

小题2:In Paragraph 4, the underlined word "taboos" means _____________.

A．favors

B．prohibitions

C．hatred

D．gossips

小题3:According to the passage, eating together indicates all the following EXCEPT        .

A．the type of food	B．social relations.
C．marital status	D．family ties.

小题4:What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Different kinds of food in western countries.

B． Relations between food and social units.

C． Symbolic meanings of different kinds of food.

D．Food consumption in different cultures.

答案

小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:A
小题4:D

解析

小题1:C 本题为细节题。参考第二段: The men take their meals in a men’s house, separately from their wives and children.(男人们在男人的房间里吃饭，与他们的妻子和孩子分开吃。)故C正确。
小题2:B 本题为词义猜测题。根据下文: In some societies, members of a family group, arc not allowed to eat the animal or bird that is their ancestor. Since they believe themselves to be children of that ancestor, it would be like eating that ancestor or eating themselves.(在一些社会，家庭成员不允许吃他们祖先的动物或禽鸟。既然他们相信自己是那个祖先的后代，吃这种动物就像吃自己的祖先或吃自己。) A项: 赞同。 B项: 禁令。C项: 仇恨；憎恶。D项: 谣言；流言蜚语。
小题3:A 本题为细节题。参考第一段第四句(The anthropologist Mary Douglas has pointed out that, for the English, the kind of meal and the kind of food that is served relate to the kinds of social links between people who are eating together.)、第二段、第三段第三句，第一段最后一句，故选A.
小题4:D 本题为主旨大意题。本文第一句就提出了主旨，然后展开说明。