As any homemaker knows， there is far more to a family meal than food．正如每个主妇都知道的，一顿家餐并不只是食物那么简单。
Sociologists have been studying families to find out just how much more．社会学家已经开始研究家庭以更多地了解家餐所起的作用。
Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes．刘易斯和他的同事通过录影家庭平时在家吃饭的情况进行研究。
They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children．他们发现小家庭中父母喜欢互相交谈并和孩子们说话。
But as the number of children gets larger， conversation gives way to the parent's efforts to control the loud noise they make． That can have an important effect on the children．但是当孩子多了以后，谈话减少了，取而代之的是父母们努力控制孩子不要发出噪音，这对孩子们的影响很大。
“In general the more question-asking the parents do the higher the children's IQ scores，” “总的来说，父母问题问得越多，孩子的IQ越高。”
Lewis says． “And the more children there are， the less question-asking there is．” 刘易斯说: “孩子越多，父母问题问得越少。
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings．
研究还解释了中间的孩子的生活为什么似乎总是比他们的兄弟姐妹艰难一些。
Lewis found that in families with three or four children， dinner conversation is likely to centre on the oldest child， who has the most to talk about， and the youngest， who needs the most attention. 刘易斯发现在有三四个孩子的家庭里，餐桌上的话题总是集中在最大和最小的孩子身上，最大的孩子可说的事情最多，而最小的孩子最需要关注。
“Middle children are invisible，” says Lewis． “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner， chances are it's the middle child．”“中间的孩子被人忽视，”刘易斯说，“当你看到有个人在吃饭时起身离开餐桌四处走动，这个人很可能就是中间的孩子。”
There is， however，one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention：“When the TV is on，” Lewis says， “dinner is non-existent．” 然而，有一样东西可以使所有的谈话停止，分散大家的注意力。“当电视打开时，” 刘易斯说，“晚餐就不存在了。”
