更新2016年10月自考英语二第二部分：阅读选择翻译

It is estimated that thereare more than 8 million restaurants in the world today. So it might surpriseyou to learn that restaurants as we know have only existed for a few centuries.Before 1765, there were no restaurants. There was nowhere in which a serverbrought you food and drink that you chose from a menu. In fact, there were nomenus anywhere.

There were places wheretravelers could eat centuries before that. The countryside was full of innsthat would serve food. And there were bars where one could get a drink. Therich could also eat meals supplied by private cooks. But there was nothing thatcould be called a “restaurant”.

A Frenchman changed that.In 1765, he opened a place in Paris that sold soups. On his sign, he used theterm “restaurants” to describe what he was selling. Soups were considered “restorative”,so he called them “restaurants”. Finally, people started buying his soups evenwhen not ill. And as time went on, people began to use the term “restaurant” torefer to the place where soup was sold rather than the soup itself. More“restaurants” opened up in France, and people began to buy soups moreregularly.

Then, restaurants in Parisbegan to serve food other than soups. In the 1780s, menus started to appear. Bythe 1800s, there were many types of restaurants, and the restaurant concept wasspread throughout the British Empire.

A slow start gave way torapid growth. Cities and towns around the world are filled with restaurantstoday. It is estimated that there are 1.6 million restaurants in Europe. InAmerica, there are nearly a half million restaurants. Today, diners have millionsof choices.

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据估计，今天全世界有超过800万家餐馆。所以你可能会惊讶地发现，我们所了解的餐馆仅仅存在了几个世纪。在1765年之前，没有餐馆。没有一个地方会有服务员根据你从菜单上选择的食物和饮料为你提供服务。事实上，那时根本没有菜单。

早在几个世纪之前，旅行者可以在一些地方用餐。乡村里到处都是提供食物的小旅馆。而且也有酒吧可以喝酒。富人也可以享用私人厨师提供的饭菜。但是没有什么地方可以被称为“餐馆”。直到一位法国人改变了这一切。

1765年，他在巴黎开了一家卖汤的店。在他的招牌上，他用了“restaurants”这个词来描述他卖的东西。因为汤被认为是具有“恢复功能”的，所以他称之为“restaurants”。终于，人们即便没有生病也开始购买他的汤。而随着时间的推移，人们开始用“restaurant”这个词来指代卖汤的地方，而不是汤本身。更多的“餐馆”在法国开业，人们也开始更频繁地买汤。然后，巴黎的餐馆开始供应除汤以外的食物。在1780年代，菜单开始出现。到了1800年代，各种类型的餐馆层出不穷，餐馆的概念也传播到了整个大英帝国。

虽然起步缓慢，但随后发展迅猛。今天各个城市和城镇充满了餐馆。据估计，欧洲有160万家餐馆。在美国，几乎有50万家餐馆。今天，食客有成千上万的选择。