If you were a tour guide, planning an itinerary for your UK friend's visit in China, what do you think would be the best place for a decent dinner?
假設你是一個導遊，正在替你的英國朋友準備一次中國游的行程安排，你認為，能夠吃上一頓豐盛晚餐的最佳地點在哪？
Possible answer from a Chinese student: China has very delicious food everywhere. People often say that you can eat the best food in Guangzhou because they have good food there ... Chinese food culture is long, more than 2000 years. So I like to take him to Guangzhou.
分析：這位學生的回答是標準的中國式回答，我們先不看用詞，我們先來看看邏輯。邏輯上，他說，中國到處都是好吃的，人們常說，吃在廣州，因為廣州到處都能找到好吃的，而中國的食物文化很長，超過兩千年。因此，我會帶他去廣州。看上去，好像還真的頭頭是道，其實如果我是外國人，聽著就非常難受。為啥？因為這位學生很任性啊，完全沒有抓住我想要獲取的到底是什麼信息。
# One 我想知道的是，BEST place for a DECENT dinner。
Best place，廣州貌似可以，但是不足夠。因為廣州這樣的概念是非常大而空洞的，廣州那麼多種類的餐廳飯館，我們需要的是一個更確切的答案。例如：The Rainbow Cafeteria （餐廳） in Guangzhou is one of my favorite. / The Qiang Ji Seafood Restaurant （海鮮酒家） is my recommendation（推薦）. 好了，然後我們怎麼來關注Decent dinner？我們很習慣籠統，這是口語大忌。例如，你可以一直在說，好吃啊，美味啊，我喜歡，我愛死了，一直繞圈圈，最後還是沒能說出個所以然到底晚餐如何豐盛，如何好吃，如何你就愛死了。所以我們得細節化：I will definitely arrange the steak （牛排） for him with local preserved sauce （本土特製的汁）on top. It tastes like a mixture of lemon and lavender （檸檬和香草混合）. Deserts （甜點）are also a must-have （必須的）. You know, over 100 deserts are at your fingertip （供你選擇）for order and they all look nice at least.
有人説，我寫不出高級的詞語，但不管能不能寫出好的詞語，起碼你答案裡面的信息，是有對應問題的，不籠統，是有用的細節信息。
# Two 開門見山。
這個說法大家都應該有所聽說——外國人是喜歡直接點的，一上來就得開門見山不要做任何鋪墊。所以你跟我說歷史，說中國人怎樣怎樣，對我來說，是次要信息。因為我問的是，BEST place for a DECENT dinner！那中國的飲食文化不能講嗎？可以，但一定要放在後面。所以，get to the point first！一定要先聽好了人家問什麼，回答完了，才可以自由發揮。哈哈，這突然讓我想起日常生活中，大家應對突發問題的反應。還記得以前的那種古老的電視機壞了，有的人的反應是上去拍一下看能不能拍好，有的人是找找工具先，然後去修。前者估計就是老外經常干的事情，因為什麼？因為他們習慣了直接。
修改后：The Rainbow Cafeteria in Guangzhou is one of my favorite. I will definitely arrange the steak for him with local preserved sauce on top. It tastes like a mixture of lemon and lavender. Deserts are also a must-have. You know, over 100 deserts are at your fingertip for order and they all look nice at least. You may be surprised, but you know China has a long history of delicious foods and the culture is over 2000 years. If you are looking for best of the best, it is going to be found in restaurants in Guangzhou.
簡易版：The Qiangji Seafood Restaurant is my recommendation. It is located in Guangzhou. In the restaurant you may find different delicious seafood, like shrimp, crab, deep-sea fish and so on. China has a long history of food, more than 2000 years. So I will invite my friend to have a decent dinner there.
總結：即使詞彙不多，也可以先搞定邏輯。邏輯就是抓住問話人的關鍵詞在哪，先直接回答，然後你就可以自己飛了，這也是一種英漢差異。
