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阅读理解专项练习：
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When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to
grandma's generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code
will be Sunday best.
But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware (粗
陶) and stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and
guests, the change means greater simplicity and comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it
spells economic hard times.
Last week Royal Doulton, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating
1,000 jobs -- one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4, 000 the number
of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories
made cuts earlier.
Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in
Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the
company "has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend" toward casual dining. Families eat together
less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in
front of television.
Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and
demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it's better to share a takeout pizza
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发表于 2016-7-12 13:46:49