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the home and this means parents don’t often have the time to prepare healthy nutritious
meals for their family. Supermarkets today are filled with prepackaged, instant foods. For
example, you can get mashed potatoes in a packet (just add water), tinned or packaged
soups, as well as a large variety of frozen ready-made dishes such as lasagne, meat pies, and
many others. Therefore, even home cooked meals might not be that nutritious.
Another contributing factor to young people’s unhealthy eating habits is the fact that
there seem to be no regular meal times these days. Most people skip breakfast because it is
usually of little nutritious value such as toast and jam or a doughnut or croissant. Lunch is
also a problem, if you have a lunch break a lot of people use their lunch hour to socialize or
run errands and they don’t want to spend a lot of time eating. As a result, the most popular
foods at lunchtime are snacks. These come in the form of burgers, fries, hotdogs or
sandwiches, which are usually on white bread with plenty of mayonnaise or butter and
processed foods, such as cheese or luncheon meats. After school, most young people are
hungry so they fill up on biscuits, crisps or other unhealthy snacks. If they end their day
with a meal of pizza or some other ready-made food they have not had anything fresh or
nutritious to eat all day. Combined with sugary soft drinks, the average young person’s diet
is unhealthier now than it has ever been!
13. Which of the answers (a, b or c) best corresponds to the sentence from the text.
1. The speaker says young people:
a) had a healthier diet in the past; b) think fast food is nutritious; c) would be healthy if they
didn’t eat fast food.
2. Modern day families:
a) prefer to eat out; b) don’t have time to prepare healthy food; c) eat more than they should.
3. The speaker says:
a) people should skip breakfast instead of eating doughnuts or croissants; b) home cooked
meals are very nutritious; c) no fixed meal times lead to bad eating habits.
4. Young people eat junk food at lunchtime:
a) because it is convenient; b) because it is filling; c) because they can’t afford anything
else.
5. The speaker says teenagers:
a) eat unhealthy snacks all day long; b) sometimes eat nothing healthy all day; c) need to
learn to cook healthy food.
6. Young people today:
a) don’t eat fresh food; b) usually have a healthy evening meal; c) only drink sugary soft
drinks.
14. Complete the sentences using the words below.
A accompanied B alert C guarantee D peak E flexible
F boost G absorb H unprocessed I vital J stock up
1. It is … to eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly if you want to stay fit and healthy.
2. Ben likes to eat something sweet to … his energy levels in the late afternoon.
3. A good review will … that the restaurant will be a success.
4. She likes to have a cup of milk … by a piece of cake when she comes home from
university. 5. Make sure that you … with enough food for the trip before you set sail.
6. It’s best to exercise when your energy level is at its … .
7. The body can … certain sugars very quickly.
8. … carbohydrates contained in fruit and grains are essential to a healthy diet.
9. Some people drink coffee to help them stay … .
10. If you warm up before your exercise, your muscles will be more … .
Ways of Cooking

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