ENTER A DIFFERENT WORLD

Welcome to Harrods — a different world for a million reasons. Harrods is the largest store in Europe with goods displayed in 60 windows and five and a half hectares of selling space. In one year over 14 million purchases are made in the 214 departments where you can buy anything from a pin to an elephant - if you can con­vince the manager of the Pet Department that you are a suitable elephant owner, that is! It is Harrods' policy to stock a wide and exciting range of merchandise in every department to give the cus­tomer a choice of goods which is unique in its variety and which no other store can match: Harrods stocks 100 different whiskies, 57 single malts, 450 different cheeses, 500 types of shirts and 9,000 ties to go with them, 8,000 dresses and 150 different pianos.

Harrods also offers a number of special services to its customers including a bank, an insurance department, a travel agency, Lon­don's last circulating library, a theatre ticket agency and a funeral service. £40 million worth of goods are exported annually from Harrods and the Export Department can deal with any customer purchase or order and will pack and send goods to any address in the world. Recently, for example, six bread rolls were sent to New York, a handkerchief to Los Angeles, a pound of sausages to a yacht anchored in the Mediterranean, a Persian carpet to Iran and a £5,000 chess set to Australia. Harrods has a world-wide reputation for first-class service. It has a staff of 4,000, rising to 6,000 at Christ­mas time.

Harrods sells 5 million different products, not all of which are actually kept in stock in the store itself. To handle this enormous range, a new computerized warehouse is being built. It will be the largest warehouse in Britain and the second largest in Europe and will deal with a wider range of goods than any other distribution centre in the world. Thanks to its modem technology a customer will be able to order any product (for example, a dining table or a dishwasher) from any assistant in the store. The assistant will be able to check its availability immediately on a computer screen, de­cide with the customer on a suitable delivery date and time and then pass the order directly to the warehouse through the computer. The time of delivery will be guaranteed to within one hour.

For many of London's visitors Harrods is an important stop on their sightseeing programme. Henry Charles Harrod's first shop was opened in 1849, but the building as it stands today was started in 1901 and it has become one of London's landmarks. It has many items of architectural interest: the plaster ceilings are original, as is the famous Meat Hall with its Victorian wall tiles, and the light fit­tings on the ground floor date back to the 1930s. A morning spent strolling round Harrods is guaranteed to give any shopper an appe­tite, and to feed its customers Harrods has six restaurants, ranging from the Circle self-service restaurants offering delicious food at reasonable prices to the famous Harrods Restaurant, where queues form every afternoon for the "Grand Buffet Tea", which fora fixed price allows you to eat as many cream cakes and gateaux as your greed will allow while waitresses serve you with India or China tea. If you feel like a drink you can choose between the pub atmosphere of the Green Man Tavern and the sophistication of the Cocktail Lounge. Harrods truly is a different world.

(Advertising Leaflet)

MEALS AND COOKING

Text

Correct Eating Habits

"Eat to live. Do not live to eat" is an old saying the truth of which a person realises only when he or she suffers from some seri­ous ailment like a heart condition and is advised by his or her physi­cian to cut down on his or her food. All schools of medicine lay em­phasis on correct eating habits for a healthy life.

Remember that after you have had a hearty meal, the pressure on your heart is increased. The amount of food should be such that the hunger is assuaged, but there is no feeling of fullness.

The second golden rule is to avoid fats and too much starch and carbohydrates derived from sugar. In communities where sugar in­take is low, there is very little incidence of heart disease.

The third rule is that stimulants like spices (chillies etc.) should be avoided. A bland diet with a little salt and a pinch of pepper may not taste as good as highly spiced food would, but it would be safer in the long run.

Kids with high cholesterol need an exotic diet. Mostly, they should stick to the guidelines that apply to all adults. Officially, the American Heart Association recommends that kids get no more than 30 percent of their calories from fat. That means (1) Limiting fast-food runs to once or twice a week. Otherwise, push the salads and leave out the jumbo fries, high-fat sauces, and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink burgers; (2) Sticking to lower-fat pizza toppings like mushrooms, ground beef, veggies, and plain cheese; (3) Choo­sing peanut butter, lean meat or skinless chicken or turkey for lunchtime; put limits on high-fat items like hot dogs, luncheon meats, and deep-fried anything; (4) Serving more complex carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products. Kids may not al­ways eat them, but at least they'll recognise them on sight.

