ENGLISH COURSE
READING 002
TEXT SNACK CULTURE
Mmm ... do you fancy a tasty bag of crisps? Or how
about a yummy chocolate bar? British people love
their snacks. Find out more about some popular Briti-
sh snacks. Don’t read if you’re hungry!
Snack facts
Young people in Britain eat more snacks than people
of the same age in other European countries. A recent
survey has discovered that 64% of under 20-year-olds
snack between meals. How does this compare with
other countries? 58.7% of young people snack in Ger-
many, 53% in France and only 40.7% in Spain. What
are these young Brits eating? Savoury snacks, especia-
lly crisps, are the favourite snack in the UK.
Snack researchers found that the average person in
Britain spends 43 pounds on savoury snacks each
year, compared with 12 pounds for the French and
only 7 pounds for the Italians. British people are spen-
ding a total of about 2.8 billion pounds a year on sa-
voury snacks!
Crisps
What are crisps exactly? They are very thin slices of
potato, cooked in oil then covered in salt or other salty Chocolate
flavours. British people are mad for crisps and they
like them in a huge variety of flavours. Some of the The British love chocolate. In fact, they spend more
most popular flavours include cheese and onion, salt on chocolate than any other European country! If
and vinegar, steak and onion, roast chicken, tomato you go to any newsagent’s shop in the UK you’ll see a
ketchup, and cheese and bacon. huge selection of chocolate bars on sale. There is milk
A crisp-making company held a competition recent- chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate. There
ly to find new exciting flavours for their crisps. The are small bars of chocolate, medium-sized bars and
competition was called ‘Do us a flavour’ and the com- massive bars of chocolate. You can buy mint-flavou-
pany received more than a million suggestions for new red chocolate, chocolate-covered peanuts or raisins,
flavours. The finalists included squirrel flavour and chocolate with nuts, chocolate with toffee ... the list
onion bhaji flavour. The winner was builder’s break- is endless! One brand of chocolate bar recently asked
fast, which tried to replicate the tastes of a full English viewers to try four new flavours of a chocolate and
breakfast including bacon, eggs, sausages and beans. then vote on Facebook for their favourite. The bar
The flavour was suggested by Emma Rushin of Belper, with the most votes will be permanently added to
Derbyshire, who won £50,000 and 1% of future sales their range.
of her flavour. You can’t find builder’s breakfast crisps Big chocolate eggs are sold in newsagents’, sweet
in the shops now – they were discontinued after one shops and supermarkets around Easter time. Parents,
year. If you want to know what kind of crisps are most grandparents, aunts and uncles buy Easter eggs for
popular with people in the UK you can find a list on children at this time of year.
‘The crisp list’ which describes itself as a website ‘for
people who love crisps’.
PAULO J.L. DE OLIVEIRA © 2015 A2/B1 LEVELS
ENGLISH COURSE
READING 002
TEXT(pag.2) & EXERCISE SNACK CULTURE
Health
While crisps and other savoury snacks can be deli-
cious, many people are worried that young people eat
too many of these kinds of foods. The Food Standards
Agency (FSA) is a government organisation that is
responsible for food safety and food hygiene in the
UK. The FSA issued a warning recently that many
children’s snacks contained dangerously high levels of
salt.
Some parents are unhappy that their children can
buy snack foods that are high in sugar, salt or fat such
as sweets, biscuits and crisps from vending machines
in schools. Some schools have banned these types of
vending machines.
Advertising and marketing is another controversial
area. Some people feel that advertising for junk food
and unhealthy snacks should not be directed at chil-
dren and teenagers. One opinion is that young people
should be protected by a ban on this kind of adver-
tising before 9 p.m. on TV and that there should be
more controls over websites, sponsorship and in-store
promotions. What do you think?
1. Check your understanding: true or false
Circle True or False for these sentences.
1. British people eat fewer snacks than other Europeans. True - False
2. Crisps are usually made from potatoes. True - False
3. There was a competition in the UK to find new tastes for crisps. True - False
4. The winner of the ‘Do us a flavour’ competition was squirrel flavour. True - False
5. You can buy chocolate at a newsagent’s in Britain. True - False
6. All schools have machines that sell unhealthy snacks. True - False
2. Check your understanding: gap fill
Write the past simple form of the verb.
1. eat _____________________ 5. win _____________________
2. find _____________________ 6. know _____________________
3. spend _____________________ 7. buy _____________________
4. hold _____________________ 8. think _____________________
PAULO J.L. DE OLIVEIRA © 2015 A2/B1 LEVELS
ENGLISH COURSE
READS 002 & 003
ANSWERS
READ 002 “Snack culture” - exercises
1. Check your understanding: true or false
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. False
2. Check your understanding: gap fill
1. ate
2. found
3. spent
4. held
5. won
6. knew
7. bought
8. thought
READ 003 “School dinners” – exercises
1. Check your understanding: true or false
1. True
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. False
6. True
2. Check your understanding: matching 3. Check your understanding: multiple choice
1. packed lunch 1. free
2. school dinner 2. fried
3. fish and chips 3. healthy
4. chocolate bar 4. good
5. cheese sandwich 5. passionate
6. apple juice 6. popular
7. take-away restaurant 7. unemployed
8. chip shop 8. roast
PAULO J.L. DE OLIVEIRA © 2015 A2/B1 LEVELS
