UNIT Proficiency

9
Describing food and eating habits

Food Around the World Reviewing restaurants

VOCABULARY: Food and cooking

A. Check the words you already know.

Nouns Verbs Adjectives

chili pepper lemon peanut bake alcoholic

cilantro lime potato cook fresh
coconut meat rice wine long for raw
dough olive oil seafood make by hand sour
flour onion soy sauce marinate spicy
garlic orange tomato serve sweet
juice noodle wheat swallow thick

B. For the words you don’t know, ask your partner. Use the following sentences:
Student A: What does ________
spicy mean?
Student B: It means ___________
picante in Spanish. (or) I don’t know. Let’s ask the instructor.

READING: Famous Dishes from Around the World

A. Read about the following dishes and answer the questions below.

Massaman Curry (Thailand)

Main ingredients: Chili peppers, cilantro, white pepper, garlic, meat (usually
chicken), potatoes, onions, coconut cream, and peanuts
Massaman curry is a little less spicy than other curries, so it can be enjoyed
by almost anyone.
Interesting note: Massaman curry is considered the ‘king of all curries.’ An
18th century poem dedicated to Massaman curry reads, “Any man who has
swallowed the curry will always long for her.”

Neapolitan Pizza (Italy)

Main ingredients: San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, and
olive oil
Preparation: The wheat-flour dough should be made by hand and baked in a
wood-fired oven.
Interesting note: The famous New York-style pizza was developed by
immigrants from Naples, Italy, who based it on Neapolitan pizza.

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Udon (Japan)
Main ingredients: Thick white noodles made from wheat flour, soy
sauce, rice wine, and green onions
Preparation: Udon is served cold in the summer and hot in the winter.
Interesting note: Like most noodle dishes in Japan, it is OK to loudly
slurp the noodles while eating.

Ceviche (Peru)
Main ingredients: Fresh raw seafood, citrus juice (lemon, lime, or
orange), chili peppers, onion, and cilantro
Preparation: Raw seafood is marinated in citrus juice for a slightly
sweet and sour taste.
Interesting note: Ceviche is considered a part of Peruvian national heritage.
It is often served with pisco sour, the national alcoholic beverage of Peru.

SPEAKING: What food do you like?

A. Discuss the following questions with a partner.
1. Have you ever tried these dishes? Which ones do you want to try?
2. What are some kinds of food you like to eat at restaurants?
3. What do you like to eat at home? Do you know how to cook or prepare those meals?
4. What food have you never tried but want to someday?
5. What food will you never eat?

GRAMMAR: Singular and plural count nouns

For most nouns, just add -s For words ending in -sh, For words ending with a
to make a noun plural. -ch, -ss, and -x , add -es. consonant + y, add -ies.

onion → onions dish → dishes activity → activities

ingredient → ingredients church → churches baby → babies
recipe → recipes class → classes country → countries
box → boxes

For words ending with a consonant + o, Some nouns are irregular and have
sometimes add -es special plural forms.
tomato → tomatoes tooth → teeth
potato → potatoes child → children
and sometimes only add -s. fish → fish
piano → pianos sheep → sheep
kilo → kilos

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A. Exercise: Use the plural form of the nouns for each sentence.
1. His family has two ________
boys (boy) and three _________
girls (girl).
2. Some (family) __________
families have more than seven __________
children (child).
3. We need three (egg) _________ and two (tomato) _____________
eggs tomatoes for this dish.
4. We will need three (cup) __________
cups and three (bowl) ___________
bowls
on the table.
5. This is a story about three (sheep) _________ who are running from two (fox)________.
sheep foxes

Note: When speaking in general, English speakers often use the plural form of count nouns.
• I like dogs more than cats.
• Apartments are quite expensive in big cities.

GRAMMAR: Non-count nouns

Non-count nouns do not have a plural form. Many kinds of food are noncount nouns

Condiments, herbs,
Beverages Grains Categories of food
and spices
water rice sugar meat
milk wheat salt fruit
coffee flour pepper dairy
tea cilantro cereal

Nouns that describe a group of items are often non-count. The types of items within that group
are often count nouns.

Non-count nouns describing a group Things in the group (count nouns)

money coins, dimes, dollars, bills, etc.

furniture chairs, tables, beds, sofas, etc.

traffic/transportation cars, taxis, buses, trains, airplanes, etc.

jewelry rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc.

fruit apples, peaches, blueberries, bananas, etc.

homework assignments, projects, exercises, essays, etc.

