Tea in Britain

Britain is a tea-drinking nation. Every day we drink 165 million cups of the stuff and each year around 144 thousand tons of tea are imported.

Tea in Britain is traditionally brewed in a warmed china teapot, adding one spoonful of tea per person and one for the pot. Most Britons like their tea strong and dark, but with a lot of milk.

If someone asks you if you ‘ would like a cuppa ‘, they are asking if you would like a cup of tea.

If someone says ‘ let me be mother ‘ or ‘ shall I be mother ‘, they are offering to pour out the tea from the teapot.

Tea break, High Tea, tea time, tea party, tea towel and many more terms have derived from the tradition of drinking tea.

Tea breaks are when tea and biscuits are served. The traditional time for tea breaks are at 11:00 am (Elevensee) and 4 pm in the afternoon.

If something is not quite to your taste, it’s probably ‘ not your cup of tea ‘.
e.g. Windsurfing is not my cup of tea.

FOOD, NATIOAL CUISINE

№2

1. Now let’s talk about food. What can you tell me about eating habits inBelarus?
2. Do you personally follow the rules of a healthy way of life? Why (not)?
3. What questions can you ask a British friend about their national cuisine?
4. Can you tell me how to cook one of your favourite dishes?
5. Most of the families want to have a big kitchen in the flat, but at the same time they have a meal together less and less often. What do you think about it?

It really happens very often when families pay special attention to their kitchens making them bigger with special modern design. The reason is that, we view our kitchen as a place where we can relax and enjoy delicious food. But as we are usually very busy during the day time we can have a meal together with the whole family only in the evening. It is usually a special time for the family. In my family we sometimes spend an hour or so to have supper and to discuss all the things that have happened during the day. I think it is the reason to have a big kitchen with comfortable interior.

№3

1. Now let’s talk about food. What can you tell me about eating habits in your family?
2. Do you often invite guests to have a meal together?
3. What questions can you ask a British friend about their eating habits?

4. Which cafes would you recommend to visit in your place? Why?

A very popular pastime is eating out in a restaurant or a café. In most towns there is a wide variety of restaurants, a number of bars and cafes where you can get sandwiches and other snacks. So is in Grodno. You may go to the center of the town and walk along a central street. You will see a number of cafes. It will be up to your taste what to choose, because they are rather different.

5. Scientists say that fast food is unhealthy but people go on eating it. What do you think about it?

№4

1. Now let’s talk about food. What do people eat in Britain?

Some people criticize English food. They say it’s unimaginable, boring, tasteless, it’s chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables. If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say “Fish and chips” then stop. It is disappointing, but true that, there is no tradition in England of eating in restaurants, because the food doesn’t lend itself to such preparation. English cooking is found at home. So it is difficult to find a good English restaurant with reasonable prices. In most cities in Britain you’ll find Indian, Chinese, French and Italian restaurants. In London you’ll also find Indonesian, Mexican, Greek… Cynics will say that this is because English have no “cuisine” themselves, but this is not quite the true. Everyone knows that tea is the most popular drink in Britain. It’s even more popular than coffee, which is favoured throughout Europe and America.

Nowadays, throughout the homes, tea shops and hotels of Britain, the custom of tea-time continues. Tea in Britain is brewed in a teapot. Then one spoonful of tea per person and one for the pot is added. Most people in Britain prefer a rich, strong cup of tea with milk and sugar added to taste.

2. Do you know many recipes?

3. What questions can you ask a waiter when you are ordering a meal in a cafe?

4. My friend wants to know more about national cuisines. Which national dishes would you recommend him to taste?

5. A lot of pupils refuse to have meals at school. What do you think about it?

We spend a lot of time at school. So it’s necessary to have a snack at midday just to keep you going on. That’s why we have to go to a school canteen to have lunch. Our school canteen leaves much to be desired. It has become a tradition with our canteen to serve chops and watery mashed potatoes every day with a glass of tea or stewed fruit. Nevertheless sometimes you may choose something to your taste.

Family traditions

Family is very important for every person, because it gives you a sense of stability and tradition, a feeling of having support and understanding. You feel secure when there’s a family behind you. They are people you can trust and rely on, people who won’t let you down and who share your joys and sorrows. In happy families parents are frank and honest with their children, they treat their children with respect without moralizing or bossing them, and children in their turn learn how to treat other people and how to form relationship with their peers.

I enjoy the honest and open relationship in my family. I like it when parents trust their children, give them enough freedom and respect them. I think these things make family relations warm and pleasant. There is no so-called “generation gap” in our family, though we may argue and disagree on certain issues. I can always bring my friend home and my parents are very positive about it, although they don’t always approve of our tastes, views and clothes.

I guess, when people spend more time together they are closer to each other.

