Pots and pans were once considered to be precious possessions．In the fourteenth century，during the reign of Edward Ⅲof England，the pieces of cookware—iron pots，griddles，spits，and frying pans—were numbered among the king’s jewels．They were difficult to come by and，being rare，were extremely valuable；when
the monarch went on a journey or made a visit，the pots and pans traveled along in a separate coach．
By the time Henry Ⅴ，Edward’s grandson，ascended the throne in the following century，the royal frying pans were made of silver，and so were the roasting spits．
The kettles at Westminster during the early sixteenth century，when Henry Ⅷheld the throne，were “copper gilt”and quite lavishly decorated with chasing．The handles of the cooking ladles were chased with the royal arms，and one of the twopronged toasting forks is known to have been tipped with an ornate metal ball．
英国爱德华三世在位时的炊具
圆锅和平底锅曾一度被认为是贵重家私。14世纪英国爱德华三世在位时，几样炊具——铁制圆锅、炙烤架、炙叉和煎锅皆列为国王的珍宝。获得这些炊具颇不容易，它们因是稀世之物而显得极为贵重。君王旅行或出访时，圆锅和平底锅单独装在一辆马车上随行。
到了下个世纪爱德华孙子亨利五世继位时，王室的煎锅便是银制的了，炙叉也是银制的。
16世纪初叶亨利八世在位时，威斯敏斯特的水壶是镀铜的，并且有十分讲究的雕花装饰。烹饪用的勺子把手上镂刻着皇家的纹章。人们也知道，有一只两齿烤叉，其顶端镶着一只华丽的金属球。
The Height of ChivalryDuring the Middle Ages
It was the height of chivalry during the Middle Ages for a knight to share his lady’s plate．Far from being illmannered，as it might be considered today，the custom of knights and ladies sharing the same trencher-or platter-at dinner was an expression of great tenderness and affection．Husband and wife invariably ate from the same plate．
The knight and his lady probably did not mind sharing a common plate and the pleasure of each other’s company．One of the old medieval romances describes a feasting scene with eight hundred knights at a long table：“and by each sat a lady to eat off his plate．”This was evidently a matter of pure delight for everyone concerned．
The common folk practiced the same custom as the knights．For centuries European husbands and wives are from the same big square platter．In England，where the custom seems to have endured longer than in other countries，oldfashioned married people in some rural places continued to eat from the same plate as recently as the early nineteenth century．
中世纪骑士精神的极致
在中世纪，骑士享用其情人的餐盘，是骑士精神达到极致的表现。骑士和贵妇们在宴席上同用一只木盘或浅盘，是柔情蜜意的体现，远远不是今天人们可能会认为的有失体面之举。丈夫和妻子总是合用一个盘子进食。
骑士及其情人可能认为，两人共用一只餐盘并共享亲昵为伴的乐趣并无不便之处。一篇中世纪的传奇故事，描写了800名骑士围坐在一张长桌旁的饮宴场面：“每一位骑士旁坐着一位情人，与他共享盘中佳肴。”显然，这对每一位赴宴者都纯粹是一桩乐事。
普通百姓们像骑士一样遵循着同一习俗。几世纪以来，欧洲的夫妻们一直是共用一只大的方形浅盘进餐的。在英国，这一习俗似乎比其他国家延续了更长的时间。在一些农村地区，守旧的夫妻们仍然共用一只盘子进餐，直到19世纪初叶依然如此。
The USAF Thunderbirds
Breathtaking demonstrations of splitsecond sky maneuvers at supersonic speeds have won the amazing USAF jet precision team，the Thunderbirds，international acclaim and the proud title of American goodwill ambassadors in blue．
The Thunderbirds，organized in 1953，have demonstrated their aweinspiring feats to more than forty million spectators in more than forty countries．Their fifteen ton Super Sabre fighters can fly at more than 700miles per hour．Four of these splendid planes—the famed diamond—often move together as one，with only a few feet of air space between them．The diamonds is assisted in the air shows by a solo pilot who guides his fighter through equally difficult maneuvers．The hairraising “Bomb Burst”is one of the most exciting of the Thunderbird feats The solo pilot seems to defy death with his own series of rolls and inverted passes．
As acrobatic as they may be the purpose of the Thunderbirds’demonstrations in not stunting．Their job is to show the public the capabilities of the USAF fighter planes and pilots．The coordination required in the air shows is characteristic of the great importance of teamwork in combat flying．The Thunderbirds are a magnificent personification of American airpower －swift，powerful，and extraordinarily skillful．
美国空军的雷鸟飞行队
超音速瞬间空中惊险特技表演，已使令人惊异的美国空军喷气式飞机精确飞行队——“雷鸟”赢得了全世界的赞赏和蓝色美国友好使者的美名。
“雷鸟”组建于1953年。已在40多个国家为4000多万观众表演了他们那令人震慑的绝技。他们的15吨重超级佩刀式战斗机能每小时飞行350多公里，在这些出色的飞机中，有四架——著名的方块机群——常编成整体一起飞行，彼此的空中间隔不过几英尺。在空中表演中，方块机群得到一名单飞飞行员的帮助。后者驾驶着自己的战斗机完成同样困难的飞行动作。令人毛骨悚然的“实弹爆炸”是“雷鸟”特技中最激动人心的一项。那单飞飞行员以自己一系列的侧滚和倒飞动作，似乎表现出完全不怕死的精神。
尽管他们也许表现了杂技般的技巧，“雷鸟”飞行队表演的目的却不在于献技。他们的任务，是向公众显示美国空军战斗机和飞行员的潜在能力。空中表演中所需要的协调，反映了空战飞行中协力配合的极端重要性的特点。“雷鸟”飞行队是美国空中力量的生动体现：迅速、有力和技术卓绝。
The Flight of Americans from theCentral City to the Suburbs
Although the United States cherishes the tradition that it is a nation of small towns and wide open spaces，only one in every eight Americans now lives on a farm．The recent population trend has been a double one，toward both urbanization and suburbanization．Metropolit an areas have grown explosively in the past decade，and nearly half this increase has been in the suburbs．With the rapid growth of cities has come equally rapid decentralization．The flight of Americans from the central city to the suburbs constitutes one of the greatest migrations of modern times；quiet residential sections outside cities have be come conglomerations of streets，splitlevel house，and shopping centers．
This spurt of suburban expansion，however，does not alter the basic fact that the United States has become one of the most urban nations on the face of the earth．Census Bureau figures show that the rural population has been shrinking steadily since 1830．When the United States became a nation it had no large cities at all；today some fifty cities have populations of more than 258000．Mammoth complexes of cities are developing in the area of the East Coast and the east northcentral states，on the Pacific and Gulf coasts，and near the shores of the Great Lakes．Some sociologists now regard the entire 600mile stretch between Boston and Washington，D．C．—an area holding a fifth of the country’s population—as one vast city or，as they call it，megalopolis．
美国人从都市向郊区飞速迁移