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A. Correct the following sentences:
1. I’m thirsty. Do we have any milks or juices in the fridge?
→ I’m thirsty. Do we have any milk or juice in the fridge?

2. We don’t have enough monies to buy expensive jewelries.

We don't have enough money to buy expensive jewelry.
________________________________________________________________________________
3. Are there any coffees left in the coffee pot? Or do we need to make more?
Are there any coffee left in the coffee pot? Or do we need to make more?
________________________________________________________________________________
4. We’re moving to a new house. Can you help us move our furnitures?
We’re moving to a new house. Can you help us move our furniture?
________________________________________________________________________________
5. I sometimes eat fruits for breakfast, but I usually eat cereals.
I sometimes eat fruit for breakfast, but I usually eat cereal.
________________________________________________________________________________

B. Use singular grammar when using non-count nouns.

Is there any milk in the refrigerator?
This juice has a lot of vitamin C.

Circle the correct form of the verb for each sentence.

1. The traffic is/are bad at this time of the day. There is/are too many cars on the road.
2. Fruit has/have a lot of vitamin C. Oranges, for example, has/have a lot of vitamin C.
3. Strawberries also has/have a lot of antioxidants.
4. There isn’t/aren’t any milk in the house. Can you buy some?
5. This fruit is/are going bad. The bananas is/are turning brown.

SPEAKING: Picture description

A. Describe what is in the picture. Use the correct grammar for count and noncount nouns.

There are ________________________________

two apples
.
There are________________________________
two carrots .
There is a/an __banana
___________________________ .
There is a/an_____________________________
onion .
There is some ____________________________
sugar .
There is some____________________________
milk
.
There is some ____________________________
coffe .
There is some____________________________
flour
.
There is some____________________________
juice
.

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LISTENING: Birthday plans

A. Listen to Ellen and her mother make birthday plans. Answer the questions.

Questions
Jenifer
1. Who has a birthday coming soon? ______________________________________
2. How old will she be? __she
________________________________________________
will be 12 years old.

3. Who will make the cake?__ellen

_____________________________________________
4. What will her mother buy? ______________________________________________________
butter, eggs, icing and 12 candles.

5. What food items are talked about that her mother will not buy? ______________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
flour, sugar and baking powder.

SPEAKING: What food do you like?

A. Complete each sentence with a food item. If you do not know the English word for the food you
select, look it up in a dictionary.
I love ___________________________________
coffe

I like ___________________________________
milk

I don’t mind _____________________________

sugar

I don’t care for___________________________

olluquito

I can’t stand* ____________________________

tomato

*can’t stand: You dislike the food so much that you can’t eat even a little.

B. Share your sentences with your partner and ask your partner if he/she likes each food item.
Write a sentence for each food using the conjunctions and or but. Writes sentences for the
food items that your partner talked about as well.

Examples
I love strawberries, and my partner likes them too.
I don’t care for onions, but my partner doesn’t mind them.

1._______________________________________________________________________________
I don't like tomatoes, but my partner doesn't mind them.

2._______________________________________________________________________________
I love pineapple and my partner likes them too.

3._______________________________________________________________________________
I like carrots and my partner doesn't like it.

4._______________________________________________________________________________
I love coffee and my partner likes it too.

5._______________________________________________________________________________
I don't like sweets, but my partner does.

6._______________________________________________________________________________
I like vegetables and my partner doesn't like it.

7._______________________________________________________________________________
I love watermelon and my partner likes it too.

8._______________________________________________________________________________
I don't like sushi, but my partner doesn't mind them.

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GRAMMAR: Some and Any
Some and any can go with plural count nouns and noncount nouns.

Some is used for statements:

There are some bananas in the cupboard.
There is some milk in the fridge.

Any is used for questions and negative statements.

Are there any peaches left on the tree? No. There aren’t any peaches.
Is there any juice left in the fridge? No. There isn’t any.

A. Complete the sentences with some or any.

1. We have _________
some
salt, but do we have __________
any pepper?
2. I’d like to buy ___________
some fruit. Do you have _________
any apples?
3. We don’t have _________
any milk or butter.
4. There are __________
some forks and spoons on the table, but there aren’t ___________
any plates.
5. Do you have _________
any extra chairs?

SPEAKING: Find the difference

A. Get with a partner. One of you will be Student A, and the other will be Student B.
Student A turn to page 132. Student B turn to page 134.

There are five differences between the pictures. Without looking at your partner’s picture, ask
and answer questions to find out what has changed.

