Post-reading

Discuss the following questions:

1) Why do you think Elsa was surprised that her professor invited the class to a party at his house? Would you be surprised if this happened to you?

2) What are two reasons that might explain why Rick chose to bring potato chips to the party?

3) Do you think that Rick and Jeanette like the same kind of food for dinner? Explain.

4) Have you ever been to a potluck party? What do you think about the custom?

Role-play

You are planning a get-together for Sunday. You wish to give your friends a fabulous time - they really deserve it after hard work. In order to please all your friends you will have to work everything out, down to the last detail. Find out your friends’ tastes in food and soft drinks.

[3] & Reading

Where would you prefer to go to have a snack / to have supper with your boyfriend (girlfriend) / to eat and have some fun?

Read the following texts. Explain the meaning of the underlined phrases and use them in the sentences of your own.

At the Restaurant

The Old Mill,

The Quay, Wardleton, Sussex

Open: Tuesday-Sunday

P.m.

This week we decided to look at a small family-run restaurant in the village of Wardleton. 'The Old Mill' is newly opened and overlooks the River Wardle, and we had heard several favourable comments about it. Because we had been advised to book early, we managed to get a nice table with a view of the quay. We were made very wel­come and the service was excel­lent because it is a small family business. The proprietor, Jeff Dean, runs the kitchen himself and his wife, Nelly, showed us to our table.

Although the choice of items on the menu was very exten­sive, it was rather traditional. A long menu always worries me, because a large menu often means a large freezer! We started with Wardle Trout and although it was fresh, it was spoilt by the number of herbs. For my main course I chose the pepper steak, which was the speciality of the day. I thought it was almost perfect because the chef had chosen excellent meat and it was cooked just long enough.

My wife ordered the roast lamb, and although the quality of the meat was good, she thought it was a little under­done. Though the vegetables were fresh, they came in very small portions and were rather over-cooked for our taste. However, the bread was fresh because it had been baked on the premises. I have often com­plained in this column about the difficulty of finding any res­taurant which serves a fresh fruit salad. Luckily, this one did. Even though it must have been very time-consuming to prepare, it was a delight to see, and I had a second helping.

As usual I chose house wine, as this is often the best way to judge a restaurant's wine list. It was a French-bottled table wine which was quite satisfactory and reasonably priced. The bill, including coffee and bran­dy, came to $37, which was acceptable for the class of res­taurant, although that did not include service.