Read the text and share your preferences in food.

What about the food people eat! I know a man who only eats natural foods; he takes a lot of vitamins. I’ve never seen anybody who looks so ill! I like good food and I think most healthy food is really tasteless. For breakfast I usually have toast and coffee, and at weekends when I have more time I have bacon and fried eggs. If I get hungry in the middle of the morning I have a bar of chocolate then for lunch a sandwich (made with white bread, of course). After a day’s work in the office I’m pretty hungry and in the evenings I like a big meal of meat and potatoes. My ill-looking friend is horrified by what I eat; his breakfast is a piece of wholemeal bread with a cup of herbal tea and then for lunch he has rice – and in the evenings, beans and a salad. He says it’s very good for him, but I’m not so sure.

There’s nothing wrong with being healthy and keeping fit but with some people it’s almost a religion. Nothing can make me go jogging. No, thank you, I’d rather sit and have a cup of coffee and a cigarette while the joggers are out running around the streets. I get my exercise walking to the bus stop on my way to work.

from “Modern English”

Word List:

bar of chocolate – плитка шоколада

horrified – приходить в ужас

wholemeal bread – хлеб крупного помола

herbal tea – чай из трав

rice – рис

beans – фасоль

keeping fit – быть в форме

go jogging – бег трусцой

joggers – люди, бегущие трусцой

Text 13 EATING OUT

By Mimi Hilton

Read the text and ask your partner 10 questions to the text, then paraphrase it and make up the dialogue based on the text.(Don’t fail to use words and expressions printed bold!)

This three-month-old restaurant has attracted attention because it is situated in a one hundred fifty-years-old mill. The decor is charming and warm in an Early American country style. Although the tables and chairs are modern reproductions, there are enough authentic antique pieces at the entrance and on the walls to avoid the fake Disneyland look of some restorations.

The menu is also very American, though it is a bit too traditional for my taste. The menu also is very extensive, which always worries me because a large menu often means a large freezer. Although my dinner companions and I chose some things from the regular menu, we usually chose one of the day’s specials.

The most delicious main course we tried was the country stew which consisted of potatoes, carrots, peas, mushrooms, very tender beef, and – surprise! – some smoked pork sausage. Because top quality beef was used, it was unusually good. Among other well-prepared main courses was the fried chicken because it wasn’t cooked before and then re-heated. It was fresh and crisp.

The vegetables that came with the main courses were fresh but overcooked. The only exception was the string beans which were green and crisp (a mistake?).

Because the main courses are so large, there is really no need for an appetizer or soup. But for big eaters, I can recommend the mixed salad. The clam chowder was tasty because it was home-made, but it had no special distinction. The oysters on the half-shell were served on a bed of ice, although I would prefer to have a better sauce for them.

If you can still eat dessert after all this plus rather good home-made bread and creamery butter, try the apple pie. The apples were juicy and firm and the pastry was light.

It’s hard to judge the service at this friendly restaurant. Because it was so crowded when I went, usually at 8 o’clock, service was slow. The Reservation system doesn’t always work. On one occasion someone took our reservation for dinner but didn’t have it when we arrived. This kind of thing can damage a restaurant’s reputation, although its food may be good.

Text 14 New Fast Food Chain Arrives

Pre-reading task

◦ Have you ever been to McDonald’s? Share your impressions of being their.

The Nashville Superburger chain, which started in the Tennessee city six years ago, opened its first store here last weekend on Commerce Street between Grant and Taylor Streets. I was interested in seeing the connection between Nashville, the capital of country music, and hamburgers. Would the burgers be Southern fried? Would they be served on biscuits or with grits? Would they be shaped like guitars? Well, I’ve been there twice and didn’t find any real difference between Nashville Superburgers and McDonald’s, Burger King, or Wendy’s.

The place was so brightly lit that I wished I had brought my sun-glasses. Once I got used to the light, I liked the green and orange decor, usually found in health food places. Because those colours mean yoghurt and alfalfa sprouts, I felt good and almost healthy about having fast food. Plus, the place was spotlessly clean – almost antiseptic.

Although there were long lines, service was incredibly fast. The menu is limited to a variety of hamburgers, and the prices are reasonable. I had the “Super-Duper-Burger”, which was served with lettuce and tomato. Although the meat itself was rather grey and tasteless, the “secret relish” made it passable. The French fries were the best I’ve ever eaten at a fast food restaurant.

Everybody seemed to be drinking milkshakes, and although I usually shy away from them in fast food places I felt I should try one. It was thick and sweet – and there was probably not one drop of natural milk in it. Even though these may be low in cholesterol, I want whole milk, real ice cream, and natural flavourings in my milkshakes. Although I am as concerned as anyone else about health, I’ll fight the cholesterol battle somewhere else.

Nashville Superburger is a sure bet when you’re downtown and in a hurry. I was in and out in ten minutes. It reminded me of a high-way filling station.

from “American Streamline”

Word List:

to attract attention – привлекать внимание

mill – мельница

specials – фирменное блюдо

crisp – хрустящий

to judge – судить

occasion – случай, оказия

to damage – повредить, навредить

drop – капля