Three boys stood beside their mother and looked at the fast food menu (菜单).

“I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse!” Rob said.

“I’m so hungry that I could eat a whale!” Steve said.

“I’m so hungry that I could eat the Empire State Building.” Tim said.

They were telling their mother how hungry they were, but their mother looked worriedly at her wallet (钱包). She was ________ that she wouldn’t have enough money to feed them. Her boys were always hungry. She said, “They were like wolves. Even when they finally ate enough, it ________ lasted (持续) long.”

“Boys, I only have twenty dollars. That’s not much, but we’ll get what we can. It will have to last until we get home for dinner.”

Rob said, “That’s it?”

Tim said, “I have a ________. Let’s look at the menu and find the cheapest things that give us the most food!”

“That’s a great idea.” Mom smiled. Her boys would find a way to fill their stomachs as much as they could with the money they had.

“I can do without a ________. There’s water in the car.” Rob said.

Steve liked that idea. Less drink and more food. “I could wait, too.”

“I’ll get one and we can drink together.” Tim said.

“Onion rings are more expensive than French fries.” Rob said, reading the menu. “If we ________ two large fries, we can save money.”

”The hamburgers are cheaper than cheeseburgers. Cheese tastes good, but it’s 30 cents more for each!” Steve said.

“But I ________ cheese...well, maybe next time.” Tim said.

“I think we can get four chicken sandwiches, four hamburgers, two large fries, and one drink with the money we have.” Steve said.

“I need my 2-for-1 apple pies!” Mom called out.

When I first arrived in China, I knew little Chinese. And some of the Chinese vocabulary I ____ had something to do with food. I learned the ____ of a few dishes, but didn ‘t know most of the dishes on Chinese restaurant menus. Luckily, there were pictures to help me ____. Nearly every restaurant menu in China has ____ of food on it. But many restaurants in the US don’t. What is the ____ for the difference?

One thing is that food is a ____ part of the Chinese culture than it is in the US. A common way to ____ someone in China is to ask them if they’ve eaten yet. And some menus the restaurants made are like works of art, with beautiful photos.

Another thing is that Chinese dishes sometimes have interesting names like “palace guard chicken”, but ____ don’t really tell you what the dishes are like. Therefore, it’s ____ to have pictures so you can see what you’re going to eat.

There are ____ even more reasons. All I know is that I was glad to have those picture menus when I first came here those years ago.

One day, a old man goes to a restaurant to have lunch with three friends. After they ________ at a table near the windows, a waitress comes and says, “Hello, may I ________ your order?” The old man answers, “Yes. What is the special in your restaurants?” ________ restaurant is famous for beef noodles. Many people come here just to________ them,” the waitress says. “OK, we would like beef noodles, too,” the old man says. “What ________ would you like?” the waitress asks. “Medium, please,” the old man says. A few minuets later, the waitress put the beef noodles on their table. And they begin to eat. All of the old man’s friends like the beef noodles very much, ________ they eat all of them. ________ the old man just eats half a bowl of the noodles. He says to the waitress, “I want to see the cook.” “OK, sir,” the waitress answers. She goes to the cook and says, “An old man wants to see you and maybe be doesn’t ________ the noodles.” The cook is worried about that. But when he sees the old man, the old man smiles at him and says, “Your noodles are ________. But I cannot have all of them, because it’s not ________ for an old man to eat too much.”