Para. 7
1. This is not the case in America, of course, and the difference can be very striking.
译文：
当然，在美国却大不一样，而且两者差异相当明显。
be the case：to be true “是事实，是实情”
e.g.
a. If that is the case, then I’ll be very disappointed.
如果那是真的，我将非常失望。
b. That was found to be the case in/with many third-world countries.
人们发现那种情况在许多第三世界国家都存在。
striking: adj. “引人注目的，容貌出众的”
e.g.
a. She was a girl of striking beauty.
她是个容貌出众的女孩。
b. There are striking similarities between the two books.
这两本书有不少非常相似的地方。
2. I was interested to read a Chinese newspaper article several years ago about a Chinese delegation that attended an official State dinner Hosted by the White House.
译文：
几年前我在中国报纸上读到一篇文章，觉得非常有意思。这篇文章讲述了一个中国代表团参加白宫举办的国宴的事情。
White House
白宫（指美国总统官邸，亦常指美国总统或其工作人员），或美国政府。
3. The complete menu for the dinner was included in the newspaper article for the amusement of readers—it was a typical White House banquet menu, featuring only one main meat dish, a couple of haute cuisine vegetable dishes, a fancy dessert and coffee.
译文：
文章中登出了这次宴会的完整菜单以供读者娱乐——这是一份典型的白宫宴会菜单，只有一个肉类主菜，两三道烹饪精美的蔬菜，一份好看的甜点和咖啡。
fancy: adj. “别致的，花色的，根据想象的”
a very fancy pair of shoes 一双式样别致的鞋
fancy excuses 不着边际的借口
接v-ing
Fancy meeting you here. 想不到在这儿见到你。
接宾语+不定式或as
I don’t fancy him to be/as an actor. 我想象不出他是个演员。
接that从句
Can you fancy that she is a scholar? 你能想象得到她竟是位学者吗？
4. The paper’s editors clearly viewed such an offering as rather laughable, almost a ridiculous joke.
译文：
文章编辑显然认为这样的招待相当可笑，几乎是一个荒谬的玩笑。
view…as…: 把······看作······，
课文中还出现了pick out…as；perceive…as。
类似的表达还有：
consider…as；
regard…as；
take…as；
think of…as；
treat…as。