What food have you eaten today? Which was the best thing you’ve eaten? How important is it to you to eat delicious food? What are some of your favorite foods or dishes? Can you recommend any place to eat these foods or dishes?
alert : quick to see, understand and act in a particular situation • allergy : a condition that makes a person become ill or develop skin or breathing problems because they have eaten certain foods or come in contact with certain substances • amino acid : a chemical substance found in plants and animals and that proteins are composed of • bitter : with an unpleasantly sharp taste • broccoli : a vegetable with a thick green stem and a tree-like dark green top • broth : a thin soup, often with vegetables or rice in it • caffeine : a chemical, found for example in tea and coffee, which is a stimulant (= something which makes people more active) • celery : a vegetable with long thin whitish or pale green stems which can be eaten raw or cooked • cereal : a food that is made from grain and eaten with milk, especially in the morning • cholesterol : a fatty substance that is found in the body tissue and blood of all animals, and which is thought to be part of the cause of heart disease if there is too much of it • cilantro : the leaves of the coriander plant, used to add flavor to food (香菜) • cinnamon : the bark (= hard outer covering) of a tropical tree, or a brown powder made from this, used as a spice to give a particular taste to food, especially sweet food • counteract : to reduce or remove the effect of something unwanted by producing an opposite effect • cuisine : a style of cooking • cumin : (a plant with) seeds that smell pleasant and are used as a spice, especially in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking (小茴香) • diuretic : a substance which causes an increase in the production of urine • drowsy : being in a state between sleeping and being awake • egg yolk : the yellow part of an egg • glutinous rice : a type of rice that especially sticky • ingredient : a food that is used with other foods in the preparation of a particular dish • MSG (monosodium glutamate) : a chemical which is sometimes added to food, especially food sold in containers, to improve the taste • nausea : when you feel as if you are going to vomit • peanut butter : a soft pale brown substance made from crushed peanuts which is often eaten spread on bread • pepper : a vegetable that is usually green, red or yellow, has a rounded shape and is hollow with seeds in the middle • protein : one of the many substances found in food such as meat, cheese, fish or eggs, that is necessary for the body to grow and be strong • raw : (of food) not cooked • rosemary : a bush whose leaves are used as flavoring in cooking and are used in some perfumes, or the leaves themselves (迷迭香) • sausage : a thin tube-like case containing meat which has been cut into very small pieces and mixed with spices • seasoning : a substance that is added to savoury food to improve its flavour • sensitive : easily influenced, changed or damaged, especially by a physical activity or effect • soybean : a small edible bean grown especially in Asia and the US, which is used as a food for people and animals • spinach : a vegetable which has wide dark green leaves which are eaten cooked or raw (菠菜) • stimulant : a substance, such as a drug, which makes the mind or body more active • sugar cane : a tropical plant from whose tall thick stems sugar can be obtained
01 Where were forks first introduced?
A Egypt.
B Greece.
C Italy.
D Thailand.
Do you prefer using forks and knives or chopsticks for eating? Why? How often do you eat Western food? What is your favorite type of Western cuisine? Have you tried Greek food? What is your favorite Italian dish?
02 Where is most of the world’s tea grown?
A China.
B England.
C India.
D Japan.
How much tea do you drink? What type of tea do you prefer? Can you recommend a good place for afternoon tea? Do you drink more tea, or coffee? Where do you like to go to drink tea or coffee?
03 Where were noodles first produced commercially?
A China.
B Italy.
C Japan.
D The United States.
How often do you eat noodles? Do you prefer noodles to rice? Do you prefer Chinese-style noodles or Italian-style pasta? What is your favorite types of Chinese and Italian noodles? Can you recommend a good place for each?
04 Where are most of the world’s grapes grown?
A France.
B Italy.
C South Africa.
D The United States.
How often do you eat grapes? Do you drink grape juice or wine often? What are some of your favorite fruits? What fruits do you dislike?
05 Which of the following basic tastes are humans most sensitive to?
A Sweet.
B Salty.
C Bitter.
D Sour.
Which of these tastes do you feel you are most sensitive to? Do you like any bitter foods? How about sour ones? Do you often eat sweet foods? If so, what are some of your favorite sweets?
06 Which of the following foods has the lowest water content?
A Fresh carrots.
B Fresh tomatoes.
C Fresh celery.
