Unit 9 Food Grammar: Past habits – Present habits: used to – to be used to

Learn the active vocabulary of the unit

guidebook	to recover from	mug of tea	fried
cutlery	sizzling sausage	to be coated with	delight
lard	plain	pot of salt and pepper	incredible
to offer sth	essential	on an empty stomach	at least
to stare	devoted followers	window glass	to remove
greasy	to go unnoticed	sticky	layer
to contain	to cover	delicious	to hurry
baked	beans	to run out of

1. Read the following extracts from text a. What do you think the underlined words and phrases mean? Try to work out their meaning from the context (without using a dictionary).

1. These small restaurants are so common that they often go unnoticed, but if they were removed, the country would be on its knees.

To be on one’s knees means

1. to be very happy;

2. to be nearly destroyed;

3. to be very difficult to notice.

2. … there are hundreds of them, fuelling the population with bacon, egg and sausage.

To fuel in this context means

1. to feed;

2. to drive;

3. to poison.

3. In a typical greasy spoon, you will find people from different walks of life.

People from all walks of life means

1. are not very well-off;

2. come from different social groups;

3. have a lot of free time.

4. Poets, builders, hurrying businessmen, students lazing around with huge mugs of tea.

Lazing around means

1. to wander about;

2. to sit;

3. to have nothing to do.

5. If you want something less filling, there’s still a lot to choose from.

Less filling in this context means

1. not so tasty;

2. not so nutritious (поживний);

3. less delicious.

2. Read the text about Greasy Spoons and translate the sentences with the phrases from Ex. 1 Text a

“Greasy spoons” very rarely appear in guidebooks, but they are an essential part of life in the UK, especially for people living in the bigger cities. These small restaurants are so common that they often go unnoticed, but if they were removed, the country would be on its knees. In London there are hundreds of them, fuelling the population with bacon, eggs and sausage.

Greasy spoon cafés are so called because any cutlery that comes into contact with the food is immediately coated with a sticky, greasy layer of lard. Greasy spoons are generally found slightly away from the main streets of most towns, they usually have large glass windows, a plastic sign with the name of the café – usually containing the name of the owner, e.g. Mario’s, Bob’s Place, Rita’s café – and a huge menu offering a wide variety of delights. Inside they are generally clean and functional. You’ll see old wooden seats, tables covered with cracked linoleum and plain walls. Each table has on it a bottle of brown sauce, tomato ketchup and vinegar, and pots of salt and pepper.

In a typical greasy spoon, you will find people from all walks of life: poets, builders, hurrying businessmen, students lazing around with huge mugs of tea. Some read novels, some stare into space, and others read newspapers.

The meals here are dangerously unhealthy and absolutely delicious. All kinds of fried food can be bought for incredibly low prices. The centrepiece is usually the traditional English breakfast. You have to be really brave to eat it in the morning, because it’s huge. At least two pieces of bacon, two sizzling sausages, two fried eggs, fried mushrooms, baked beans and bread soaked in hot oil and fried. The English breakfast is full of meat and fat. If you want something less filling, there’s still a lot to choose from. There is also often a range of vegetarian sausages and burgers.

Greasy spoons have some devoted followers. If you type “greasy spoon” into an Internet search there will appear hundreds of entries. You can see pictures, reviews, menus and stories about it. But of course, it’s better to go to a greasy spoon café yourself.

Notes: vinegar – оцет;

centrepiece – основний об’єкт

entry –повідомлення

a range of –тут вибір