Main writing form: Descriptive Paragraph

A paragraph is a block of writing that expresses one main idea. In descriptive paragraphs it is generally required to describe people, objects, or scenes.

          To write a descriptive paragraph you should

          a) write a topic sentence as the first sentence of the paragraph. The topic sentence should tell your reader what the subject of your paragraph will be. Beginning your paragraphs with a topic sentence helps you decide what details you will choose to support the topic sentence; 

          b) support the paragraph development with specific, concrete, real-world facts, examples and description; 

          c) write a closing sentence.

This description of the room comes from a story set in ancient China.

 

Judge Dee opened the room. Holding his lantern high, he surveyed the small square room, simply but elegantly furnished. On the left was a high narrow window; directly in front of it stood a heavy ebony cupboard, bearing a large copper tea stove. On the stove stood a round pewter pan for boiling the tea water. Next to the stove he saw a small teapot of exquisite blue and white porcelain. The rest of the wall was entirely taken by bookshelves, as was the wall opposite. The back wall had a low broad window; its paper panes were scrupulously clean. In front of the window stood an antique desk of rosewood with three drawers in either end, and a comfortable armchair, also of rosewood and covered with a red satin cushion. The desk was empty but for two copper candlesticks.

 

Use what you have learned in this unit to write a description (about 150 words) of a bedroom (kitchen, etc) you’d like to have. Write your description as if, like Judge Dee’s description, it came from a piece of fiction.

Writing advertisements for houses.

For Rent: …………………………..

Address: ……………………………

·  Type of place ………………………………

· Where ……………………………………………

· Cost ……………………………………………..

· Size ……………………………………………….

· Inside the house/flat (rooms, furniture, etc) ……

· Outside the house/flat ………………………….

          Write two short advertisements (50 words each).

 

TASKS FOR LISTENING

 

Listen to Dialogue 1. Fill in the blanks.

 

Anna lives in a (1)… near the (2). It’s got (3)… rooms. The living room is quite (4) …. She is quite happy there, but it isn’t (5) …. There is a lot of (6) … outside, and inside it’s a bit (7) …. Anna would really like to have a small (8) … near the sea with an (9) … tree in the (10) ….

 

Listen to Text 1. Circle the letter next to the best answer.

1. The word ‘yenta’ means:

 

a) neighbourhood; b) busybody; c) tongue.  

 

2. Yentas are women who

 

a) work at Weather Forecast Centres;

b) are well-known reporters;

c) see, hear and know all about their neighbourhoods.

 

3. Some people think yentas

 

a) are too much concerned with local affairs;

b) are too much concerned with their own affairs.

 

4. Why do people in the neighbourhood grudgingly appreciate their yentas?

 

a) because nobody is safe from their tongue;

b) because they have a good English accent;

c) because sometimes they help to find a child or report a mugging.

 

   

 3. Listen to Text 2 (Part 1). Answer the following questions.

1. What is the speaker’s favourite room?

2. Why is it the most important room in the house?

3. What are the happy memories of the times spent there?

4. Where do people ‘gravitate’ during parties?

 

Listen to Text 2 (Part 2). Choose the best variant to complete the sentence.

 

1. The focal point of the room is

a) a big chest of drawers;

b) a good-sized rectangular table.

 

2. The window looks out into

a) two apple trees in the garden;

b) a local supermarket.

 

3. A wooden ‘pulley’ is used for

a) drying clothes in wet weather;

b) cleaning windows.

 

4. The front door in the house is used only by

a) strangers;

b) the members of the family.

UNIT 2. MEALS. EATING HABITS

 

INTRODUCTORY TEXT

 

· British meals are an important element in family life. They have a great cementing effect when the family members sit together round the table at a definite time.

     Breakfast is often a rather hurried and informal meal. The fresh milk for breakfast is delivered to the house in bottles. A full breakfast commonly begins with a cereal like corn-flakes, to which milk and sugar are added. Then fried eggs, bacon or sausages may follow with fried bread or fried potatoes. Buttered slices of toast conclude the meal, and tea or coffee is drunk with it. But most people have less than this for breakfast, and some have a hot drink or no breakfast at all.

     The midday lunch time is from 12.30 to 2.00 p.m. The main course consists of meat, potatoes and other vegetables. The meat is normally beef or lamb; the vegetables are commonly carrots, beans, onions and cauliflower.

      The next meal is ‘tea’ in the afternoon, called ‘afternoon tea’. At about five o’clock the mother and children may have cups of tea, with slices of bread and butter, and cakes. If they wait a little later for the father to come back from work, they may have ‘high tea’, which is a cooked meal. After ‘high tea’ nothing more is usually taken except a hot drink and some biscuits before going to bed. Middle-class families have a light, early tea first. Then they have dinner at seven or eight o’clock. Some families have a small late evening meal, called supper. The supper is usually cold.

· British food is rather limited. Britain has to import a large amount of manufactured foods and ingredients in packets, tins and bottles from other countries. This in turn saves the housewife plenty of work in food preparation. In spite of this Britain has some excellent traditional food: lamb from Wales, shellfish and fresh salmon from Northern Ireland, fresh or smoked fish from Scotland, cheeses from England and Wales. Steak and mushroom pie, Lancashire hotpot, and bread and butter pudding are three of the gastronomic wonders of the world!

· The British are happy to have a business lunch and discuss business matters with a drink during the meal. The best places to eat well and cheaply in Britain are pubs.

· It is really hard to answer the question ‘What is American food?’ because it is partly Italian, partly Mexican and partly Chinese.

Americans now have a light breakfast instead of traditional eggs, bacon, toast, hash, brown potatoes, orange juice and coffee. At weekends Americans have a relaxed ‘brunch’ which is a large late breakfast or early lunch. It is often eaten with a family or friends. 

The favourite meat in North America is steak. The most popular orders in restaurants are hamburgers, fried chicken, roast beef, spaghetti, turkey, baked ham, fried shrimp, and beef stew.

· Americans are known to enjoy parties. They love to get together on weekends.  Many people take a bottle of wine or some flowers when they are invited to dinner at somebody’s home.  At a ‘pot luck’ dinner, all the guests bring something to eat. You should ask your hosts what kind of food they would like you to bring. Usually it is a salad, vegetable or a dessert.  

· The USA is most famous for ‘fast-foods’. The first fast food restaurants served hamburgers, but now they serve other kinds of food as well, but not all fast food is American. The traditional British fast-food meal is fish and chips. Most fast-food restaurants have a drive-in section. Here you can order and pick up your food without even getting out of your car.

· People in Great Britain and the USA eat out a lot, and when they go to a restaurant, they don’t expect to be hungry afterwards. Most restaurants will put a lot of food on your plate – sometimes it can be too much. But if you can’t finish it all, don’t worry: the restaurant will provide you with ‘a doggy bag’ for carrying home leftover food.  

The usual tip for waiters and waitresses in restaurants is between 15 and 20 per cent of the check. The size of the tip depends on how pleased the customer is. You are not supposed to give a tip in cafeterias or fast food restaurants.

· People spend less time cooking now. An increasing number of people eat convenience food in the evenings. Convenience meals are already cooked – all you have to do is heat them in the microwave.