Example:
A: There are some bananas in my picture. Are there any bananas in your picture?
B: Yes, there are. How about chips? Are there any chips in your picture?
A: No, there aren’t. OK. That’s one difference. Let’s find the other four.

Difference 1: There are some chips in Picture B, but there aren’t any chips in Picture A.
Difference 2: ____________________________________________________________________
Difference 3: ____________________________________________________________________
Difference 4: ____________________________________________________________________
Difference 5:_____________________________________________________________________

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LISTENING: A rave review

A. The following are words used to describe food. Look up the words you do not know.

crisp sour sweet raw healthy

dry oily salty fresh heavy
spicy greasy bitter ripe light

B. Ellen reviewed a new restaurant she tried. Listen and answer the questions.

1. Mark the following statements true or false.

False
A. _______________ Ellen usually doesn’t try new restaurants.
True
B. _______________ Ellen likes the atmosphere of the Tasty Cafe.
False
C. _______________ The service in the restaurant is excellent.
True
D. _______________ Ellen liked her meal.
False
E. _______________ Ellen’s sisters both liked their meals.
True
F. _______________ Ellen recommends the cafe to others.

2. What were some of the good points of the cafe? (be specific)
The atmosphere, the art of pardes, the sandwiches and the food.
________________________________________________________________________________

3. What were some things that Ellen or her sisters complained about?
about the service that takes a bit.
________________________________________________________________________________

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WRITING: Restaurant review

A. Review a restaurant in your city. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the name and location of the restaurant?
_______________________________________________________
LAS FLORES RESTAURANT in Ayacucho

2. What kind of food does the restaurant serve?

_______________________________________________________
Typical meals

3. What was the atmosphere like?

pleasant and spacious
_______________________________________________________

4. What did you order? ___________________________________________________________

puca with pork rinds

5. How was the food?_____________________________________________________________

very good

very well
6. How was the service?___________________________________________________________
a little expensive
7. How expensive is the food?______________________________________________________
Yes, I do.
8. Do you recommend the restaurant? _______________________________________________

SPEAKING: Find someone who

A. Write questions for each topic. Be careful with the grammar.

B. Next, find people who answer ‘yes’ to your questions. Find a different person for each question.

Are you the third child in your family? _________________ is the third child in his/her family.
_________________________________

_________________________________? _________________ is artistic.

_________________________________? _________________ is taking four classes.

_________________________________? _________________ is working part-time

_________________________________? _________________ has a new cellphone.

_________________________________? _________________ exercises more than twice a week.

_________________________________? _________________ was in high school last year.

_________________________________? _________________ was hurt in an accident last year.

_________________________________? _________________ had a cellphone in middle school.

_________________________________? _________________ went camping last year.

_________________________________? _________________ will take a trip this year.

_________________________________? _________________ will move to a new city next year.

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WRITING & SPEAKING: 5-minute conversations

A. Write four or five sentences to answer each of the following questions.

Use the following cues to help you think of more things to say on each topic:
FRED
F → Facts
R → Reasons
E → Examples
D → Details

Example: Can you recommend a good restaurant?

A good restaurant is Wong’s Garden.

F → Facts It serves Chinese food. It’s near main street in the downtown area.
R → Reasons It has great food and is not very expensive.
E → Examples My favorite dish is the Kung Pao chicken, and I also love their spring rolls.
D → Details You can have a good lunch there for about $7.

Note that you do not have to have a sentence for each category. Just try to have additional
sentences for most of your answers.

Example: What is a dish or meal that you know how to cook or prepare?

I can make spaghetti.

F → Facts I make it with noodles, salt, and spaghetti sauce from the store.
R → Reasons I make it because I love spaghetti, and it’s very easy to make.
E → Examples
D → Details First, you boil some water and add the noodles and a little salt.
Then you drain the noodles and add the spaghetti sauce. That’s it!

1. What is a dish or meal that you know how to cook or prepare?

I know how to prepare vegetable tortillas
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

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2. Can you recommend a good restaurant?
In Ayacucho a good restaurant is EL RETABLO
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3. What would be a perfect meal for you?

a nutritious meal
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

4. What are some of your favorite kinds of food? What are some of your least favorite
foods?
My favorite foods are: vegetable omelette, ají de gallina and ceviche.
____________________________________________________________________________
and the least favorite: el olluquito con charqui
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

5. Do you eat healthy food? Do you want to change any of your eating habits?
Yes, I eat healthy foods like sweat.
____________________________________________________________________________
Yes, I want to quit junk food.
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

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