中国传统的待客之道要求饭菜丰富多样，让客人吃不完。中国宴席上典型的菜单包括开席的一套凉菜及其后的热菜，例如肉类、鸡鸭、蔬菜等。大多数宴席上，全鱼被认为是必不可少的，除非已经上过各式海鲜。如今，中国人喜欢把西方特色菜与传统中式菜肴融于一席，因此牛排上桌也不少见。沙拉也已流行起来，尽管传统上中国人一般不吃任何未经烹饪的菜肴。宴席通常至少有一道汤，可以最先或最后上桌。甜点和水果通常标志宴席的结束。

The traditional Chinese hospitality requires food diversity, which guests couldn’t finish. The typical menu in the Chinese banquet includes a set of cold dishes served at the beginning, followed by hot dishes, such as meat, chicken, duck, vegetables, and so on. In most dinner banquets, the whole fish is regarded as necessary, unless various kinds of sea food have been served. Now, Chinese people would like to combine Western specialties with traditional Chinese dishes. Thus it’s not uncommon to see that steak is served. Salad is also becoming popular, even though traditionally, Chinese people don’t eat any dishes without cooking. Usually, there is at least a soup course at the dinner, which is served either at first or at last. Desserts and fruits usually mark the end of the feast.

通过仔细阅读第一句话可发现，前半句是后半句的原因。第二句中，“开席”的意思是开始入座饮酒用菜，而“开席的一套凉菜”意思是第一道菜是凉菜，因此可用“at the beginning”表示。“宴席”可用banquet，feast或笼统地用at the dinner表示。英文中比较忌讳词语的重复出现，考生在选择词语时应尽量多样化。