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ENGLISCH/730: Brainteasers (169) · Food for thought (SB)


B R A I N T E A S E R S - Cooking in Britain (difficult)


Quizzes and puzzles for learners of English

169 Food for thought



Are Brits becoming more adventurous in the kitchen?

To be honest, Britain already has quite a reputation for bad cuisine. The first thing that comes into your mind when you think of British food, usually is "fish and chips", snacks like "baked beans on toast" or a homemade Sunday dinner of meat and two vegetables. But is British food really so bland and uninteresting? Despite a reputation for less-then-spectacular cuisine, Britain is producing more and more top class chefs and even more cooking-interested inhabitants who are turning away from meat-and-two-veg and ready-made dinners and becoming more adventurous in their cooking habits. The traditional British diet may be dying out. But what do you know about the British and their cooking customs?

British Food Quiz

Try to guess the right answer for each question.


1. Which of these do the British eat most of in Europe?

a. crisps and chocolate
b. fresh fruit and vegetables
c. sausages


2. What is the most popular food in Britain?

a. fish and chips
b. pizza
c. curry


3. What is "haggis"?

a. a cocktail made from whisky and fruit juice
b. a type of fish eaten in Scotland
c. a Scottish dish made from sheep's stomach and innards


4. Stilton, cheddar and double gloucester are all kinds of:

a. apple
b. pig
c. cheese


5. What do most British people have for breakfast?

a. toast and cereal
b. cappuccino and croissant
c. fried eggs and bacon


6. Who invented the sandwich and why?

a. The Earl of Sandwich,
    because he wanted food which he could eat with one
    hand while gambling.

b. Lord Sandwich,     because he wanted food which he could take for a picnic
    in the countryside

c. Queen Elizabeth I,
    because she wanted food which could be prepared

    quickly for guests


7. What is a "kebab"?

a. a type of pub
b. Turkish fast food
c. A hot drink


8. Which of the following ingredients would not be a possible ingredient of a British pudding?

a. pig's blood
b. chocolate
c. lettuce


9. Which of these do you find in a pub in Britain? (trick question)

a. lager
b. cider
c. bitter


10. What is "chicken tikka masala"?

a. a type of salad
b. a type of Chinese food
c. a curry


11. How many vegetarians are there in the UK today?

a. 3-4 thousand
b. 300-400 thousand
c. 3-4 million


12. Where do people eat deep-fried chocolate bars?

a. Scotland
b. Japan
c. Wales


13. When are toffee apples eaten in the UK?

a. Christmas
b. Halloween
c. Easter


14. What is the difference between the following pairs,

"chips" and "French fries", "crisps" and "chips", "fizzy drink" and "soda".

a. British English v. American English
b. British English v. French
c. British English v. German


15. When did the first curry house open in Britain?
a. 1809
b. 1919
c. 1969


*


Congratulations, you got the right answers to

Brainteasers 168 - Body Talk 3 (difficult)

And here they are:


Questions to build up your wordpower

1. To lose face means ...

a. to lose consciousness (das Bewußtsein verlieren)
b. to be humiliated (erniedrigt werden)
c. to lose your good looks (die Schönheit verlieren)
d. to look vacant (leerer Blick)
e. to remove make-up from your face (sich abschminken)

The right answer is:
d. to look vacant, to have a blank expression on your face

Notice: to save face means to avoid humiliation


2. Complete this phrase: as bold as ...

a. bronze (Bronze)
b. brass (Messing)
c. copper (Kupfer)
d. steel (Stahl)
e. aluminum

The right answer is:
b. brass
All five words are metals, but we only say 'as bold as brass' (rotzfrech).

Notice: brazen means made of brass (messingartig, metallisch). We talk about a brazen voice or woman, meaning they are loud and vulgar. To brazen it out means to get what you want by being impertinent or insolent, to have one's way by brazeness (impertinence).


3. If you turn a blind eye to something, you ...

a. ignore it
b. are blind in one eye
c. are going round a blind corner (im toten Winkel sein)
d. have a black eye (ein blaues Auge haben)
e. cannot judge it


The right answer is:
a. to ignore it.

Notice: The idiom goes back to the British Admiral Lord Nelson, who ignored the order to retreat by putting his telescope to his blind eye when looking at the signal.


4. Lines on the face are called ...

a. folds (Falten) b. creases (Eselsohr, Bügelfalte, Knitter) c. pleats (eingelegte Falten in Gardinen oder Bekleidung) d. overlaps (Überlappendes, Überschneidendes) e. wrinkles (Fältchen)

The right answer is:

e. wrinkles, the lines on the skin which come with age.

Notice: A fold is a doubling back (a fold in a cloth, in the hills, in paper). A crease is a mark made by folding (a crease in paper, a crease down the front of trouser legs). A pleat is a designed fold in cloth (e.g. a pleated skirt). An overlap is the place where one thing partly covers another (e.g. tiles on a roof overlap)


5. If someone gives you the cold shoulder, he...

a. gives you a piece of cold meat to eat
b. tackles you in a football game (dir den Ball abjagen wollen...)
c. speaks frankly and openly to you
d. pats you on the back
e. refuses to talk to you


The right answer is:
e. refuses to talk to you

Notice: To put ones shoulder to the wheel (sich mächtig ins Zeug legen) is what someone does while he tackles you in a football game. He might as well shoulder his way through (sich einen Weg bahnen). And if he pats you on your shoulder he might offer you a shoulder to cry on.


13. April 2007