PİRİ REİS UNIVERSITY COMPULSORY

READING WORKSHEET WEEK 3

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL (DELTA EXTENDED)

READING EXAM PRACTICE

Food Faux Pas by Terri Morrison
1 Everyone Makes Mistakes

Everyone has made a mistake or two at the dining table. Whether we knock over a glass
of milk when we’re 4 years old, or use the wrong fork when we’re 40 years old, we all
sometimes break dining rules. These embarrassing dining mistakes are called “faux pas.”

2 For example, while I was at a formal dinner in Paris, I unconsciously placed my left
hand in my lap – the polite thing to do in the United States but wrong in France. The French
keep both hands gracefully balanced on the table’s edge, and of course, they hold the fork in
the left hand and the knife in the right. My improper behavior at this very lovely dinner
disturbed the gentleman to my left so much that he took hold of my left hand and placed it upon
the table. It surprised me, but I sure kept my hands where they belong for the rest of that meal!

3 How to Be a Good Host

Taboo behavior is behavior that is forbidden or should not be done. When travelling
around the world, it can be difficult to remember which behaviors are taboo and which
behaviors are appropriate. However, it can be just as difficult to host visitors from other
countries.

4 Nancy Gilboy, the executive director of the International Visitors Council in

Philadelphia, constantly hosts delegations1 from all over the world. Therefore, Gilboy must be
careful to avoid various food taboos (never serve pork to Muslims, beef to Hindus, etc.) She
has also noted that people in certain cultures are careful to make sure that everyone receives an
equal share of the meal.

5 When shrimp was passed around at a dinner with a group from China, Gilboy took
three or four and offered it to the next diner. Subsequently, she noticed that each attendee took
just one shrimp in turn and offered it to the next person. In Chinese culture, it is important to
make sure the other dinners get enough to eat, so the Chinese often take a single portion of food
at a time.

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6 Good Eats?

Some people’s food preferences are constrained, or limited. If you have religious, ethical
or medical guidelines, or rules, of course you must follow them. But be sure to tell your hosts
before they spend time and money preparing a special, totally unpleasant local delicacy2 for you.
Turning down caviar3 and champagne in Bulgaria, Romania, or Russia can be equivalent of
throwing away a month of your hosts’ wages.

7 In many parts of the world, people only do business with those they know and trust, and
that kind of contact is generally established, or started, over lunch or dinner. When international
executives visit clients in countries like Brazil or Chile, they often try to get their appointments
around 11 a.m., so they can all go to lunch together afterward. They spend time in a friendly
environment, where no business is discussed, but friendships and trust are established. Bringing
business up too soon (if at all) over a meal in Spain, France, or China can ruin a future business
relationship.

8 However, even the most cultured dinner on earth can become involved in unfortunate
situations. The queen of England, who is polite enough to try almost anything, was the center
of attention after a visit to Belize. During her visit, the queen ate a local delicacy, a “dibnut”.
A dibnut is an animal that looks like a large squirrel. When the English press found out what
the queen had been served, the headlines ran “Queen Eats Rat!” Fortunately, citizens of Belize
have a sense of humor and immediately changed the dish from “dibnut” on their menus to
“Royal Rat.”
9 Whether you’re eating rat or roe, enjoy the ambiance (environment) and try to copy the
local rules for dining.

___________________________

1
delegation: a person or a group of persons that officially represent another person or group of
persons
2
delicacy: a rare and special food
3
caviar: fish eggs, also called roe

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 PART A: Answer the questions.

1. What is true about dining rules?

a. All cultures have the same rules.
b. The rules may be different from culture to culture.
c. Dining rules are not important.
d. The appropriate behaviors in dining are called taboo behaviors.

2. According to the text, who breaks dining rules?

a. people who tell their hosts about their food preferences
b. only some people do
c. everyone does
d. only 40-year-old people

3. According to the text, what is a good rule to follow when one is in another culture?
a. to sit next to the host
b. to eat the foods that one’s hosts offer
c. to try to copy their own local rules for dining
d. to ignore the host and other guests

PART B: Write T for Topic, G for Too General, and S for Too Specific.

