Please read the vocabulary lesson at your natural speed, though it should not be too fast. Thank you!
Describe a typical food from your country
What is it and how is it made?
When is it eaten?
Why is it typical or special?
Student: This is quite a nice topic for me because I really love cooking and eating, and I am particularly interested in local foods from my country. Probably the most famous dish from my part of the world is a chicken stew or casserole, which we traditionally eat at New Year. It’s actually quite easy to make. The basic ingredients are chicken, obviously, (actually you can use a whole chicken or just legs, wings and thighs) a few root vegetables like carrots and parsnips, some finely chopped onion and garlic and a few herbs like parsley, fennel and thyme. The method is pretty simple. You gently fry the onions and garlic in butter with a few small pieces of ham. At the same time, you chop the chicken into pieces and cover it in flour. You fry it straightaway, adding a little water and salt. Then, you basically put all the ingredients together in a huge casserole dish and cook them gently for about three hours. It’s absolutely delicious eaten with rice. The reason why I like it so much is that the whole family sits down together at the end of the year and everyone shares their recollections of the period just gone and their hopes and aspirations for the next twelve months. It is a time to reflect and understand. It’s actually one of the few times in the year when everything stands still and you can take time to think and talk. We all have a glass of wine and a toast for the New Year. The fact that we are eating more or less what our great-grandparents and their great-grandparents ate at New Year is a lovely feeling. It connects you to the past and reminds you where you came from. In those days, this casserole was really a luxury. These days, when most people who want to can eat meat regularly, it might seem a bit less exotic, but it reminds us of our past, which I think is incredibly important.
Examiner: We have been talking about a typical food from your country and now I would like to ask you some more general questions relating to this topic.
EXPLAIN why some people become vegetarian
Student: That’s a very interesting question. Actually, I read somewhere recently that the number of vegetarians in my country has trebled this year. I’m not very well qualified to answer this question because I am a real carnivore, I love eating meat, but I guess there are two main reasons. The first would be that some people are morally or ethically opposed to eating meat as producing meat involves murdering animals. I suppose I have some sympathy with this view though not enough to actually stop eating meat. The second main reason is to do with taste. Some people actually don’t like the taste of meat and poultry, though actually I can’t understand why. Probably in the future, as meat substitute products improve, and the price of meat rises due to scarcity, vegetarianism might become even more popular. I wouldn’t be surprised.
COMPARE the different places you can buy food
Student: Well, where I live there are basically two options. There are a number of huge supermarkets which sell just about everything you could possibly want to buy, and there are local markets where you can buy a limited range of fresh food, mainly meat and fish, fruit and vegetables and some herbs and spices I think. The main reason why the supermarkets are so popular is to do with the range of products available and convenience. You can park your car outside, get a shopping trolley and whiz round in no time at all. Usually they will have just about everything you need so you only have to go once a week. You can even do your shopping online and they will deliver it to your door for a price of course. The other alternative is the local market. There you can get very fresh produce at reasonable prices. Most of the things you can get there are supplied by local farmers and you can definitely taste the difference. It’s relatively inexpensive too. Another reason people often prefer to shop there is because the people who serve you tend to be a lot friendlier and if you’re a regular at a particular shop, they get to know you and might give you a discount from time to time.
ASSESS whether people in your country have a healthy diet
Student: Sadly, I would have to say that people from my country, especially the younger generation have an absolutely disgusting diet. They tend to eat junk food, which is full of salt and fat and sugar. As a result, levels of obesity are up, and heart-disease and illnesses related to blood pressure and cholesterol are higher. A lot of younger people get diabetes and liver problems as well. Older people usually eat quite healthily. They were brought up to know the importance of a nutritious and balanced diet but the problem is that youngsters just have no idea and don’t know about anything except burgers, fries and coke.
CONSIDER whether the food we eat now is healthier than the food our grandparents ate
Student: Well that’s one area in which we definitely haven’t made any progress. My grandparents ate fresh fruit and vegetables, occasionally fresh meat or fish, and hardly any chocolate or sugary foods. They worked hard all day so they burned off the calories and they didn’t usually eat large amounts of food. Well, that’s mainly because they couldn’t afford it. As I’ve already mentioned, people today basically eat rubbish, food with almost no nutritional value and none of the vitamins and minerals they need. I’m not surprised so many people are unhealthy and it seems amazing to me that life expectancy is actually rising.
January 1st is New Year's Day. Often the evening before is a night of celebration called New Year's Eve. In both of these expressions, we mark the possessive case: New Year's.
I changed 'cover (the chicken) in flour' to 'dredge (the chicken) in flour'. It seems that if you cover it, you'll end up using lots of flour, but 'dredging' uses only a tiny amount to coat the surface of the meat.
"Murdering animals" has been replaced with "killing animals". Murder is viewed as the killing of persons, not of animals. A vegetarian MIGHT say that animals are being murdered, but that is because he or she is attempting to make an ethical distinction that a meat-eater will certainly not agree with.
The word 'trebling' is usually UK usage. In the U.S. and Canada, we say 'tripling'. Likewise for 'trolley' vs. 'shopping cart'. I didn't change these words in the reading, but I thought you might be interested to know about them.