TEXT 5. Read and translate the text and the dialogue. Share your experience about complaining.

How the British Complain

In restaurants, as elsewhere, the British may moan and grumble to each other about poor service or bad food, but they find it difficult to complain directly to the staff. Complaining would be «making a scene» or «drawing attention to oneself» in public – all forbidden by the unwritten rules. So when the waiter asks if everything is all right they smile politely and mutter: «Yes, fine, thanks».

Some braver people do complain, but their complaints sound timid and apologetic.

«Excuse me, I’m terribly sorry, um, but, er, this soup seems to be rather, well, not very hot – a bit cold really».

«Sorry, but, um, I ordered the steak and this looks like, er, well, fish».

«Sorry, but do you think we could order soon? (this after a twenty-minute wait with no sign of service) It’s just that we are in a bit of hurry, sorry». And they look at the floor as though they have done something wrong.

The British also tend to apologize for making perfectly reasonable requests:

«Oh, excuse me, sorry, but could we possibly have some salt?»

«Sorry, but could we have the bill now, please?

And even for spending money:

«Sorry, could we have another bottle of this, please?»

And they always apologize when they haven’t eaten much of their meal:

«Sorry, it was lovely, really, I’m just not very hungry».

At the restaurant

Husband: This meat is as tough as old boots. How is your fish?

Wife: It tastes off. And these vegetables are cold.

Husband: The wine is awful – I asked for dry and they have given us sweet!

Wife:And look, there’s a worm in my salad!

Waiter:How is your meal? Is everything all right?

Husband: Oh, yes it’s all lovely!

Wife: Excellent, thank you!

TEXT 6. Read and translate the text. Be ready to discuss.

The British and the Food

Changes

Today many people want food to be quick and easy. When both parents are working, they cannot cook large meals in the evenings. Ready-made meals from supermarkets and take-away meals from fast food restaurants are very popular. If you are feeling tired or lazy, you can even phone a local restaurant. They will bring the food to your house.

Eating out

Twenty years ago, British people usually ate at home. They only went out for a meal at special times, like for somebody’s birthday. But today, many people eat out at least once a week.

English breakfast

If you go to a hotel in Britain and ask for a typical English breakfast, you’ll probably get bacon and eggs, sausage, mushrooms, baked beans, tea and toast. When porridge or fruit juice are offered as well, the meal is sometimes advertised as a “full English breakfast”. But how many people in England actually eat an English breakfast? Only one person in ten! In fact, today’s English breakfast is more likely to be nothing! One in five people say all they have for breakfast is a cup of coffee, and many children go to school without eating anything.

Lunch

If you go to Britain to study English and you stay with a family you will almost certainly be given a packed lunch to eat for your midday meal. Some factories and schools have canteens where you can eat but the packed lunch is the most common thing to eat. A packed lunch usually consists of some sandwiches, a packet of crisps, an apple and a can of something to drink, for example, Coca-Cola. The quality of a packed lunch can vary from terrible to very good, it all depends on who makes it.

British tastes

In the past, traditional steakhouses were very popular places, but now many people prefer foreign food. Every British town has Indian and Chinese restaurants, and large towns have restaurants from many other countries too.

Pubs are very popular. There are over 60 000 pubs in the UK. British people drink an average of 99,4 litres of beer is drunk in pubs and clubs.

Tea-drinking

The British population drinks about 2 000 000 000 cups of tea a day! That is an average of nearly 1 040 cups of tea a year for each person. Tea – mostly green tea from China – came to Britain in the late 1500s, but it was only for the very rich. It became cheaper about three hundred years later in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). People from all classes started drinking it. But some people thought that too much tea was bad for your health. So they started putting milk in it, to make it healthier!

Would you like a cuppa?

If someone asks you if you would like a cuppa, they are asking you if you would like a cup of tea. If someone says «let me be mother» or «shall I be mother», they are offering to pour out the tea from the teapot.