Real Exam English Episode 3 – Food

Use Of English Exercises(answers at the end):

A. I kind of do one meal late in the morning and that kind of ____me over until dinner time.

(a) tides (b) keeps (c) lasts (d) does

B. If you´re paying a small ______ and it´s a very nice restaurant then you´re not just paying for
the food, you´re paying for the service.

(a) treasure (b) bounty (c) wealth (d) fortune

2. What is the missing word?

(a) If I do breakfast it's usually a small bowl of cereal or more often than _____ it's a slice of
toast or something like that.

(b) I can go to a bummy, sleazy restaurant but as ____ as they serve good food I don´t have a
problem with that.

(c) Generally, older people would like to eat more traditional foods associated _____ the
country that they are originally from.

3. Sentence Transformation – Use between 3 and 6 words to transform the sentence, using the
word in brackets.

I've gotten much better at baking since having kids because there´s always a birthday party or
cupcakes that have to be made.

(NEED)

I've gotten much better at baking since having kids because there's always a birthday party or
cupcakes ___________.
Transcript:
Trevor: What do you usually have for breakfast?

Mary(South Africa): I´m pretty bad with breakfast. I´m not a huge breakfast person. I kind of do
one meal late in the morning and that kind of tides me over until dinner time. So I´m kind of
more of a brunch person me. But if I did do breakfast it´s usually a small bowl of cereal or more
often than not it´s a slice of toast or something like that. Not big on breakfast.
Sorry….although…except for brunch, which I just love, I love eggs, any form of eggs I´m good
with.

Trevor: Ok and what dishes are you good at cooking?

Mary: I cook a lot obviously, every day dishes that the kids will eat are difficult. They are not
necessarily things that I would eat. I think I´m pretty ok with cooking most things. I´ve gotten
much better at baking recently, since having kids because there´s always a birthday party or
cupcakes that need making. But generally I try and keep my cooking simple. I don´t like to use
too many dishes in the kitchen because it requires much cleaning but I try do lots of curries,
chillies, stir fries, that kind of thing, pasta and then y´know when it´s Winter time it´s kind of
casseroles and stews and roast dinners.

Trevor: What is you favourite dessert?

Karen(USA): I can just think off the top of my head….oh I know….cake…cake is my favourite
dessert, in general. We just had churros yesterday though and I love churros.

Trevor: Would you enjoy cooking food for a large group of people?

Karen: Would I enjoy it?

Trevor: Yea

Karen: No, absolutely not. I don´t enjoy cooking at all. I do it because I have to but I mean, I
enjoy being together and everything and I enjoy like the maybe teamwork in cooking part, but
the actual cooking I don´t really enjoy at all. If it could be my way it would just be take out with
a whole bunch of people.

Trevor: What food or drinks do you think are unhealthy?

Ofordi(UK): I subscribe to the viewpoint that everything in moderation is usually fine for you.
So, I don´t think anything is healthy or unhealthy per se, it´s how much of it you have and
whether you do exercise and you look after your health, by having a balanced diet as well.
Trevor: When you go to a restaurant, which is more important to you, the atmosphere or the
food?

Mike(USA): Well, in my opinion, I would prefer more of the…….of the…ff….I love food so for me
food is going to be more important for me than atmosphere. I can go to a bummy, sleazy
restaurant but as long as they serve good food I don´t have a problem with that so for me it´s
going to be more about the food than the atmosphere itself.

Trevor: Have you ever tried typical food from another country?

Mike: Yea, I´ve tried typical food of places of England, Spain of course, Philippines, Asia, and
also like if you lived in American and stuff you get like opportunities to try those types of
dishes, those authentic dishes from different cultures and things so yea I´ve been very exposed
to different types of food.

Trevor: Do you think we should try to eat food that is produced locally?

Emma(Ireland): Definitely, a hundred per cent I would think that. I try to eat food that is
produced locally and in season. So, this time of the year in Ireland we have a lot of homegrown
vegetables and I would always choose Irish vegetables over imported vegetables and seasonal
vegetables over non-seasonal imported vegetables.

Trevor: When you go to a restaurant, which is more important to you, the atmosphere or the
food?

Emma: The atmosphere, the food is important but generally I go to a restaurant to be with my
Friends and spend some quality time out of the house. So, the atmosphere is definitely more
important for me.

Trevor: What differences are there between what Young people and older people like to eat?

Emma: Generally, older people would like to eat more traditional foods associated with that
particular country that they are originally from. For example, older Irish people would like to
eat potatoes, vegetables and meat, just traditional local Irish food. Younger people tend to be
more worldly and they´ve travelled a lot so they eat American-style food, they eat Japanese,
Mexican, Italian, there´s no limits to the variety of food they may eat.

Trevor: What is your favourite food?

Lesley(UK): Oh my goodness. That´s a huge question. I´m not sure I have a favourite food
because it probably depends on where I am in the world. I really love Japanese food, so I love
lots of raw fish and things. If I´m in France I love really beautiful, grilled fish and fresh
vegetables and when we´re in the north of England all of that seems to turn into quite a lot of
meat.
Trevor: Some people say that food in an expensive restaurant is always better than food in a
cheap restaurant. Would you agree?

Ofordi(UK): No, I really wouldn´t agree with that. I think that line that gets wheeled out quite
regularly with a couple of other ones but you can have perfectly good quality food in a not very
expensive restaurant and that´s been shown time and time again. Again, I think it depends on
what you are paying for. If you´re paying a small fortune and it´s a very nice restaurant then
you´re not just paying for the food, you´re paying for the service, you´re paying for the decor,
you´re paying for various other things. And if that is the kind of experience you want to have
while you´re eating then that´s what you´re really paying for but that doesn´t necessarily mean
the quality or the cuts of the food that you´re having is better than going to a smaller
restaurant.

Fancy Language
Compound adjectives: homegrown, non-seasonal, American-style

Conjunctions to express condition: As long as, providing/provided that, On the condition that.

Ways to give your opinion: I suppose, I reckon, I believe, I guess, I´d say that, I subscribe to the
viewpoint that, as far as I´m concerned, If you ask me.

Use of English Answers:

2. (a) not, (b) long, (c) with

3. That need making