A plate of sweet and sour pork arrives at the table in four minutes. It is hot, it tastes fine, and it costs less than the same dish did five years ago. It may also have been cooked in a factory two hundred kilometres away and warmed up in the kitchen behind the door.
Pre-cooked food is not a new idea. Frozen dumplings, canned soup and packed rice have been sold for years. What is new is the scale. A modern food factory can produce the same dish thousands of times a day, each portion tasting the same. For a restaurant, this cuts the need for skilled cooks, shortens the wait and lowers the cost.
The argument is rarely about safety. Food that leaves a factory passes a stricter check than most small kitchens can offer. The complaint is about knowing. A customer who pays the price of a dish cooked to order has a fair reason to expect that it was, and a restaurant that stays silent is not lying, but it is not being honest either.
Some places have started to require a label. Where a dish is made from pre-cooked material, the menu must say so. In practice this is harder than it sounds: a restaurant may use fresh vegetables but a pre-cooked sauce, so the line between the two is not always clear, and small shops fear that a label will cost them customers.
The fair answer is probably not to ban the material but to let people choose. Some diners want speed and a low price; others are paying for craft and want to know it is there. Both wishes are reasonable. A short line on the menu costs almost nothing, and it lets the customer decide what the meal is really worth.
Words to know:
- pre-cooked (adj. 预制的，预先烹调好的)
- portion (n. 一份，份额)
- scale (n. 规模，范围)
- factory (n. 工厂)
- label (n. 标签，标注；v. 标注)
- menu (n. 菜单)
- honest (adj. 诚实的，坦率的)
- craft (n. 手艺，工艺)
长难句拆解 · 表语从句 + 现在完成时被动语态 + 转折并列
原文：What is new is the scale.
拆解：主干是 What is new is the scale（新的地方在于规模）。这是一个主系表结构，但主语由 what 引导的主语从句 What is new 充当，表语是 the scale。what 引导的主语从句表示「……的事情」，谓语用单数 is。这类句式的特点是主语很长而表语很短，形成一种先铺垫后点题的效果。注意 what 在从句中作主语，不能换成 that。
直译：新的地方在于规模。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
雅思阅读最爱把原文的词换成另一个说法来出题，认出这些替换，定位就能快一半。
- arrives at the table in four minutes → reaches the diner very quickly（arrive at the table ＝ 上桌）
- cuts the need for skilled cooks → reduces the demand for trained chefs（cut the need for ＝ 减少对……的需求）
- shortens the wait → makes the wait shorter（shorten ＝ 缩短）
- Food that leaves a factory passes a stricter check → products from plants are inspected more strictly（check ＝ inspection）
- a fair reason to expect → a reasonable ground to believe（fair ＝ reasonable）
- stays silent → says nothing（silent ＝ 沉默的）
- lets the customer decide → allows the diner to judge（decide ＝ judge）
阅读自测 · 3 题
- T / F / NG：作者认为预制菜存在的主要问题是食品安全。（判断正误并说明依据）
- 简答：为什么餐厅给某道菜标注是否使用预制原料，在实践中比听起来更难？
- 选词填空：A restaurant that stays silent is not lying, but it is not being ____ either.（供选：honest / honesty / honestly）
参考答案与解析
- FALSE。原文明确说 The argument is rarely about safety，并解释 Food that leaves a factory passes a stricter check than most small kitchens can offer。作者随后指出真正的抱怨在于是否知情（The complaint is about knowing），因此主要问题不是食品安全。
- 因为一道菜往往由不同来源的原料混合而成：蔬菜可能是新鲜的，酱汁却是预制的，两者之间的界线并不总是清楚；此外小店还担心标注会赶走客人。原文对应 a restaurant may use fresh vegetables but a pre-cooked sauce, so the line between the two is not always clear, and small shops fear that a label will cost them customers。
- honest。此处需形容词作表语，构成 is not being honest。honesty 是名词，honestly 是副词，都不能直接作表语。注意 be being + 形容词 表示「此刻表现得……」，是进行时的一种特殊用法。
中文译文
一盘糖醋里脊四分钟就端上了桌。它很烫，味道也不错，价格比五年前同一道菜还便宜。它也可能是在两百公里外的一家工厂做好的，然后在这道门后面的厨房里加热了一下。
预制菜并非新事物。速冻饺子、罐装汤、包装米饭已经卖了很多年。新的是规模。一家现代食品工厂一天能生产同一道菜上千份，每份味道都一样。对餐厅来说，这减少了对熟练厨师的依赖，缩短了等待时间，也压低了成本。
争论很少是关于安全的。出自工厂的食品，其检验比大多数小厨房能提供的更严格。抱怨在于是否知情。付了现炒价格的顾客，有正当理由期待这道菜确实是现炒的；而一家不吭声的餐厅虽然不算撒谎，却也谈不上诚实。
一些地方已开始要求标注。凡用预制原料做成的菜品，菜单上必须说明。实际操作比听起来更难：一家餐厅可能蔬菜是新鲜的，酱汁却是预制的，两者之间的界线并不总是清楚，小店也担心标注会赶走客人。
合理的答案大概不是禁用，而是让人自己选。有的食客要的是速度和低价，也有的食客是在为手艺买单，想知道手艺是否真的在。两种愿望都合理。菜单上多一行字几乎不花成本，却能让人判断这一餐究竟值多少。