英国人的饮食习惯及英文介绍
In the UK we have many different names for mealtimes, including ‘Breakfast’, ‘Brunch’, ‘Elevenses’, ‘Lunch’, ‘Tea’, ‘Dinner’ and ‘Supper’! What people eat and when can vary greatly – in some parts of the UK, people may eat their meals at different times, and in some parts of the UK, ‘dinner’ means ‘lunch’, and ‘supper’ means ‘dinner’!
在英国，一天中的几顿饭都有它们各自的名字，比如breakfast早餐，brunch早午餐，elevenses午前茶，lunch午餐，午餐时间tea下午茶，dinner（晚餐，正餐），supper晚饭。什么时候该吃什么区别大着呢，在英国的某些地区，人们是在这几个不同的时间点吃饭，而在另一些地方，dinner指的是lunch，supper就是dinner。

Although this may seem very confusing (and it is, even for British people!), many of the names are very old-fashioned, and not often used. ‘Elevenses’ and ‘Tea’ are examples of two old-fashioned snacks that are rarely eaten today. ‘Elevenses’ is eaten at 11:00 am, consisting of cake or biscuits with a cup of tea or coffee. Two traditional characters from English childre
n’s books, Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear, used to always ‘take Elevenses’! ‘Tea’ is a very similar meal, and a British tradition, which involves snacking on cakes, with a cup of tea, and is normally eaten between 4:30 and 5:30 pm.
看起来貌似复杂得很（事实正是如此，即使对于英国人来说也一样），很多叫法都早已过时，不怎么被人使用。比如elevenses和tea，这两道茶点现在几乎没什么人享用了。Elevenses一般是在上午11：00，包括一杯一杯茶或咖啡就着蛋糕和饼干吃。童话书《》和《帕丁顿熊》里的两位传统的小主角一直保留着吃午餐前茶点的习惯。Tea下午茶相当于一小顿饭，按照英国传统，这一餐需要一杯茶伴着一些蛋糕佐食，时间一般是下午4：30到5：30之间。

However because people tend to have busy lifestyles in contemporary Britain, we only eat three main meals each day – called breakfast, lunch and dinner.
但由于现在的英国人的生活通常很忙碌，他们一般一天只吃三顿主餐，分别叫breakfast，lunch和dinner。


Nowadays, people usually eat breakfast between 7:00 am and 9:00 am. Breakfast is considered a very important meal, and is essential to having a good start to the day. In fact, once a year there is a weekly campaign called ‘Think Breakfast’ to encourage people to eat better breakfast! The word ‘Breakfast’ comes from an old-fashioned phrase ‘breaking the fast’ (a ‘fast’ means not eating for a long period of time). So breakfast literally means eating again for the first time after sleeping through the night.
英国人每天吃早餐的时间为早上7点到9点之间，早餐应是一天中非常重要的一餐，“一日之计在于早餐”。事实上，这里每年都会举行一次为期一周的名为“想想早餐”的运动，旨在鼓励大家都要吃好早餐。Breakfast这个单词源于古语“breaking the fast”（fast的意思是斋戒，禁食一段时间），因此，早餐breakfast 的字面意思就是经过一夜睡眠之后的首次进食。

A traditional English breakfast includes sausages, bacon, fried eggs, mushrooms, baked beans, fried tomatoes, and toast with butter. However, these days most people don’t eat a traditional breakfast every day, or even at all. This is because it is very unhealthy, and man
y people don’t have time to cook. These days, most people eat a bowl of cereal (made from grains like corn, wheat and oats) with milk, or have a slice of toast with butter. In fact, in the UK the average person eats about 6 kilos of cereal every year – this is much more than most European countries. In the winter many people eat a hot cereal called ‘porridge’, which is made from oats. This is especially popular in Scotland.
传统的英式早餐包括香肠，培根，煎蛋，蘑菇，烤豆角，煎西红柿以及面包黄油。但现代多数人不会每天都这么吃，或者说根本不这么吃。一方面是因为这样的早餐不够健康，另一方面还因为很多人没时间做这样的早餐。现在，很多人都吃一碗加了牛奶的谷物粥（各种谷物像是玉米，小麦和燕麦），或是一片摸了黄油的面包。英国人每年人均要吃掉大约6公斤的谷物粥，这个数字远远大于许多欧洲国家。冬天，多数英国人会吃一种燕麦做的，叫porridge的热谷物粥，在苏格兰地区尤为流行。

Lunch is normally eaten between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm. Because school-children and people at work are very busy, this is normally a quick meal. In fact, many parents give their children a ‘packed lunch’ in a plastic ‘lunch-box’. This usually consists of a sandwich (two sl
ices of bread with a filling inside, normally cheese or meat with some lettuce) and a packet of crisps, a piece of fruit and a drink.
午餐时间通常是中午12点到下午2点之间，由于孩子们要上学、大人要上班，所以这一餐通常是很快就解决的。通常，许多家长会给孩子们用塑料午餐盒带“便当”吃，便当一般是一块三明治（两片面包中间加些馅料，通常是芝士或者肉再加些生菜），一袋薯片，一份水果和一瓶饮料。

However, on Sunday people usually have a longer and larger lunch called ‘Sunday lunch’. It is a time that people like to spend with their family, and usually consists of a roast meat (like chicken, beef, lamb or pork), served with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and gravy (a thin sauce which is eaten with the meat).
但一到星期天，英国人通常会慢慢享受一顿丰盛的午餐，这顿午餐就叫“Sunday lunch”周末午餐。这一餐是人们和家人一起，吃的是烤肉（像是鸡肉，牛肉，羊羔肉或猪肉），烤土豆，约克郡布丁，蔬菜和肉汤。


Dinner is eaten in the evening. Children usually eat this earlier, at about 6:30 pm, though many adults eat later, between 7:00 and 8:00 or later. This is usually the main meal of the day, and a time for people to relax and enjoy a cooked meal with friends or family after a hard day at work. ‘Going out for dinner’ to a restaurant is a very popular place to have a date, and some people see eating good food as a very romantic thing to do.
正餐则是晚上吃的，孩子们一般会早点吃，6点30左右，而大人们会吃得晚一点，晚上7：00到8：00甚至更晚。晚餐是一天当中最主要的一餐，也是人们在劳累了一天之后，放松自己与朋友或家人一起好好享受烹制美食的美好时光。
“下馆子”去餐馆则是很常见的约会地点，还有些人把享用一顿美餐当成一件异常浪漫的事情呢。
Glossary 生词表
brunch (n.) - a meal that combines breakfast and lunch together and is usually eaten in the late morning
elevenses (n.) - (informal) something small to eat and drink between breakfast and lunch
supper (n.) - a very small meal that is eaten in the late evening