Trouble in the Land of Milk and Honey (1)

These tasty idioms will give you food for thought

Every morning Reuben went to work smiling. His work was meat and drink to him. Reuben assisted and learned from the head chef at a restaurant called The Land of Milk and Honey. Sandwiches made with interesting combinations of fresh ingredients were The Land of Milk and Honey's bread and butter. But it served other dishes, too.

The restaurant's success was largely due to the head chef, Madeleine. She made cooking even very complicated dishes seem easy as pie.

Today the mayor and some visitors were coming to eat at the restaurant. He'd let the chefs choose what to serve. Everyone was eager to impress them, especially Madeleine. But when Reuben arrived, he saw the sous-chef, Ginger, looking worried.

"Hi Ginger. What's eating you?" he asked. "Madeleine isn't here!" Ginger said. "She just called in sick."

Ginger and Reuben looked at each other nervously. But Reuben said, "Madeleine left a list of what she wanted to make. We just have to follow the recipes. It'll be a piece of cake."


Editor's Summary 
We're visiting Reuben and Ginger at the Land of Milk and Honey restaurant.
They're having a big day as the mayor and the other special guests were coming.
The head Chef Madeleine cooked very complicated dishes that looked as easy as pie to make.
Reuben assisted and really enjoyed his job and learning from Madeleine.
But that day when Reuben got to work, Ginger the sous-chef told Reuben nervously that Madeleine had just called in sick.
So they just decided that if they followed the recipe she had prepared for the special lunch, it would be a piece of cake.

Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: Open-ended Questions
一般問問題可以分為二種:
1. yes/no questions 直接且容易的回答, 可以快速結束對話
- Do you listen to the Info Cloud every day?
2. open-ended questions 對話可自然發展
- Why do you listen to the Info Cloud?


Grammar Gym
The restaurant's success was largely due to the head chef, Madeleine.
largely due to: mostly because of 
- The sudden cut in the school budget was largely due to poor planning from the year before.
- Gregory's business failures were largely due to his greed.


Language Lab
ingredient n.
one of the foods that you use to make a particular food or dish:
- The ingredients of the soup are all low in fat and high in fiber.
a quality you need to achieve something:
- The ingredients for successful communication are patience and understanding.

complicated adj.
difficult to understand or deal with, because many parts or details are involved
- The process of applying for college is quite complicated.
consisting of many closely connected parts [= complex];
having many parts or steps
- This bribery case is complicated, and it involves many critical people.

apprentice n.
/əˈprɛntəs/
a person who learns a job or skill by working for a fixed period of time for someone who is very good at that job or skill

sous-chef n.
A sous chef is the culinary chef located just below the executive or head chef in a kitchen's chain of command; therefore, a sous chef has a vital role in any commercial kitchen.
- The sous-chef is in charge of all the grilled dishes.

recipe n.
a set of instructions for cooking a particular type of food
- I asked Grandma to give me her recipe for apple pie.
- The restaurant's tartar sauce recipe is a secret.
- Just follow the recipes, and you can make authentic Italian food.


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