Passage Four

“Fingers were made before forks” when a person gives up good manners， puts aside knife and fork， and dives into his food， someone is likely to repeat that saying.

The fork was an ancient agricultural tool， but for centuries no one thought of eating with it. Not until the eleventh century， when a young lady from Constantinople brought her fork to Italy， did the custom reach Europe.

By the fifteenth century the use of the fork was widespread in Italy. The English explanation was that Italians were averse to eating food touched with fingers， “Seeing all men‘s fingers are not alike clean.” English travellers kept their friends in stitches while describing this ridiculous Italian custom.

Anyone who used a fork to eat with was laughed at in England for the next hundred years. Men who used forks were thought to be sissies， and women who used them were called show-offs and overnice. Not until the late 1600‘s did using a fork become a common custom.

 The custom of eating with a fork was _______.

By the fifteenth century forks were used _______.

To English travellers in Italy， the use of forks seemed _______.

The English thought that Italians used forks in order to ________.

In England， people who used forks at that time were considered ______.