Fortunately, lots of foods that kids like are also good for them. Most breakfast cereals are low in fat, for instance, as are pasta, lean meats, bread, tuna, skinless chicken, and fruit.

1. Discuss correct eating habits for grown-ups and children dwelling on:

1. the amount of food a person should eat;

2. the consumption of fats, starch and carbohydrates;

3. the use of stimulants;

4. going to fast-food places.

COLLEGE LIFE

Text 1

Classroom Notetaking

How would you feel if you were forced to spend hours and hours sitting in a hard-backed chair, eyes wide open, listening to the sound of someone else's voice? You wouldn't be allowed to sleep, eat, or smoke. You couldn't leave the room. To make matters worse, you'd be expected to remember every point the speaker made, and you'd be punished for foigetting. And, to top it off, you'd have to pay thousands of dollars for the experience.

Sounds like the torture scene from the latest spy thriller? Actu­ally, it's nothing of the kind. It's what all college students do who take a full load of courses.

Unfortunately, many students do regard these hours as tor­ture, and they do all sorts of things to deaden the pain. Some of them sit through class with glared eyes, minds wandering some­where. Others hide in the back of the room, sneaking glances at the newspaper or the book. Still others reduce the pain to zero: they simply don't come to class. These students do not realize that they are missing out on one of the most important aspects of their edu­cation.

One reason you should take lecture notes is that lectures add to what you read in textbooks. Lecturers combine the material and ap­proaches of many texts, saving you the trouble of researching an en­tire field. They keep up to date with their subjects and can include the latest studies or discoveries in their presentations. The best lec­turers combine knowledge with expert showmanship. Both infor­mative and entertaining speakers, they can make any subject leap wildly to life.

But isn't it good enough just to listen to these wonderful people without writing down what they say? Studies have shown that after two weeks you'll forget 80% of it. And you didn't come to the lec­ture room just to be entertained. You came to learn. The only way to keep the material in your head is to get it down in permanent form — in the form of lecture notes.

There are three steps to mastering the art of taking good lecture notes: the preparation, the note-taking process itself, and the post-lecture review.

Preparation.

First, mentally prepare yourself to take good notes. Examine your attitude. Remember, you're not going to the lecture room to be bored, tortured, or entertained; you're going there to learn. Also, examine the material the lecture will cover. Read the textbook chapter in advance.

Second, prepare yourself physically. Get a good night's sleep, and get to class — on time. Even better, get to class early, so you can get a good seat near the front of the room. You'll hear better there and be less tempted to let your mind wander. You'll also have time to open your notebook to a new page, find your pen, and write the date and topic of the lecture at the top. This way, you won't still be groping under your chair or flipping through pages when the lec­turer begins to speak.

Process.

Be prepared to do a good deal of writing in class. A good role of thumb for taking notes is, "when in doubt, write it down". After class, you will have time to go over your notes and make decisions about what is important enough to study and what is not. But in the midst of a lecture, you don't always have time to decide what is really important and what is quite secondary. You don't want to miss getting down a valuable idea.

Be sure to always write down what the lecturer puts on the board. If he or she takes the time to write something on the board, it is generally safe to assume that such material is important. And don't fall into the trap that some students make. They write down what is on the board but nothing more. They just sit and listen while the instructor explains all the connections between those words that have been chalked on the board. Everything may be perfectly clear to a student then, but several days later, chances are that all the connecting materials will be forgotten. If you write down the expla­nations in class, it will be much easier for you to make sense of the material and to study it later.

Here are some other hints for taking good classroom notes:

If you miss something, don't panic. Leave space for it in your notes and keep going. Later, get the missing information from a classmate or your textbook

Don't ignore the very beginning and end of class, often lecturers devote the first five minutes of their lectures to a review of material already covered or a preview of the next day's lecture. The last five minutes of a lecture can contain a clear summary of the class. Don't spend the first five minutes of class getting your materials out and the last five minutes putting them away. If you do, you'll probably miss something important.

Post-Lecture Review.

