Unit 1:
Chapter 2: Food That Makes You Feel Good
Before you read: Food Preferences
Discuss the following question with a partner.
1. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? What about hot or cold foods?
2. Do you think men and women have different food preferences?
3. Do you ever eat certain foods when you are sad or worried? What do you eat?
4. The following words can all be found in the reading:
a) Nourishment
b) Choose
c) Memories
What do you think they mean?
Reading Skill: Developing Reading Fluency
Developing reading fluency means learning to read faster AND comprehend more at the same time.
Time yourself as you read through the passage. Try to read as fluently as you can. Record your time in the Reading Rate Chart.
Food That Makes You Fell Good ____
Food is life; it gives us the nourishment we need to stay alive and be healthy. Usually, we eat because we are hungry or need energy. Brian Wansink, a professor at the University of Illinois, says we also eat certain foods because they make us feel good, and remind us of happy memories. Wansink calls this kind of food. For others, bowl of noodle soup makes them feel good.
How does a food become comfort food? Professor Wansink believes that we connect food with important times feelings, and people in our lives. ‘When I was a child, my mother made a delicious soup; I loved it. Now, I often eat this soup when I am tired or worried, and it helps me fell better,’ says one of Wansink’s coworkers.
Do men and women choose different comfort foods? Wansink’s research at the University of Illinois says ‘yes’. In this study, the favorite comfort food for both men and women was ice cream. After this, men usually preferred hot, savory foods like soup or noodles. Women like sweet things such as chocolate and cookies. Man and women like to eat comfort foods when they are happy, but women eat these foods more when they sad or worried.
Not all comfort food is junk food. About 40 percent of the comfort foods in Wansink’s study were healthy main dishes or soups and vegetables. It shows, says Wansink, that a comfort food can taste good and be good for you.
Reading comprehension: What do you remember?
A. Decide if the following statements about the reading are true or false.
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T |
F |
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1. We eat certain foods because the make us feel good. |
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2. We do not connect food with feelings. |
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3. Men and women choose different comfort foods. |
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4. Almost all comfort foods are junk foods. |
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B. Check your answers with a partner. Count how many you got correct – be honest! Then, fill in the Reading Comprehension Chart.
Vocabulary Comprehension: Word definitions
A. Look at the list of words from the reading. Match each word with a definition on the right.
1. nourishment ____
2. connect ____
3. delicious ____
4. choose ____
5. prefer ____
a) tasting very good
b) healthy foods that help us live and grow
c) to select one thing out of a group
d) to link one thing with something else
e) like better than another, or like most
B. Complete the sentences below with a word from A. Be sure use the correct form of the word.
1) I always ____ eating ice cream with my childhood vacations. We eat it almost every day we were on vacation.
2) Lindsay baked a ____ cake for the party.
3) I can’t ____ between this cookie and the brownie. They both look really good.
4) You must eat your vegetables! You need the ____. You are too thin.
5) My brother ____ prefer chicken to red meat.
Vocabulary Skill: Word Families
When you learn a new word in English, it is helpful to lean words in the same ‘family’ that form different parts of speech. Learning all these parts of speech can help you to build your vocabulary.
A. Complete the chart with the missing parts of speech. Use your dictionary to help you. Compare your answers with a partner.
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Noun |
Verb |
Adjective |
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1. ____ |
Prefer |
____ |
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2. ____ |
Choose |
____ |
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3. nourishment |
____ |
____ |
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4. ____ |
____ |
Energetic |
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5. ____ |
Believe |
____ |
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6. ____ |
____ |
Connected |
B. Now choose the correct word form the chart to complete the following sentences. Be sure to use the correct form of each word.
1. Eating fruit is ____ to eating sweets when you are trying to lose weight.
2. You have a choice ____. You can have chocolate or vanilla ice cream.
3. If you want something to grow, you have to feed it and ____ it.
4. Pedro is very ____ child. He runs around all day.
5. People have some very unusual ____ belief about food.
6. Whenever I smell a barbecue, I always make a ____ with living in Australia.
What do you think?
Discuss the following questions with a partner.
1. What is the most popular junk food in your country?
2. What are your comfort foods?
3. What or who do these foods remind you of?
4. Interview some of your classmates to find out what their favorite comfort foods are. Share your result with your partner.
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Time |
Rate (Words per minute) |
Your rate |
|
01:00 |
260 |
|
|
01:15 |
208 |
|
|
01:30 |
173 |
|
|
01:45 |
149 |
|
|
02:00 |
130 |
|
|
02:15 |
116 |
|
|
02:30 |
104 |
|
|
02:45 |
95 |
|
|
03:00 |
87 |
|
|
03:15 |
80 |
|
|
03:30 |
74 |
|
|
03:45 |
69 |
|
|
04:00 |
65 |
|
|
04:15 |
61 |
|
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04:30 |
57 |
|
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04:45 |
55 |
|
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05:00+ |
50- |
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