SECTION 2 Questions 11-2011. Question 11At the beginning of the talk, the spea

Speaker: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this presentation on restaurants
and food. Eating out in the UK is an international adventure—you
can find restaurants serving almost any kind of food you would like to try,
especially in the cities and larger towns. Popular options include Chinese, Indian,
Italian, Greek and Thai food. Traditional British food is also available, Q11
of course, and different regions have their own specialities. Many pubs also
serve excellent food. With all these choices, the hardest thing about eating
out in the UK is deciding where to go. Here are three ways to find a restaurant:
ask friends or colleagues to recommend one; look in a national or local           Q12
restaurant guide—available from bookstores, newsagents and at libraries;
look in the local Yellow Pages telephone directory under "restaurants".
  Most restaurants display their menu outside so that you can check what
they have to offer—and their prices—before you go in. Prices vary widely
from one restaurant to another, so do look first. Opening hours vary. Most                Q13
restaurants are open from about 11:00 or 11:30 a.m.—for lunch—through to
about 9 or 10 o’clock in the evenings. Some may open for a couple of hours
for lunch, then close for a while and reopen at about 5 or 6 p.m. for dinner.
Some may open for dinner only. Some pubs have permits to open 24 hours
a day and many of these serve food 24 hours a day too. On Sundays, some
restaurants may close early, and smaller ones may not open at all, but most
restaurants are open 7 days a week.
  Tipping and service charges at restaurants in the UK can be confusing
even for us Brits! When you pay your restaurant bill in the UK, tipping—leaving         Q14
extra money for good service—is optional. However, most
people do leave a tip, unless they were very unhappy with the service. The
usual amount is about 10 to 15 per cent of the total cost of the bill. Some restaurants
will add a "service charge", which is basically a tip, on to your bill
automatically. If you think the service was poor, you do not have to pay this
charge. In pubs, people usually only leave a tip if they receive service at their
tables. If you are in a pub where you must go to the bar to order food, it is       Q15
not usual to leave a tip.
  Takeaway food is very common in Britain. "Takeaway" food is cooked
food that you buy from the restaurant and take away to eat somewhere else.
The most popular kinds include hamburgers, pizzas, kebabs, Indian meals,
Chinese meals, and fish and chips. Takeaway food is cheaper than eating
the same food in the restaurant. If you do not want to go out to pick up your
takeaway, you can let your takeaway come to you, since many restaurants
offer a delivery service. You telephone in your order from home, and the
restaurant delivers the food to your door. Some restaurants charge extra for       Q16
delivery—check when you place your order. It usually depends on how far
away you are from the restaurant.
  Pubs and bars are an important part of social life in the UK. Most of
them have an informal, comfortable atmosphere, and going to the pub is an       Q17
easy way to get together with friends. Beer is the most popular drink in pubs.
There are two main kinds: lager is light in colour and bubbly or fizzy, where-
as bitter is darker and heavier-tasting, and not very fizzy. Pubs also serve red
and white wine, other kinds of alcohol, like gin, whisky, vodka and cocktails,
and a range of non-alcoholic drinks, including mineral water, fruit juices,
fizzy drinks—colas, soda water, etc.—and tea and coffee. As I mentioned
before, many pubs serve food as well as drinks. Traditional pub food is cheap
and fairly basic, but you can also find pubs offering restaurant-quality food
served in separate dining areas. Some pubs also provide entertainment, such      Q18
as live music or quiz nights. These are especially popular with students. Keep     Q19
an eye out for such entertainment events and remember that these nights are
great opportunity to make new friends.
   The standard legal opening hours for pubs and bars are 11.00 a.m. to
11.00 p.m. Some pubs close for a while during the day. Many pubs and bars
have special licences allowing them to stay open later and, as I said before,              Q20
some are even open 24 hours a day. The legal drinking age in the UK is 18.
Children are not allowed inside pubs and bars, except where there is a special
family room, a separate dining room or a garden area. Many pubs in the
vicinity of the university have gardens, which makes them extremely popular
during the warmer months.