Reading practice

TEST Read and complete the text below. For each of the empty spaces (1—12) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D). FOOD Visitors to the US think either that there is no real American food, only (1) .......... borrowed from other countries, or else that the Americans eat only "fast food". While there is some truth in both these impressions, real American food does exist. The British also have a poor (2) ........ for food. Visitors to Britain often (3) ........... that food in restaurants is badly presented, overdone and has no taste. But the best English food is not generally found in restaurants but in people's homes. Certain foods are considered essential to traditional British cooking and form the basis of most meals. These (4) ............. bread, pastry and (5) ............ products such as milk, cheese and eggs. Potatoes, especially chips, are eaten at lunch or dinner. A (6) .............. potato (a potato baked whole in its skin) with cheese is a popular "pub lunch". Good (7) ............... home cooking, i.e. food prepared without spicy or creamy sauces, is something the British are proud of. People's interest in trying new recipes is encouraged by the many cookery programs on TV. Famous TV (8) ................ include Della Smith and Ainsley Harriott. They give advice about healthy eating. The main idea is to (9) ............... the amount of fatty foods and sugar and to (10) ............... people to eat more fruit and vegetables. When British and American people (11) .................... they can choose from a wide range of eating places: burger bars, pizzerias, fast food outlets. They seem to be (12) ................ a battle between what they want to eat and what is good for them. 1 А courses B meals С dishes D stuff 2 А taste B status С experience D reputation 3 А complain B argue С discuss D persuade 4 А have B include С consist D mean 5 А dаiry B organic С fatty D vegetarian 6 А coat B dressed С jacket D peeled 7 А easy B simple С ordinary D plain 8 А chefs B bosses С chiefs D directors 9 А ignore B miss С reduce D neglect 10 А encourage B help С convince D assure 11 А take out B eat out C get out D stay out 12 А playing B fighting С struggling D combating

Modern Cooking We all need to eat to keep fit and healthy. Young children cannot grow tall and strong unless they eat a well-balanced diet. This means a selection of foods that provide protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and mineral elements. Some foods can be digested raw but other foods are heated and cooked to make digestion faster. Salad leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, vegetables such as carrots, and fruit do not need cooking. However apples are an example of fruit that can be eaten raw and also cooked. Stewed apples, apples baked in the oven and apples in pies and topped with crumble are ways of eating the fruit. When food is cooked, it is heated. Before people had electricity and gas, they cooked on wood and charcoal fires. A fairly recent addition to cooking is the microwave. This speeds up the cooking time. Fan ovens are also more efficient. Barbecue cooking outside in the garden on a warm day in summer, is very popular. In the kitchen, utensils are used to contain the food, and they vary from open pans to pans with lids, frying pans, steamers, pressure cookers and woks. Before supermarkets sold ready cooked meals that just require re-heating, it was the tradition that men left the women in the home to prepare and cook food. Now both men and women share the tasks in well-designed kitchens. In restaurants, the chef, a few years ago, was nearly always male. Today however, there are as many female chefs as men. There has been a great revival in the way food is cooked, mainly in part due to seeing a lot of cooking programmes on television. These are often presented as competitions like Master Chef and the Great British bake-off. Also people travel more to foreign countries and return home with exotic and interesting recipes. The availability of ingredients in the supermarkets also encourages experimentation. The kitchen is now the 'hub' of the house. The family, friends and visitors when waiting for a meal to be prepared all gather in the kitchen and help to prepare the dishes or watch others doing the cooking. The utensils available to aid the food preparation are plentiful. Different types of knives for example. Aprons and oven gloves help to protect us from spills and heat when taking hot dishes from the oven. Some people love cooking, planning the meal, assembling the ingredients and then preparing the food. Others however prefer to open a tin of food and hot up the contents. ESL Cooking Reading Comprehension Reading comprehension questions that go with the above reading passage. 1) Why do we need to eat a well-balanced diet? A) To keeps us fit and healthy and helps children grow. B) To help us balance on wet surfaces. C) We need a balanced diet to help us live to be 100. D) We can live well without a balanced diet. 2) Which food mentioned in the passage can be eaten raw? A) Dates B) Oranges C) Brazil nuts D) Apples 3) Where do people most often cook using a barbecue? A) Inside the house. B) In the garden C) In the garage. D) In the kitchen. 4) Where can you buy ready prepared meals for heating up at home? A) At airports. B) On the beach. C) In supermarkets. D) Only in London. 5) What is the main reason for using a microwave? A) To shorten cooking time. B) To teach young children how to cook. C) To melt icecream. D) To make food much

ESL Halloween Reading Comprehension Passage Halloween is a celebration that happens on the 31st of October. It originally came from a Christian religious day. The 1st of November is All Saints Day, so Halloween is the eve or night before this. Nowadays it is mainly just an excuse for people to have fun. The holiday was mainly celebrated in America and from there has spread to many other countries. It is meant to be the day, and mainly the night, when monsters come out of hiding. This means that people associate scary and frightening things with Halloween. There are three main traditions linked to Halloween. The first is carving pumpkins, the second is decorating your house and the third is trick-or-treating. Pumpkins are big vegetables that go an orange color when they are ripe and ready to eat. When someone carves a pumpkin they cut the top off it and scoop out all the seeds and flesh from the inside. Then they carve a pattern into the outside of the pumpkin. Often they cut the pattern so that there are holes into the center of the pumpkin. It is traditional to carve your pumpkin into a scary face. Then when it is dark you put a candle or light inside the pumpkin so the light shines out of the frightening face that was carved. Then the pumpkins would be used to decorate your house. You would put them in a window or on the front porch so people in the street can see them. However, the decorations have become much better over the years. Now people try to make their houses look as if they are a haunted house by making skeletons to hang in the garden or putting tombstones outside the house. They might also make it look as if there are lots of spider webs. The people from the house try to make it look as scary as possible. Finally, children will get dressed up in costumes and go out trick-or-treating. This is where they go to people’s houses and ask for sweets or candy, their treat. If the house refused to give them anything then they would play a trick on the house. Adults do not go trick-or-treating, unless that are looking after children, but do often have their own parties at night. At these parties people would also be dressed up as monsters or anything else that is scary. READ AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW 1) Why is Halloween scary and frightening? A) It is in the dark winter. B) It is when monsters come out. C) It is because it is Christian. D) Halloween is not a scary holiday. 2) Which of the following is not part of Halloween? A) Carving pumpkins B) Trick-or-treat C) Decorating your house D) Singing special songs 3) Where are pumpkins normally displayed? A) In cars B) On the front porch C) In the kitchen D) At churches 4) What do people try to do when they decorate their houses? A) Make them look scary. B) Make them look cute. C) Make them look old. D) Make them look bright. 5) Why do adults go trick-or-treating? A) To get candy and sweets. B) To have a party. C) To look after children. D) To give other children sweets.