More than 3/4 of the Southeast Asia population is agriculture-based. Twice as much fish is consumed in this area compared to other forms of animal protein, reflecting the long coastlines and river environments of Southeast Asia. The staple food(主粮) throughout the area is rice, which has been planted for thousands of years. Rice serves as the basic staple food for more than half of the world’s population today.

In Asia, there are different styles of eating food. In India and the Middle East, as well as Southeast Asia, people eat food with their hands. It is a very direct way to experience the texture(口感) of the food, and people normally wash their hands before and after each meal. Normally, only the right hand is used, so that one knows to keep it especially clean. Generally, the foods to be eaten are placed on plates in the center of the mat or table, and people take food in small portions(一份) as they eat.

The exception to this pattern is Vietnam, where the influence of China was much stronger than anywhere else in Southeast Asia. Here, each person has chopsticks, and food is served and divided among people onto individual plates or into individual bowls. A similar pattern is found in other Asian countries where Chinese influence was especially strong,e. g. Japan, Korea and so on.

The influence of Western cultures is found not only in the use of tables and chairs in many modern Southeast Asian households, but also in the use of spoons and forks. Knives are not necessary, since meat and vegetables are cut into smaller portions before cooking or serving. A large spoon is held in the right hand, while the left hand is used to shovel food into the spoon.

【小题1】What can be known from the first two paragraphs?

A．Most of the Asians live in the cities.

B．Most people eat food with their hands throughout Asia.

C．Rice serves as the non-staple food in most areas in Southeast.

D．Southeast Asians eat more fish than other forms of animal protein.

【小题2】What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The food.	B．The meal.
C．The right hand.	D．The texture of the food.

【小题3】In what aspect is Vietnam an exception?

A．People there eat with their hands.

B．People take food from plates with chopsticks.

C．Food is served and shared into a large plate or bowl.

D．Japanese influence is seen more than Chinese influence.

【小题4】What is mainly discussed in the last paragraph?

A．Food culture in Western countries.	B．The adoption of metal eating tools.
C．The introduction of seating furniture.	D．Changes caused by Western cultures.