UNIT FIVE. One Man's Meat is Another Man's Poison
PART I. WARMING UP ACTIVITY.
TASK I. Sort out the words connected with food from the list into the columns with the following headings.
| Vegetable | Meat | Fish | Seafood | Herbs | Spices |
venison cabbage celery cod shrimps crab hake
rosemary curry cauliflower liver mackerel veal
lobster salmon cinnamon parsley crayfish kidneys
broccoli oysters spinach aubergine tarragon cucumber
TASK II. Which food from the previous exercise do you find mouth- watering and which is repulsive? Why? Which do you like and which despise? Discuss it with your partner.
TASK III. Which verbs denoting the ways of cooking do you know?
Using them say how you like the following foods prepared? What do you usually put on the foods given below?
Chicken potatoes sausages eggs mushrooms
TASK IV.Discuss it with your partner.
1. What do we call the meat of these animals?
sheep (two names)
pig (three names)
deer
calf
2. Which of these fruit and berries grow in your region? Are there others not listed here?
Peach plum grapefruit grapes blackcurrant
raspberry melon kiwi-fruit mango cherry
PART II. LISTENING
TASK I. Before listening, look at the words below and try to guess what the story on the tape is going to be about. Discuss it with your partner.
A great delicacy, sad truth, a creature, snails, a garden of one's own, on a sudden impulse, to be delighted to see, a little gift, the main dish, to escape.
TASK II.Study the meaning of the following expressions
- repulsive - very unpleasant
- one's stomach turns (at) - to feel uncomfortable, sick
- stick to something - to act according to or keep to, not give up
- abuse – to say unkind, cruel, or rude things to or about sth
- to be despised - to be regarded as worthless, bad or completely without good qualities
- to appeal to somebody - to please, attract, or interest; to request for help
- to take a stroll - to walk a short distance slowly or lazily, esp. for pleasure
- a prize plant - a highly valued plant
- reluctantly - unwillingly and therefore perhaps slow to act
- to one's dismay - to one's strong feeling of fear, anxiety, and hopelessness.
TASK III. Listen to the tape and say which of the following adjectives describe snails from the writer's point of view and which describe the way Robert sees them? Which word describes neither of them?
horrible appetising unpleasant repulsive tasty plain mouth watering disgusting delicious
TASK IV. What is the overall 'message' of the story?
TASK V. Listen again and in pairs, put the following sentences from the story in the correct order (1 – 6 in the boxes).
¨ The idea never appealed to me very much.
¨ To our dismay we saw that there were snails everywhere.
¨ There are countless people who have learned to associate snail with food.
¨ I had forgotten all about the snails.
¨ The sad truth is that most of us have been brought up to eat certain foods.
¨ Robert was delighted to see me and equally pleased with my little gift.
TASK VI. Answer the following questions in pairs.
1. In what part of the world is octopus considered a great delicacy?
2. What is people's attitude towards snails in different parts of the world?
3. What was the reason for Robert's pleading to bring him snails?
4. Why did Robert find it difficult to obtain snails?
5. Was the author eager to fulfil her friend's request?
6. What was the writer's gift like?
7. What was supposed to be the main dish for dinner?
8. Was the writer pleased to be treated to the food?
9. Who took the entire possession of the hall?
10. How did it happen?
TASK VII. Decide which of the statements below are true and which are false. Prove your statement.
1. Snails are considered to be great luxury all over the world.
2. The writer lives in a country where snails are looked down on.
3. The writer didn't like the idea of collecting snails.
4. There were a few snails in the writer's garden, but she managed to gather them all.
5. Having thought it over for some time, the writer collected several dozen.
6. Robert was pleased to see the writer.
7. Seafood was supposed to be the main dish for dinner.
8. The snails occupied the house having leaked out of the paper bag.
TASK VIII. Restore the events from the moment the writer began describing her amusing story about snails.
TASK IX. Listen one more time and choose the best continuation, A, B or C.
1. If you lived in the Mediterranean,
A. you wouldn't be able to understand why some people find octopus repulsive.
B. you would consider octopus a great delicacy.
C. your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat.
2. For years Robert has been asking the author
A. to associate snails with food.
B. to have a garden on her own.
C. to collect snails from her garden and take them to him.
3. Acting on a sudden impulse,
A. She collected several dozen.
B. She left the bag in the hall.
C. Robert was delighted to see her.
4. The writer put the snails in a paper bag
A. to prevent them from escaping.
B. because they were strolling on her prize plants.
C. to take them to her friend Robert.
5. To their dismay, they saw that
A. the snails was the main dish.
B. there were snails everywhere.
C. the snails had escaped.
TASK X. Do the following in groups of four. One student of the group is the secretary
Exercises
1. People become quite illogical when....
Write 2 sentences illustrating the use of the words quiet and quite.
2. If you lived in the Mediterranean you would consider octopus a great delicacy.
Write this sentence again beginning 'If you had lived .....'(refer it to the past)
3. the normally accepted practice
Write 2 sentences using the words practical and practise.
4. The sad truth is that most of us.........
Write 2 sentences using mostandthe most.
5. There are countless people who ever since their earliest years.......
Write 3 sentences using the words since, forand ago.
6. As his flat is in a large town... What does as mean in this sentence? Write 2 sentences illustrating some other meanings of as.
7. For years he has been asking me to collect snails. Write 2 sentences using has been askingand has asked.
8. I happened to be walking in my garden. Write sentences using the following: he happens, it happened that, happened.
9. The writer and his friend went out of the living-room.... get the snails. Choose the 2 answers which you think are correct
A in order that B to C in order to D so that E for
10. They felt .... when they noticed that the snails had escaped. Choose the 2 answers which you suppose fit.
A disappointed B unhappy C pleased D sad E angry
PART IV. EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Use the ideas of your own while answering the following questions.
1. Why do we stick to certain foods all our lives?
2. Is there a reasonable explanation to the fact that tastes are different?
3. Do you agree that food is as much a part of a country's culture as its landscape, language, and literature?
4. What influences the food in your country?
5. Which are your favourite places to eat out in your city? Why?
PART V. WRITING
Write a continuation of the passage in not more than 150 words. Expand the ideas given below into a plan and provide a suitable title. Your composition should be in 3 to 4 paragraphs.
Ideas:Snails - walls, ceiling - coat, pockets - effort to collect them - ladders - marks everywhere - Robert amused - cooked the snails - a meal for one.
UNIT SIX. A POUND TOO DEAR.
PART I. WARMING UP ACTIVITY.
TASK I. All of the items bellow have been imported and exported over the centuries.
Gold glassware textiles copper slaves grain wine olive oil tin honey pottery spices silk potatoes corn leather work beans cars sugar clothes tobacco cocoa armour tea
Discuss the questions, referring to the imports and exports of the items given above.
1. Which items are no longer traded in the modern world?
2. Which items are luxuries and which are necessities?
3. Which are raw materials and which are manufactured goods?
TASK II. Imagine that you have to do some shopping, but there isn't a department store or supermarket. What sort of shops can you buy these items in? Discuss it in pairs and work out a common decision.
Example: kilo of tomatoes - and a knife to cut them with.
greengrocer’s - ironmonger's hardware store or kitchen shop
1. some sausage - and a frying-pan to cook them in
2. a personal stereo - and some cassettes to play on it
3. a loaf of bread - and some butter to spread on it
4. a notebook - and a pen to write in it with
5. a tube of toothpaste - and a new toothbrush
6. a postcard - and a stamp to stick on it.
TASK III. Look at these words. Where is the stress when the word is used as a noun? And when it's a verb?
a export b import c decrease d increase
e progress f produce g transport