1. What is the topic of the text?

a. ___________ food faux pas
b. ___________ food
c. ___________ French food faux pas

2. What is the topic of paragraph 2?

a. ___________ French dining
b. ___________ how to hold the fork properly in France
c. ___________ example of a food faux pas at a dinner in France

3. What is the topic of paragraph 6?

a.____________ turning down food in Bulgaria
b.____________ food preferences
c.____________ telling one’s hosts about food preferences

4. What is the topic of paragraph 7?

a. ________ developing business relationships based on trust over meals in some foreign countries.
b.________ lunch in some countries
c. ________ having lunch with clients in Brazil or Chile

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PART C: TRUE / FALSE QUESTIONS

• In this section you must read the text above and answer the questions 1 to 4 about it.

1. Which one is TRUE about the second paragraph?

a. The dining rules are same in the USA and in France.

b. French people never break dining rules.
c. Placing your hands in your lap during a formal dinner is impolite in France.
d. In France, keeping hands on the table’s edge is inappropriate while eating.

2. Which statement is FALSE about food culture?

a. “Faux pas” means table manners.

b. Food preferences may change from culture to culture.
c. Formal and informal dinner have different dining rules.
d. Hosting visitors is difficult worldwide because people do not share the same culture.

3. Which statement about business relations is TRUE?

a. In Brazil and China, business people enjoy having lunch or dinner with their clients and discuss
business over a meal in a friendly environment.
b. Turning down food in Bulgaria is considered less impolite than throwing away someone’s
monthly wages.
c. Spanish people prefer a rich food culture to build better business relations at dinner table.
d. Meals are very important for developing good business relationships in France.

4. Which statement is FALSE?

a. When you are a host, you should be careful about your food choice.
b. It is appropriate to deliver the same amount of meal to your visitors.
c. Serving a local food to the queen of England was considered as unfortunate for the Belize press.
d. It can be difficult to remember which behaviors are taboo ones.

PART D. Answer the questions.

1. For a better future business relation, __________________

a. you should spend a lot of money for special meals to affect the decisions of your business
partners.
b. you should create a serious environment.
c. you mustn’t take your clients out to eat.
d. you need to create an atmosphere of trust by meals.

2. While serving in different cultures, you do NOT need to be careful about__________

a. ethics b. health issues c. economic reasons d. religion

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 PART E: In this section you must look at the words underlined in the text above and choose what
these words refer to.

1. “they” (Paragraph 2, line 3)

a. the Parisians b. formal dinners c. the French d. dining mistakes

2. “he” (Paragraph 2, line 5)

a. a forty-year man b. the gentleman to the left of the writer
c. the man with the fork d. the gentleman from the USA.

3. “it” (Paragraph 2, line 5)

a. writer’s left-hand b. the improper behavior c. the meal d. the table

4. “they” (Paragraph 7, line 3)

a. many parts of the world b. countries like Brazil or Chile
b. international executives c. religious, ethical, medical guidelines

PART F: In this section you must look at the bold words in the text above and choose the correct
meaning.

1. “To pass around” in paragraph 5 means to _____.

a. give from one person to another
b. share with others
c. skip the person next to you
d. to take back

2. The word _______ means “to refuse something”.

a. to throw away b. to pass around c. to turn down d. to bring up

3.“To find out” in paragraph 8 means to__________.

a.host b. discover c. receive d. notice

4. The word “appropriate” is closest in meaning to_____.

a. constrained b. established c. guidelines d. correct

PART G: Circle the correct version of the word.

1. TV __________ are generally so noisy and hyperactive that children can be badly affected if they watch
too much TV.
a. advertise b. advertisements c. advertising d. to advertise

2. The new teacher greeted the students and their parents ___________.
a. respect b. respectful c. respectfully d. respected

3. It is suitable for him to do a career in chemistry. But he has to _______ his own way.
a. choose b. chose c. choice d. choosing

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