对话文本

T: hi, Betty.what's up?
B: nothing special. how about you? Are you used to the life here in the States?
T: evertything has been fine for the past several months.
B: great!
T: well, I wish someone could talk to me about Western table manners
B: sounds interesting. Where did you get the idea?
T: as you know, table manners in China are quite different from those of Westerners.
B: absolutely. that's because both of us have distinctive cultural features.
T: for example, in China, it's okay to talk while eating. However, you may regard it as rude.
B: yes. this must be a huge difference.
T: can you think of anything else?
B: sure. We tend to think that the slower on eats, the more polite one seems.
T: I didn't know that before.
B: and we never sip or slurp the soup loudly. we quietly like little mouthfuls.
T: i got it. i'll bear it in mind.
B: don't worry. i'm sure our etiquette will become a natural part of your behavior as time goes by.
T: I hope so.

参考翻译
你好,贝蒂.最近怎么样?
一切如故.你呢?在美国生活得还习惯吗?
这几个月都挺好的.
真好!
嗯,我希望有人能跟我说说西方的餐桌礼仪.
听起来挺有意思.为什么会这么想?
你也知道,中国的餐桌礼仪和西方的差别还是挺大的.
当然啦,这是因为我们有不同的文化.
比方说,中国人认为吃饭时可以讲话,相反你们会觉得这样很没礼貌.
是的,这是中西文化的一个巨大差异.
你能说说其他方面吗?
好的.我们会认为一个人吃得越慢,显得越有修养.
我第一次听说呢.
而且我们喝汤时不会发出声响.我们会安静地一小口一小口喝.
我知道了.我应该记住这些.
不用担心,过些日子,这些礼仪一定会自然而然地成为你日常行为的一部分.
但愿如此吧.

核心词汇
distinctive:having a quality or characteristic that makes sth different and easily noticed 独特的;特别的;有特色的 adjective
clothes with a distinctive style
式样独特的衣服
The male bird has distinctive black and white markings on its head.
雄鸟的头上有明显的黑白斑纹.

feature:something important, interesting or typical of a place or thing 特色;特征;特点
An interesting feature of the city is the old market.
这座城市的一个有趣特征就是古老的市场。
Teamwork is a key feature of the training programme.
团队合作是这项训练计划的重要特点。
Which features do you look for when choosing a car?
你挑选轿车时要着重哪些特点？
The software has no particular distinguishing features.
这个软件没有明显的特点。
geographical features
地势

mouthful:an amount of food or drink that you put in your mouth at one time 一口,一满口(的量)
She took a mouthful of water.
她喝了一大口水.
Thank you, but I couldn't eat another mouthful.
谢谢,我一口也吃不下了.

slurp:to make a loud noise while you are drinking sth (喝东西时)发出啧啧的声音
He was slurping his tea.
他正咂着嘴喝茶.
She slurped noisily from her cup.
她端着杯子,啧啧作响地喝着.

核心词组
what's up?怎么了?最近怎么样?

talk to sb about sth:与某人谈论某事

be used to:习惯于

bear in mind:牢记

as time goes by:随着时间的推移

table manners:餐桌礼仪

I hope so. 但愿如此.