陳豪昨天晚上陪一位總裁去出席晚宴，可是他還個問題不太清楚。為了請教美籍華人Mary，他約她今晚一起去美國餐館吃晚飯。

(Restaurant ambience)

M：嗨，陳豪，how's last night's dinner? Everything OK?

C：你告訴過我怎么喝湯，各種刀叉的用法。可是，It may sound silly，昨晚我發現我不太清楚該怎么吃面包。美國人好象跟我們的吃法不一樣。

M：別著急。你看服務員給我們送面包來了。The first thing is that your bread goes on your bread and butter plate.

C：面包放在面包和黃油的盤上。Which one is my bread and butter plate?

M：It's the one on your left above the forks。

C：噢，就是這個。

M：Just remember: Bread and butter on the left; water or coffee on the right and meat goes in the middle. 你就記住德國的名牌汽車BMW就行了。

C：What has BMW to do with eating bread?

M：B代表bread, 在左邊， M代表meat, 在中間，W代表water，在右邊。

C：BMW!

C：Mary，你還沒有告訴我究竟該怎么吃面包吶。我們中國人都是一口一口咬的，可是美國人好象是用手掰的。

M：Yes, I noticed that too. 我給你示范一下。Tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it. Then tear off another piece and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing。

C：That's the way I saw Americans eat their bread last night. 現在你證實了，我以后就沒問題了。

M：So everything is clear? 沒問題了吧？

C：等等，我還有一個問題。昨晚的面包很松，面包渣很多。我是不是應該把面包盤放到我面前。這樣面包渣就不會撒在桌上。

M：No, the bread plate remains in its place. Just break the bread and butter it over the plate and let the crumbs fall where they may.

C：噢，面包盤是不能搬動的，一直放在左上方。然后掰面包，圖黃油都在盤上面。So the bread crumbs would fall into the bread plate。

M：That's right. Now, let me sum up the main points: bread goes on your bread and butter plate which is on your left above the forks; to eat bread, don't bite, but tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing.