Файл: TOPICS.doc

Topics for discussion:

1. Shopping for foodstuffs. 2. Our local supermarket. 3. Buying foodstuffs for a birthday party.

At the Restaurant

In all large English towns there are plenty of restaurants, cafes, tea rooms, or public houses (pubs). All the large hotels have restaurants where you can have a snack or dinner.

In London for the really cheap places it is very interesting to explore the little French or Italian restaurants of Soho, Spanish visitors who are feeling homesick can find the Spanish Restaurant and imagine they have gone back to Spain for the decoration, the salads, the cooking, the wines, the waiters and most of the diners are Spanish.

In the same way there are Indian, Chinese, Hungarian, or Jewish restaurants.

If you want real old English food you must go to the Strand. Here roast beef – cooked at open roasting fire – is wheeled to your table and carved before your eyes. Most visitors like to go to the “old Cheshire Cheese”, or Fleet Street, an old chop-house where famous writers used to go. The traditional dish here is rumpsteak, kidney, and oyster pudding. A plate of this with a pint of bitter beer in a long glass, followed by the pancake or the toasted cheese and special “punch” in a china bowl, is a meal you don’t easily forget.

At the restaurant you may either reserve a table beforehand by telephone or occupy any table disengaged at the moment you come. There is a menu which contains the names of all dishes available for the first, second and third courses. It offers a choice of appetizers, drinks, meat or fish dishes as well as various kinds of soup and broth. The most popular meat dishes are beefsteak, rumpsteak, roast beef, chicken with mashed or fried potatoes, macaronies or noodles.

For dessert you may order ice-cream, coffee, tea or juice. After you have chosen the dishes the waiter or waitress takes your order and gives you a bill. Some minutes later the dinner is served.

Words and expressions

Обратите внимание на разницу в значении и употреблении слов:

A meal, food, a dish, a course.

A meal – еда, прием пищи.

Meals are breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, five-o’clock tea.

Food – пища, еда, съестные припасы.

Food is meat, vegetables, fruit, bread, milk, etc.

A dish – 1) блюдо, кушанье; 2) блюдо, тарелка, миска.

Dishes – посуда

A fish dish is a dish cooked of fish.

A course – блюдо, т.е. последовательные приемы пищи: первое, второе, третье и т.д.

The dinner consisted of three courses: cabbage soup for the first course, beefsteak for the second course and apple juice for the third course.

Ex. 18. Insert the words food, dish, meal or course:

1. The second … was veal with mashed potatoes. 2. She put apples and oranges on the china … . 3. The usual … in England are break-fast, lunch, tea and dinner. 4. – What is your favourite … ? – Mine is roast chicken. 5. Beefsteak, chop, roast beef, rumpsteak are meat … . 6. Many people like to have a hearty … in the morning. 7. What is the … time for lunch in England? 8. Who usually washes the … after dinner? 9. In the evening a light … is recommended. 10. A dish is a particular kind of … . 11. What would you like for the first … ? 12. There were no vegetable … on the menu. 13. The dinner consisted of three … .

Ex. 19.Read the dialogues in pairs:

I

Waiter: Can I take your order, sir?

Visitor: Yes, I’d like to try the steak, please.

Waiter: And to follow?

Visitor: Ice-cream, please.

II

Waiter: Have you decided on something, sir?

Visitor: Yes, haddock and chips for me, please.

Waiter: How about the sweet?

Visitor: No sweet, thanks. Just coffee.

III

Waiter: Have you chosen something, sir?

Visitor: Yes, I think I’ll have the curry, please.

Waiter: What would you Like afterwards?

Visitor: I’d like some fruit if you have any.

IV

Waiter: May I take your order, sir?

Visitor: I’ll just take a small salad, please.

Waiter: Do you want any sweet?

Visitor: Apple pie and custard would be nice.

1. And to follow? – А потом?

2. To decide on smth – остановиться на чем-л. (решиться)

Sweet – сладкое

3. Curry [kri] – блюдо, приправленное кэрри (приправа из куркумового корня, чеснока и разных пряностей)

Afterwards [a:ftw:dz] – дальше, затем

4. Custard [kstd] – драчена (смесь из яиц, молока, сахара и ароматизированных добавок, замороженная до консистенции мороженого)

In the Coffee Bar

I

A: What would you like to drink?

B: A black coffee for me, please.

A: How about something to eat?

B: Yes, I’d love a portion of that strawberry tart.

II

A: What can I get you to drink?

B: An iced Coke would go down well.

A: Wouldn’t you like some cake, too?

B: Yes, I think I’ll have a slice of chocolate sponge.

III

A: What are you going to have to drink?

B: I’d like something cool.

A: Would you care for some cake?

B: Yes, I’ll try a piece of cheese cake.

IV

A: What do you want to drink?

B: I feel like a cup of tea.

A: Do you fancy something to eat?

B: Yes, I’d rather like some of that fruit cake.

1. a portion [p:n] –порция, часть

a strawberry tart [str:bri ta:t] – пирог с клубникой

2. an iced Coke – кока-кола со льдом

to go down well – быть вполне приемлемым

a chocolate sponge [tklitsp nd ] – шоколадный бисквит

3. I feel like – Мне хотелось бы

Do you fancy smth to eat? – Ты не против что-нибудь съесть?

In the pub

I

Waiter: What are you going to have?

Visitor: A half of bitter, please.

Waiter: Are you sure you won’t have a Scotch?

Visitor: Thanks very much, but I’m driving.

II

Waiter: What’s it to be?

Visitor: The same again, please.

Waiter: Won’t you make it a pint this time?

Visitor: I’d better not, thank you, all the same.

III

Waiter: What can I get you?

Visitor: I’d like a lager, please.

Waiter: Wouldn’t you care for something a little stronger?

Visitor: No, I think I’d better stick to halves, thanks.

IV

A: What would you like to drink?

B: Just a light ale for me, please.

A: Won’t you have a gin and tonic with me?

B: That’s very kind of you, but I don’t think I will.

1. a pub [pb]от public house – пивная, кабак, трактир

2. a bitter [bit] – порция горького пива

a Scotch [skt] – порция шотландского виски

3. a pint [paint] – пинта – мера емкости (в Англии – 0,57л, в США – 0,47л)

4. a lager [la:g] – порция легкого немецкого пива

I’d better stick to halves. –

A half (half a pint)

5. a light ale [laiteil] – порция светлого пива

a gin and tonic [d inndtnik] – порция джина с тоником

Ex. 20. Eight Things You Never Knew about English Pubs

1. Pubs in England cannot open before 11.00 in the morning and have to close at 11.00 in the evening. 2. Ten minutes before a pub stops serving drinks, the barman shouts “Last order”. Many people buy another drink then. 3. People under 18 years old are not allowed to drink any alcoholic drinks in pubs. 4. There are no waiters in pubs. The customers go to the bar and order their drinks themselves. 5. The most common drink is beer, but you can also buy wine, spirits, and soft drinks. 6. There are several different types of beer – traditional English beer, called “bitter”, is dark brown in colour and not drunk cold. The cold “yellow” beer drunk in many other countries is called “lager” in Britain. 7. When you order a beer in an English pub you ask either for a pint (= a little more than half a litre) or a half (half a pint). 8. Many pubs sell meals such as chicken and chips, but often only at lunch-time. Most people eat crisps and peanuts with their drinks.

Are these things the same in bars in your country? Have you ever been to a pub in England? Did you have any problems ordering?

Ex. 21. Listening for information.

Dieter, a young German, is in London visiting his friend Nick. One day, they arrange to meet in a pub for a drink after Nick has finished work. Nick is a little late, so Dieter decides to buy himself a drink, but he has some problems ordering. When Nick arrives, he explains what happened.

N – Hi, Dieter. OK?

D – Oh, hi, Nick. Yes, I’m fine, except that I had a big problem ordering my drink. I didn’t think my English was so bad!

N – Your English is very good! What kind of problem?

D – Well, look at this beer I’ve got here – this warm, brown, English beer – it wasn’t what I wanted!

N – Why, what did you ask for?

D – Well, I just asked for a small beer. Then the barman asked what type of beer and said lots of names that I didn’t understand – and something about a pie or a pine. I didn’t understand anything.

N – Oh, no! He probably said a pint! In English you don’t ask for a big or a small beer. You ask for either a pint or a half. A pint is the big one.

D – So this one I’ve got here is a half?

N – Yes, that’s a half of bitter. Bitter’s the name for that type of beer.

D – Ah, that’s what he said – bitter! Well, it’s very different from the beer we drink in Germany, I must say.

N – Yes, I know. We call the German type of beer lager. So you have to ask for a half of lager, or a pint of lager.

D – OK. I understand that now. My other problem was chips. I asked for a packet of chips, and the barman said something strange – that they don’t have chips in the evening, only at lunch-time. What did he mean?

N – Yes, they have fish and chips, but I think you meant crisps. In England, chips are fried potatoes, you know, French fries. The ones you buy in a packet are crisps.

D – Well, in the end I didn’t get anything to eat. So you see, I did everything wrong!

N – Well, never mind. You can practise now by buying me a drink – a pint of bitter, please.

D – You mean you choose to drink this warm horrible stuff? So I ask for a pint of bitter, a half of lager, and a packet of crisps. Is that all right?

N – Absolutely perfect, but ask for two packets of crisps. I’m hungry. Good luck!

D – Thank you.

Ex. 22. Listening for language.

B: Barman D: Dieter

B – Yes, please?

D – Can I have a pint of bitter, a half of lager, and two packets of crisps, please.

B – A pint of lager, did you say?

D – No, a half, please.

B – And how many packets of crisps?

D – Two, please.

B – Plain, or cheese and onion?

D – Er, plain, please.

B – That’s two pounds forty-four, please.

Dieter goes to order a drink for himself and Nick. Below is his second conversation with the barman, but it is in the wrong order. Can you put it into the correct order?

1. – Can I have a pint of bitter, a half of lager, and two packets of crisps, please.

2. – Plain, or cheese and onion?

3. – That’s two pounds forty-four, please.

4. – Yes, please.

5. – A pint of lager, did you say?

6. – And how many packets of crisps?

7. – Er, plain, please.

8. – No, a half, please.

9. – Two, please.

Ex. 23. Speaking: work in pairs.

Either:You are in an English pub.

Student A

You are a customer. You are ordering drinks and crisps for yourself and five friends. You all want something different to drink. Decide what you are going to ask for.

Student B

You are the barman. You are not very good at remembering orders. Decide what questions you will ask when you want the customer to repeat him/herself.

Or:

Nick is visiting you in your country. You are in a cafe or a bar, and he wants to order a drink and a snack, but he doesn’t know what kind of things he can order. You describe to him some typical drinks or snacks.