每日英語 #151: The Quality of Food at All-You-Can-Eat Buffets

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The Quality of Food at All-You-Can-Eat Buffets 自助餐的食物品質

Buffets are very popular in the United States, offering a wide range of foods or sometimes just focusing on one type. One of the main reasons buffets are so popular is the all-you-can-eat option. However, a common problem with buffets is that the food quality often isn’t great. But does this really matter to American customers?

自助餐在美國非常受歡迎，提供各種不同的食物，或者有時候只專注於一種食物。自助餐受歡迎的主要原因之一是可以吃到飽。然而，自助餐的一個常見問題是食物品質往往不佳。但這對美國顧客來說真的重要嗎？

In 2011, a study attempted to explore this by comparing two groups of people. The first group paid the full price ($6.00) for an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, while the second group paid half price ($3.00) for the same meal.

2011年，一項研究嘗試通過比較兩組人來探討這個問題。第一組人為吃到飽的披薩自助餐支付了全額費用（6美元），而第二組人則支付了半價（3美元）享用相同的餐點。

Which group ate more? And who enjoyed the food more?

哪一組吃得更多？哪一組更享受這頓飯？

On average, the group that paid more consumed about 25% more pizza. Surprisingly, even though they ate more, this group said they thought the pizza tasted worse compared to the group that paid less! This suggests that even when the food is perceived as being of lower quality, people may still consume more if they’ve paid a higher price.

平均而言，支付更多的那一組吃了大約多出25%的披薩。令人驚訝的是，儘管他們吃得更多，這組人卻表示他們覺得披薩的味道比支付較少錢的那組人更差！這表明，即使食物被認為品質較低，人們如果支付了更高的價格，仍可能會吃得更多。

Researchers speculated that the full-price group may have believed each slice of pizza was worth less due to its taste, leading them to eat more to feel like they got their money’s worth.

研究人員推測，支付全價的那組可能認為每片披薩的價值因為味道不佳而降低，因此他們需要吃更多來感覺物有所值。

重要單字

• 1. consist of /kənˈsɪst/ 組成
• 2. on average /ˈævərɪdʒ/ 平均而言
• 3. slice /slaɪs/ 片
• 4. money’s worth /ˈmʌniz wɜːθ/ 物有所值