We have some family traditions. But to my mind we haven’t got anything special or original in our family. All our family traditions are connected with some holidays. Apart from national holidays there are family holidays like birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. A birthday is always a happy event in our family. On these days we usually have a party. Friends and relatives come with flowers and gifts and a festive dinner is served with plenty of delicious food to eat. Afterwards the guests either dance or sing, listen to music or just chat. One more family tradition is spending summer holidays together either at the seaside or in the country, which I enjoy very much. I’d like to become more independent from my parents in future, nevertheless we’ll always be the best friends because my parents are the most important people in the world.

1. Are there any things that you do with your parents together?

My parents are the most important people in the world. You know, my parents and I are usually very busy during the weekdays and we seldom have a chance to spend time together. Sunday is the day when we can sit at a table and talk over everything that happened during the week. Eating together makes us feel close and we often have our most useful conversations at these times. Almost every weekend we visit our grandparents; sometimes we visit my uncle (aunt) and his family.

Also once a week my parents give the flat a big clean. Of course I help them with it. By the way it’s not so boring. I turn on music and we even have fun. Then we may go shopping together. I like to go shopping with my parents because they always buy me something. During our shopping rounds we discuss a lot of things and make plans for the next weekend.

2. What is your favourite family tradition?

My favourite tradition is to celebrate the New Year. It’s a special holiday with its charm and surprises. We give presents to each other, go for a walk together, visit our grandparents and family friends.

3. What will you ask your British friend about his/her family traditions?

Have you got any family traditions?

Do you like to spend your free time with your family?

What is the most unusual tradition in your family?

4. What can you advise people who want to get on well with their parents?

I think we are old enough to realize that adults are not saints and may make mistakes and that the so-called generation gap should not spoil our relations. Good children are prepared to compromise and meet their parents halfway, render any possible help to their parents, treat their parents in the way they would like to be treated themselves.

So first of all I can advise for anyone to try to understand the feelings of your parents and show respect to them. Even if you don’t agree with their thinking, try to make them understand politely, don’t use harsh words with them which may hurt. It’s important to celebrate your parents’ and grandparents’ birthdays. It will make them realize that you care for them.

5. Do you often spend your free time with your parents?

To tell you the truth, I don’t often spend time together with my family on weekdays. But on Sunday we try to organize something to have time for each other. We visit our grandparents and friends, go shopping, go for a walk or just eat out.

In summer we often go somewhere together to the seaside or to the country. I like such holidays because usually we have a lot of fun.

Let’s talk about family relationship

Family is very important for every person, because it gives you a sense of stability and tradition, a feeling of having support and understanding. You feel secure when there’s a family behind you. They are people you can trust and rely on, people who won’t let you down and who share your joys and sorrows. In happy families parents are frank and honest with their children, they treat their children with respect without moralizing or bossing them, and children in their turn learn how to treat other people and how to form relationship with their peers.

I enjoy the honest and open relationship in my family. I like it when parents trust their children, give them enough freedom and respect them. I think these things make family relations warm and pleasant. There is no so-called “generation gap” in our family, though we may argue and disagree on certain issues. I can always bring my friend home and my parents are very positive about it, although they don’t always approve of our tastes, views and clothes.

In fact I have a closer relationship with my mother. We understand each other better, which I think is quite natural. We can spend hours and hours talking about our family problems, fashion, views on education, people’s relations, their ambitions and the like.

I guess, when people spend more time together they are closer to each other. It’s a pity, but my parents and I are usually very busy during the weekdays and we seldom have a chance to spend time together. Sunday is the day when we can sit at a table and talk over everything that happened during the week. Eating together makes us feel close and we often have our most frank conversations at these times. Also once a week my parents give the flat a big clean. Of course I help them with it. By the way it’s not so boring. I turn on music and we even have fun. Then we may go shopping together. I like to go shopping with my parents because they always buy me something. During our shopping rounds we discuss a lot of things and make plans for the next weekend.

Almost every weekend we visit our grandparents; sometimes we visit my uncle (aunt) and his family.

I’d like to become more independent from my parents in future, nevertheless we’ll always be the best friends because my parents are the most important people in the world.

1. Why is family important for you?

Family is very important for me, because it gives me a sense of stability and tradition, a feeling of having support and understanding. I feel secure when there’s a family behind me. They are people I can trust and rely on, people who won’t let me down and who share my joys and sorrows. My parents are frank and honest with me, they treat me with respect without moralizing or bossing, and I in my turn learn how to treat other people and how to form relationship with my peers.

2. Why are there many one-parent families?

It’s sad that families are getting smaller these days. One-parent families are those where one of the parents is no longer part of the family unit, possibly due to death or divorce, leaving the remaining parent with the unenviable task of bringing up the children and trying to earn a living at the same time. Of course such families have support on behalf of the state. There are special financial programs to help the families with low income. Children may have free meals at school or they may have an opportunity to go to a summer camp.

3. What will you ask a British teenager about his/her relatives?

Have you got many relatives?

How many cousins have you got?

Have you got close relations with them?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14