如何在餐馆或咖啡馆给小费是一个十分复杂的问题。小费应该是给现金还是在买单时一并用信用卡支付？你更愿意支付固定的服务费，还是认为付小费完全没有必要？“随身英语” 讨论这个让很多人都感到困惑而棘手的问题。

Vocabulary: service 词汇：服务

It’s nice to go out for a meal at a restaurant. But what makes it extra special – apart from the food - is to receive attentive service from the staff. What can leave a bad taste in your mouth, though,is to be handed the bill and see that a service charge has been added. You’re faced with the dilemma of deciding to pay it, and whether you should add a tip on top.

Putting your hand in your pocket to reward good service is a personal choice, but it also depends on where you are in the world. What is the norm in one city is not necessarily the norm in another. In some places a tip is expected; but in others, good service should be expected and ought to be included in the price.

Adding an optional service charge to your bill certainly makes paying a tip less awkward because there’s no need to calculate the amount. But even though it’s not compulsory, you sometimes feel obliged to pay it. In the UK, where people tend to be too polite to complain, they might pay the service charge despite quietly complaining that the service they received was not up to scratch!

Choosing your own amount to tip may seem fairer, but should you pay it in cash or add it on to a credit card payment? And who will be the recipient? If we are to pay extra, we want to know it goes to the person who deserves it and that it’s not used as an alternative to paying someone a proper wage. In the UK in 2009, the law was changed after an outcry over staff being paid under the minimum wage and then topping up their wages with money they had earned in tips.

However, in the US it’s still customary to leave a gratuity because tips often make up a substantial part of a server’s income. Restaurant owner William Beckett told the BBC that in New York, for example, “There’s a tacit pressure to tip. But theoretically you (could) just stand up and walk out. You don’t. Everybody tips 20%.”

Maybe we should follow Japan’s approach, where tipping under any circumstance may seem rude because good service is standard and expected. Elsewhere, there are calls for restaurants to replace the tipping system with a so-called 'hospitality-included' charge – a single payment which covers both the meal and the service. This basically means, don’t tip - the price you see on the menu reflects the full cost of dining. That might make receiving the final bill easier to swallow!

词汇表

attentive 体贴，周到的
a bad taste in your mouth 不愉快的经历或记忆
bill 账单
service charge 服务费
tip 小费
put your hand in your pocket 捐钱（在本文中指 “给小费”）
the norm 惯例，正常行为
expected 应该的
optional 非强制的，可选择的
compulsory 强制性的
obliged 必须的
up to scratch 达到标准
to tip 给小费
recipient 接受人
wage 工钱，报酬
the minimum wage 最低工资
gratuity 小费，赏钱
server 服务人员
income 收入
tacit pressure 隐性压力
hospitality included “服务费包括在内”

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. Name two ways you could pay a service charge.

2. Why would people in the UK be more likely to pay a service charge despite receiving bad service?

3. True or false? In Japan, tipping is only done if service is above standard.

4. Should you tip if your bill has hospitality included?

5. Which word used in the article means ‘a difficult situation where you have to choose between two or more outcomes’?

2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. We’re having an urgent meeting about the future of the company so it’s _______ that you attend.

optional               obliged                         compulsory             standard

2. Your homework is not _______ so you’re going to have to do it again.

scratched up        up to scratch               up to scratching      up and scratching

3. Getting very hot summers seems to be the _______ now – some people are blaming it on climate change.

norm                   expected                       obliged                   topping up

4. The waiter was so rude to us that it’s left a _______ - we won’t be eating there again!

bad tasting in my mouth                           bad taste on my mouth       

bad tastes in the my mouth                      bad taste in my mouth

5. After our tour, the tour guide made it very clear that a _______ was not included in the price!

recipient              hospitality included        gratuity                   server

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. Name two ways you could pay a service charge.
You can pay a service charge in cash or with a credit or debit card.

2. Why would people in the UK be more likely to pay a service charge despite receiving bad service?
In the UK, where people tend to be too polite to complain, they might pay the service charge despite quietly complaining that the service they received was not up to scratch!

3. True or false? In Japan, tipping is only done if service is above standard.
False. In Japan tipping under any circumstance may seem rude, because good service is standard and expected.

4. Should you tip if your bill has hospitality included?
No. ‘Hospitality included’ means you don’t tip - the price you see on the menu reflects the full cost of dining.

5. Which word used in the article means ‘a difficult situation where you have to choose between two or more outcomes’?
Dilemma. “You’re faced with the dilemma of deciding to pay it, and whether you should add a tip on top.”

2 . 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. We’re having an urgent meeting about the future of the company so it’s compulsory that you attend.

2. Your homework is not up to scratch so you’re going to have to do it again.

3. Getting very hot summers seems to be the norm now – some people are blaming it on climate change.

4. The waiter was so rude to us that it’s left a bad taste in my mouth - we won’t be eating there again!

5. After our tour, the tour guide made it very clear that a gratuity was not included in the price!