The real learning takes place after class. As soon as you have time, sit down and reread your notes. Fill in anything unclear or missing while it's still fresh in your mind. Then write a few key words and phrases that summarise the points of the lecture.

Cover your notes, and, using only these key words, try to recon­struct as much of the lecture as you can. This review will cement the major points in your memory and will save significant time when you study for the exam.

To sum all this up, be prepared to go into class and be not just an active listener but an active notetaker as well. Being in class and taking good notes while you are there are the most valuable steps you can take to succeed in college.

Answer the questions.

1. What do you do during a classroom lecture?

2. Do you sit and stare at the lecturer, wondering if he or she will ever stop?

3. Do you try to write everything which is said, but can't keep up?

4. Why take lecture notes? Isn't it good enough just to listen to the lecturer without writing down what he or she says?

5. What are the three steps to mastering the art of taking good lecture notes? Discuss in class each step.

6. Could you think of some more hints for taking good class­room notes?

7. Have you got your own tips on how to make the best use of class time?

Text 2

Examination

Then, for months, there was nothing in life save work: a careful planning out of day and night in order that sleeping and eating and exercise might encroach as little as possible on the working hours.

From early morning till late at night the desperate meek untidy heads of girls were bowed over tables in the library, their faces when they lifted them were feverish and blurred with work.

Pages rustled; pencils whispered; squeaking shoes tiptoed in and out. Somebody tapped out a dreary tune on her teeth; somebody had a running cold; somebody giggled beneath her breath; some­body sighed and sighed.

Examination week.

This week there was nothing in your mind save the machine which obeyed you smoothly, turning but dates and biographies, contrasting, discussing, theorizing.

Judith walked in a dream among the pale examination faces that flowed to their doom. Already at nine o'clock the heat struck up from the streets, rolled downwards from the roofs. By midday it would by extremely unpleasant in Cambridge.

This was the great examination hall. Girls were filing in, each carrying a glass of water, and searching in a sort of panic for her place. Here was a white ticket labelled Earle, J. So Judith Earte really was expected, an integral part of this grotesque organized un­reality. No hope now.

The bench was hard.

All over the room girls' heads turned, nodding and winking at friends, whispering, giggling and grimacing with desperate bravery. One simulated suicide by leaning her bosom on her fountain pen.

Then panic descended suddenly upon Judith. Her head was like a floating bubble; there was nothing in it at all. She caught at threads of knowledge and they broke, withered and dissolved like cobwebs in the hand. She struggled to throw off a crowding confu­sion of half remembered words.

A headful of useless scraps rattling about in emptiness — The clock struck nine.

'You can begin now', said a thin voice from the dais.

There was an enormous sigh, a rustling of paper, then silence.

The questions had, nearly all, at first glance a familiar reassuring look. It was all right. Panic vanished, the mind assembled its ener­gies coolly, precisely, the pen flew.

After an hour the first pause to cool her forehead with a stick of frozen Eau de Cologne and to sip some water.

Girls were wriggling and biting their pens. Somewhere the toothtapper was playing her dreary tune.

Another hour fled. The trouble was having too much to say, rather than too little. The room was rigid, dark with concentration now.

Three hours. It was over. You could not remember what you had written; but you had never felt more firm and sure of mind. Three hours nearer to life.

A troop of undergraduates passed on the way from their exami­nation room. They looked amused and exhilarated. They stuffed their papers into their pockets, lit pipes, straightened their shoulders and went cheerfully to lunch.

The girls crept out in twos and threes, earnestly talking, com­paring the white slips they carried.

'Did you do this one?'

'What did you put for that?'

'Oh, I say! Will they take off marks do you think?'

'It was a beast.'

'Oh, it might have been worse.'

Girls really should be trained to be less obviously female stu­dents. It only needed a little discipline.

'Of course I see now I shan't pass — It seems a pity, after all that work — My memory is practically gone —'

Back to the vault now for another three hours.

That day passed smoothly; and the next.

Suddenly there were no answers to be written from nine till twelve, from two till five — no lectures, no coachings, no notes, no fixed working hours. Instead, a great idleness under whose burden you felt lost and oppressed. The academic years were gone for ever.

(Extract from "Dusty Answer" by R. Lehman)