McDonalds(麥當勞)

　　McDonald's

　　In 1955, a man named Raymond Kroc entered a partnership with two brothers  named  McDonald.   They opened a popular restaurant in Califor-nia which sold food that was easy to

　　prepare and serve quickly. Hamburgers, French fries and cold drinks were the main food there.

　　Kroc opened similar eating places under the same name,McDonald's, and they were an instant success. He later took over the company, and today it is one of the most famous and successful "fast-food" restaurants in America and the world.

　　Why was his idea so successful? Probably the most important reason was that his timing was right. In the ]950s,most married women stayed home to keep house and take care of their children. In the 1960s, many women returned to the work place. This meant that they had less time and energy for housework and preparation of meals, so they depended more on "TV dinners" and fast-food restaurants. Single parents also have little time to spend in the kitchen. People living alone also depend on this type of food, since cooking for one is often more trouble than it is worth.

　　Fast-food is not part of all Americans lives. Another trend of the 1960s, sometimes called the back-to-nature movement,influenced many people to avoid food that was packaged and processed. This preference for natural food continues to this day. From the success of Raymond Kroc's fast-food business,we can say that social and economic trends influence where and what we eat.

　　麥當勞

　　1955年，一位名為雷蒙德·克勞克的人與兩位名為麥當勞的兄弟合伙，在加州開了一家頗受歡迎的小餐館，銷售制作方便服務(wù)快捷的食物。那里的主打食品是漢堡、炸薯條和冷飲。克勞克用同樣的名字—一麥當勞開了幾家類似的餐廳，迅速獲得了成功。后來他接管了這個公司，今天它成為美國和世界最有名、最成功的“快餐”廳之一。

　　他的想法為什么會如此成功呢?也許最重要的原因是因為他時機正好。20世紀50年代，大多數(shù)已婚婦女呆在家里做家務(wù)、照顧孩子。而在60年代，許多婦女回去工作。這就意味著她們做家務(wù)、準備食物的時間、精力減少了，因此她們更多地依賴于“電視晚餐”和快餐店。單親家庭中父母也很少有時間花在廚房里。獨自居住的人也依賴于這種食物，因為一個人做飯經(jīng)常太麻煩，不值當費那功夫。

　　快餐并不是所有美國人生活的一部分。20世紀60年代還有另一種有時被成為“返璞歸真”運動的趨勢，影響了很多人，他們避免食用經(jīng)過包裝和加工的食物。這種對天然食物的青睞一直持續(xù)到今天。從雷蒙德·克勞克快餐生意的成功中，我們可以說社會和經(jīng)濟趨勢會影響我們就餐的地點和食物的選擇。