D Whole milk.
Do you like all of the vegetables mentioned? What vegetable is your favorite? Are there any vegetables that you dislike? How much milk do you consume? What form of milk do you most enjoy–for example, cheese, ice cream, or butter?
07 Which of the following statements about caffeine is not true?
A It is a central nervous system stimulant and a diuretic.
B It is found naturally in over 60 different plants (tea leaves, coffee and cocoa beans, kola nuts)
C A sudden stop of caffeine intake can cause symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and drowsiness.
D It can partially counteract the effects of alcohol.
Do you like to drink beverages with much caffeine, such as coffee or tea? Where do you like to enjoy coffee or tea? How important is the caffeine to you? Besides drinking coffee or tea, have you found any other ways to make yourself more alert when you are feeling sleepy?
08 What is bok choy?
A A very hot pepper used in Szechwan cuisine.
B A type of green often eaten in Chinese stir-fried dishes.
C A glutinous rice dessert eaten in Japan.
D A sweet tea served in India.
Do you enjoy Szechwan cuisine? Which is your favorite Chinese regional cuisine? Can you recommend a restaurant that serves delicious versions of this kind of food? Do you like spicy food in general? What is the spiciest dish or cuisine that you have ever eaten?
09 In the USA, how are most of the peanuts consumed?
A As peanut oil.
B As whole peanuts.
C As peanut candy.
D As peanut butter.
What form of peanuts do you most enjoy eating? Have you ever tried peanut butter? What is your favorite kind of nut?
10 Which of the following combinations of incomplete protein foods cannot provide you with complete proteins (all the essential amino acids) in your diet?
A Rice and beans.
B Cereal and milk.
C Broccoli and cheese.
D Corn and beans.
Have you ever tried cereal and milk? If you have, what kind of cereal is your favorite? Are there any other foods that you think go very well with milk? What about broccoli and cheese—have you tried this combination? If so, what did you think? Do you like cheese in general? What is your favorite type of cheese?
11 Which of the following foods has no cholesterol?
A Boiled eggs.
B Steamed seafood.
C Coconut milk.
D Yoghurt.
Do you try to control the amount of cholesterol in your diet? If so, how? How healthy do you think your diet is overall? Are there any types of foods that you think you should eat less of? Are there any that you should eat more of?
12 According to researchers, what percentage of American men is on a diet on any given day?
A 10
B 25
C 40
D 55
What percentage of Taiwanese men do you think are on a diet? What percentage of Taiwanese women? Are you on a diet right now? Have you ever been on a diet in the past? If so, what diets have you tried? If you had to lose weight, would you rather do it by going on a diet, or exercising more? If you had to go on a diet, would you rather eat less of the foods you like, or eat as much as you wanted but only of low-calorie foods? Why?
13 Which of these foods is used to produce MSG?
A Beef.
B Sugar cane.
C Fish skin.
D Soybeans.
Do you have an allergy to monosodium glutamate? If you do, do you ever request that a restaurant not add MSG to your food? Are there any seasonings or spices that you dislike?
14 Which of the following spices is not commonly used to prepare Indian food?
A Cilantro.
B Cinnamon.
C Cumin.
D Rosemary.
Have you ever tried Indian cuisine? Have you tried all the spices mentioned? What do you think of the way they taste? Are there any spices that you especially love? How about spices that you hate? What do you consider the most exotic cuisine you have ever tried? Are there any Chinese or Taiwanese dishes that are too unusual for you to try?
15 A dish cooked in the Florentine style includes which of the following ingredients?
A Egg yolk.
B Spinach.
C Swiss cheese.
D Italian sausage.
If you had a choice of the same dish prepared in four different styles–each using one of the ingredients given in the answer choices–which would you choose? How often do you eat Italian food? What are your favorite Italian dishes?
16 The national dish of Brazil is called feijoada. What are the main ingredients?
A Chili peppers and rice.
B Chicken and potatoes.
C Seafood and black beans.
D Black beans and meat.
Which of the combinations given in the answer choices sounds most delicious to you? What would you consider to be the “national dish” of Taiwan? How would you describe it to a foreigner who had never eaten it?
ANSWERS : 01C • 02C • 03B • 04A • 05C • 06D • 07D • 08B • 09D • 10C • 11C • 12B • 13B • 14D • 15B • 16D
