Lifestyle in Britain. Дворжец О.С. - 103 стр.

Separate tables                                    Spice of life
The Norris family is a monument to modern          The evening meal at the Mughal household
frozen-food technology. ‘I can’t remember          brings together three generations: 18-month-old
the last time we all ate together,’ says hus-      Sameer, his sister Nina, three, parents Rubina
band Michael Norris. ‘Mostly the food              and Haleem and the grandparents. Sometimes
comes out of the freezer and goes straight         there are other family members as well. ‘People
into the microwave. We have two dining-            catch up with each other at meal times,’ says
tables but they never get used, not unless my      cousin Shamreen. ‘We usually eat quite late,
mother-in-law, who lives with us, cooks            about 8.30 or 9.00 p.m., because we wait for eve-
something.’ The children, Sophie and Ben,          ryone to get in. It’s important to have a table
eat when they come home from school, while         that’s laid out, although during the week it’s
watching TV. Pat Norris, who works irregu-         usually just a couple of dishes. Weekends are a
lar hours and travels a lot, boils soup and        bit more special!’ Rubina will normally cook a
makes a salad when she’s at home; Michael          rice dish, a meat curry and sometimes a salad.
often eats out. It’s informal, but everyone        Quite a lot for one pair of hands, but there are
likes it.                                          always people around to help – and, as Shamreen
                                                   points out, a lot of Asian dishes can be made the
The art of course eating                           night before, or even frozen.
The Scott family like a bit of formality in
their lives. ‘We’re not stuffy,’ insists Caro-     Student life
line, ‘but we always have napkins and white        Ade Bakare, 23 years old and a student at
linen and flowers on the table. My husband         Thames Polytechnic, tends towards the irregular
always has a bath before dinner, and we al-        in his dining habits. Between 9.00 p.m. and
ways change clothes. I think it’s important        11.00 p.m. about three times a week, ‘depending
for the children to have good manners.’            on how we’re feeling,’ Ade and his flatmates set-
Caroline drives across town to find food           tle down to a meal. The menu may vary between
that’s not ‘full of all sorts of nasty chemi-      Kentucky Fried chicken and ‘ebba,’ an African
cals.’ The result is meals that ‘sometimes         dish made of ground rice. ‘Obviously fast food is
take an hour and a half, at least, and longer at   easier, and none of the other guys are very good
weekends.’ The children attend an equally          cooks,’ says Ade. The taste for African cooking
civilized breakfast served at 8.00 a.m.            comes from his mother’s house, where the set-up
prompt in the dining-room. ‘It’s a sort of rit-    is rather different. ‘I’d always sit down at the
ual so we can all see one another. We all feel     table with my mother. The food is much more
it’s important,’ says Caroline, who doesn’t        substantial, much more nutritious, partly because
have a microwave and does most of the              she wants to ensure that I am eating properly.’
cooking herself. ‘I seem to spend a lot of
time cooking,’ she says. ‘I don’t know why. I
suppose it’s because we’ve always done it.’



5     The two texts that follow describe recent changes in British eating habits. Read
Texts A and B. As you read, make a note of any information that suggests a change in
the way people live.




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