Meals in England – a guide for visitors
Meals and Snacks
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are the three main meals. A lot of workers have a 10-minute break in the morning (one name for this is ‘elevenses’) when they stop work to enjoy a cup of tea (or coffee) with a biscuit. They have a similar break for a drink and a snack in the afternoon. Many hotels and restaurants in England serve ‘afternoon tea’ between 2–5 p.m. This is a light meal of tea, sandwiches, and cakes and it’s very popular with shoppers and tourists.
Breakfast
A traditional full English breakfast is what many hotels serve to guests. It includes egg, bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, and toast, with tea or coffee and it contains around 1,000 calories (women need around 2,000 calories a day, and men need around 2,500). However, most people start their working day with a piece of toast or some cereal – some don’t have anything at all.
Lunch
Lunch is between midday and 1.30 p.m., and in England people are more likely to have a smaller meal in the middle of the day. For example, a sandwich and a packet of crisps, or a takeaway, which they can eat at their desk. They often work while they eat. If it’s someone’s birthday, a group of people who work together might go to a restaurant or a pub for lunch.
Dinner
Dinner (also called ‘supper’ in the south of the country and ‘tea’ in the north) is the biggest meal of the day and we have it between 6 and 8 p.m. In the past, the traditional evening meal was ‘meat and two veg (vegetables)’ then a pudding, and, on Fridays, a lot of people ate fish. Today, many families enjoy a traditional dinner on Sundays, but during the rest of the week we like to cook lots of different things, including food from other countries. Indian food is now more popular in England than fish and chips. Around two million of us go to Indian restaurants every week!

Example: The guide is for .
A English people visiting other countries c B hotel owners c
C visitors from other countries c✓
1 People stop work in the middle of for ‘elevenses’.
A the day c B the morning c C the afternoon c
2 You eat cake .
A before breakfast c B in the afternoon c C before bed c
3 There are around calories in a full English breakfast.
A 1,000 c B 2,000 c C 2,500 c
4 Most workers have for breakfast.
A a traditional breakfast c B nothing at all c C toast or cereal c
5 People often have lunch .
A in a takeaway c B in a restaurant c C at work c
6 In the past, many people ate fish at the .
A beginning of the week c B end of the week c C weekend c

6
2 Read the text again. Underline the correct answer.
Example: People have three / five main meals a day.
1 ‘Elevenses’ is a small snack / big meal.
2 A lot of hotels in England serve / don’t serve big breakfasts nowadays.
3 There aren’t any vegetables / isn’t any cereal in a full English breakfast.
4 People sometimes don’t stop work to eat their lunch / dinner.
5 Pubs are open / closed in the middle of the day.
6 People in the south of England eat supper at midday / in the evening.
7 You have ‘pudding’ at the beginning / end of a meal.
8 Fish and chips are more / less popular now than they were in the past.
9 2,000,000 people eat in Indian / English restaurants every week.​

KateDonut1    2   30.03.2020 12:54    117