Question

【题目】TONY SOPRANO’S LAST MEAL

Between 1912 and the 1990s, New Jersey State was home to more than 20 diner manufacturers who made probably 95 percent of the diners in the U.S., says Katie Zavoski, who is helping hold a diner exhibit. What makes a diner a diner? (And not, say, a coffee shop?) Traditionally, a diner is built in a factory and then delivered to its own town or city rather than constructed on-site. Zavoski credits New Jersey’s location as the key to its mastery of the form. “It was just the perfect place to manufacture the diners,” she says. “We would ship them wherever we needed to by sea.”

VISIT “Icons of American Culture: History of New Jersey Diners,” running through June 2017 at The Cornelius House / Middlesex County Museum in Piscataway, New Jersey

GOOD FOOD, GOOD TUNES

Suzanne Vega’s 1987 song “Tom’s Diner” is probably best known for its frequently sampled “doo doo doo doo” melody (旋律) rather than its diner-related lyrics. Technically, it’s not even really about a diner — the setting is New York City’s Tom’s Restaurant, which Vega frequented when she was studying at Barnard. Vega used the word “diner” instead because it “sings better that way,” she told The New York Times. November 18 has since been called Tom’s Diner Day, because on that day in 1981, the New York Post’s front page was a story about the death of actor William Holden. In her song Vega sings: “I Open / Up the paper / There’s a story / Of an actor / Who had died / While he was drinking.”

LISTEN “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega

MEET THE DINER ANTHROPOLOGIST

Richard J.S. Gutman has been called the “Jane Goodall of diners” (he even consulted on Barry Levinson’s 1982 film, Diner). His book, American Diner: Then Now, traces the evolution of the “night lunch wagon,” set up by Walter Scott in 1872, to the early 1920s, when the diner got its name (adapted from “dining car’’), and on through the 1980s. Gutman has his own diner facilities (floor plans, classic white mugs, a cashier booth); 250 of these items are part of an exhibit in Rhode Island.

READ American Diner: Then & Now (John Hopkins University Press)

VISIT “Diners: Still Cooking in the 21st Century,” currently running at the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island

【1】In what way is a diner different from a coffee shop?

A. Its location. B. Its management.

C. From what it is built. D. Where it is constructed.

【2】What do we know about Vega’s 1987 song “Tom’s Diner”?

A. It warns people not to drink. B. It was inspired by Tom’s Diner Day.

C. Its melody is preferred to its lyrics. D. Its original title was Tom’s Restaurant.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】C

【解析】说明文。本文介绍了与美国小饭店有关的历史，展览，歌曲和书籍。

【1】细节理解题。根据What makes a diner a diner? (And not, say, a coffee shop?) Traditionally, a diner is built in a factory and then delivered to its own town or city rather than constructed on-site.可知，小饭店在工厂建造好，然后搬到城镇或乡村，而咖啡屋则是就地修建。故选D。

【2】推理判断题。根据Suzanne Vega’s 1987 song “Tom’s Diner” is probably best known for its frequently sampled “doo doo doo doo” melody (旋律) rather than its diner-related lyrics.可知，这首歌是以旋律而不是歌词著称。故选C。