English Tea

… trouble with … tea is that originally it was quite … good drink.

So … group of … most eminent British scientists put their heads together, and made … complicated biological experiment to find … way of spoiling it.

To … eternal glory of … British science their labour bore … fruit. They suggested that if you don’t drink it clear, or with … lemon or … rum and sugar, but pour … few drops of … cold milk into it, and no sugar at all, the desired object is achieved. Once this refreshing, aromatic, oriental beverage was successfully transformed into … colourless and tasteless gargling-water, it suddenly became … national drink of … Great Britain and … Ireland – still retaining … high-sounding title of … tea.

There are … occasions when you must not refuse … cup of … tea, otherwise you are judged … exotic and barbarous bird without … hope of ever being able to take your place in … civilized society.

If you are invited to … English home at five o’clock in … morning you get … cup of … tea. It is either brought by … heartily smiling hostess or … almost malevolently silent maid.

Then you have … tea for … breakfast; then you have … tea at eleven o’clock in … morning; then after … lunch; then you have … tea for … tea; then after … supper; and again at eleven o’clock at … night.

You definitely must not follow my example. I sleep at five o’clock in … morning; I have … coffee for … breakfast; I drink … innumerable cups of … black coffee during … day; I have … most unorthodox and exotic teas even at … tea-time.

… the other day, for instance – I just mention it as … terrifying example to show you how low some people can sink – I wanted … cup of … coffee and … piece of … cheese for … tea. It was … exceptionally hot day and my wife made some cold coffee and put it in … refrigerator, where it froze and became one solid block. On … other hand, she left … cheese on … kitchen table, where it melted. So I had … piece of … coffee and … glass of … cheese.

c.

Meals in England

It might be useful to you to know what sort of meals English people have and how they behave at … table, for … people of one country behave rather differently from those of … other. … old proverb says, “When in Rome, do as … Romans do” and this is … good advice.

In many English homes four meals are served: they are … breakfast, … lunch, … tea, and … dinner. These are … meals that are served in … homes of … well-to-do people.

… breakfast may be served any time from seven to nine. It consists of … porridge (made of … oats or … barley, … milk, … sugar or … salt), bacon and eggs, … buttered toast or … bread-and-butter with … marmalade. Instead of … bacon and eggs, … fish may be served. Either … tea or … coffee is drunk at … breakfast.

… lunch comes at about one o’clock. It generally consists of … cold meat, … potatoes and … salad made of … lettuce, … cucumber, … tomatoes, … carrots, … beetroot, etc. On … table are … pepper, … salt, … mustard and sometimes … vinegar. After that there is … bread or … biscuits and … cheese. Most people drink … water at lunch time, some drink … beer or … wine.

… afternoon tea, taken between four and five is … most informal meal of … day. If you are … friend of … family you may drop in for … tea without … invitation. Very often it is not served at … table; … members of … family and … visitors take … tea in … sitting-room. By the way do not help yourself to … cake first; … bread-and-butter first, then … cake if there is any. Another piece of … advice: do not put more than one piece of … bread or … cake on your plate at … same time.

… dinner is … most substantial meal of … day and is … very formal meal. Many people even wear special clothes for … dinner, so if you are asked out to … dinner you must find out whether you are expected to wear … dinner suit. … dinner is generally served about half past seven. … head of … family sits at one end of … table, his wife sits at … other. If there is … guest he generally sits in … place of … honour, which is to … right of … lady of … house. The first course is … soup. Then comes … fish; there is often … knife and fork of … special shape by each person for this course. If you are in … unfamiliar surroundings, keep … eye open for what … others are doing. Remember … proverb about … Romans.

… next course is the most important; it generally consists of a joint of … meat (… beef or … lamb) or else … leg of … lamb or … pork, or it may be … chicken or … duck. With it are served various vegetables, peas, beans, … cabbage or cauliflower. Some sort of … pudding is generally … fourth course. To show that he has finished with … course, … person lays his knife and fork on his plate with … handles towards him. After … pudding … table is cleared and … dessert is brought. This is … fruit of various kinds and … nuts. … Port (… red wine from Portugal) is passed around. At this stage … ladies may get up and retire to … drawing room. When … ladies rise, … men get up too, out of … respect, and resume their seats when … ladies have left … room.

It must not be imagined that all … English people eat like this. More than 90% of … English people have their dinner in … middle of … day. In most of … houses … meals are … breakfast, dinner, tea and … supper, which is … cold meal for which nothing is cooked. All these meals are much simpler than those served in … homes of … rich.

III.

Make up situations for the following sentences:

1. That’s the best dinner I’ve had for years.

2. She, despite her increasing flow of tears, went into the kitchen to prepare a cold lunch.

3. They quarreled at breakfast.

4. He had to eat some cold meat and salad for supper.

5. Mike was invariably late for lunch.

IV.

Supply the correct form of the word that fits suitably in the blank space: