翻译原文：
在西方人心目中，和中国联系最为密切的基本食物是大米。长期以来，大米在中国人的饮食中占据很重要的地位，以至于有谚语说“巧妇难为无米之炊”。中国南方大多数种植水稻，人们通常以大米为食;而华北大部分地区因为过于寒冷或过于干燥，无法种植水稻，那里的主要作物是小麦。在中国，有些人用面粉做面包，但大多数人用面粉做馒头和面条。

参考译文：
In the eyes of the Westerners, rice is the basic food most closely connected with China. For a long time, rice is so important in Chinese diet. There is a saying "Even a clever housewife cannot make a meal without rice." In the south of China, people always grow rice and eat it as a staple food. While in the north of China, people cannot grow rice because of the exceedingly cold and dry weather, and the main crop there is wheat. In China, some people use flour to make bread, but it always used to make steamed bread and noodles.