Fingers were made before forks

“Fingers were made before forks.” When a person gives up good manners, put aside knife and fork, and dives into his food, someone is likely to repeat that saying.

The fork was an ancient agricultural tool, but for centuries no one thought of eating with it. Not until the eleventh century, when a young lady from Constantinople brought her fork to Italy, did the custom reach Europe.

By the fifteenth century the use of the fork was wide-spread in Italy. The English explanation was that Italians were unwilling to eat food touched with fingers, “seeing all men’s fingers are not alike clean.

Anyone who used a fork to eat with was laughed at in England for the next hundred years. Not until the late 1600’s did using a fork become a common custom.

60. The custom of eating with a fork was ________.

A. brought to Europe from America B. begun when forks first invented

C. brought to Europe from Constantinople D. thought of by the Italians

61. By the fifteenth century, forks were used________.

A. all over Italy B. only in Constantinople

C. by the kings and queens of Europe D. in England

62. The English thought that Italians used forks in order to________.

A. imitate(模仿)the people of the East B. keep their food clean

C. impress visitors with their good manners D. amuse (逗笑) the English

63. The best title of the passage is “_________’.

A. Eating with a Fork B. The History of Eating with a Fork

C. A Way of Eating D. A Custom of Eating

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