英语四级真题2011-06-18

英语四级真题

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Online Shoping. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below:

1. 现在网上购物已成为一种时尚

2. 网上购物有很多好处，但也有不少问题

3. 我的建议

Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)

Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

British Cuisine: the Best of Old and New

British cuisine(烹饪) has come of age in recent years as chefs(厨师) combine the best of old and new.

Why does British food have a reputation for being so bad? Because it is bad! Those are not the most encouraging words to hear just before eating lunch at one of Hong Kong's smartest British restaurants, Alfie's by KEE, but head chef Neil Tomes has more to say.

"The past 15 years or so have been a noticeable period of improvement for food in England," the English chef says, citing the trend in British cuisine for better ingredients, preparation and cooking methods, and more appealing presentation. Chef such as Delia Smith, Nigel Slater, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay made the public realise that cooking - and eating - didn't have to be a boring thing. And now, most of the British public is familiar even with the extremes of Heston Blumenthal's molecular gastronomy, a form of cooking that employs scientific methods to create the perfect dish.

"It's no longer the case that the common man in England is embarrassed to show he knows about food," Tomes says.

There was plenty of room for improvement. The problems with the nation's cuisine can be traced back to the Second World War. Before the war, much of Britain's food was imported and when German U-boats began attacking ships bringing food to the country, Britain went on rations(配给).

"As rationing came to an end in the 1950s, technology picked up and was used to mass-produce food," Tomes

says. "And by then people were just happy to have a food in their kitchens."

They weren't looking for cured meats, organic produce or beautiful presentation; they were looking for whatever they could get their hands on, and this prioritisation of quantity over quality prevailed for decades, meaning a generation was brought up with food that couldn't compete with neighbouring France, Italy, Belgium or Spain.

Before star chefs such as Oliver began making cooking fashionable, it was hard to find a restaurant in London that was open after 9pm. But in recent years the capital's culinary(烹饪的) scene has developed to the point that it is now confident of its ability to please the tastes of any international visitor.

With the opening of Alfie's in April, and others such as The Pawn, two years ago, modern British food has made its way to Hong Kong. "With British food, I think that Hong Kong restaurant are keeping up," says David Tamlyn, the Welsh executive chef at The Pawn in Wan Chai. "Hong Kong diners are extremely responsive to new ideas or presentations, which is good news for new dishes."

Chefs agree that diners in Hong Kong are embracing the modern British trend. Some restaurants are modifying the recipes(菜谱)of British dishes to breathe new life into the classics, while other are using better quality ingredients but remaining true to British traditional and tastes. Tamlyn is in the second camp. "We select our food very particulary. We use US beef, New Zealand lamb and for our custards(牛奶蛋糊) we use Bird's Custard

Powder," Tamlyn says. "Some restaurants go for

custard is different, and we stay true to that."

Matthew Hill, senior manager at the two-year-old SoHo restaurant Yorkshire Pudding, also uses better ingredients as a means of improving dishes. "There are a lot of existing perceptions about British food and so we can't alter these too much. We're a traditional British restaurant so there are some staples(主菜) that will remain essentially unchanged."

These traditional dishes include fish and chips, steak and kidney pie and large pieces of roasted meats. At with eggs, sugar and cream, but British

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