Don´t those beautiful food advertisements you see on TV and on food packages

make your mouth water? Don´t you want to take a bite of that juicy steak or the
creamy chocolate you see in the picture? Well, if you knew what was really in those
photographs, perhaps you wouldn´t be so tempted!
Take a hamburger, for instance. Food stylists - the people who arrange food for
photographs - will cook it, but not enough to make it safe to eat. Cooking it any
more would make it look too dark. But it still doesn´t have that juicy shine until
they rub a petroleum jelly, Vaseline, over it. Then they usually glue extra sesame
seeds onto the bun to make it look just right.
You may say that this is false advertising, because the food doesn´t really look like
that. However, it´s perfectly legal. The law says that the food that´s being
advertised must be real - but it can wear “make-up.” And if what you´re advertising
is a hamburger, then the chips that are shown with it don´t have to be real at all!
Food stylists need these tricks because of the technical difficulties involved in
photographing food. It can take hours to arrange things just right for a good shot -
and most kinds of food don´t last that long under the hot studio lights. In addition,
food that´s cooked well may taste good, but it doesn´t always have the shine and
colour that make it look pretty.
What other tricks do food stylists use? The list is long. They make chicken legs look
fatter by putting a spoonful of mashed potatoes under the skin. Whipped cream
melts under the hot lights, so shaving cream is used instead. Breakfast cereal gets
soggy in milk, so they put it in hair conditioner or white glue.
So, the next time you see food being advertised, take it with a pinch of salt.
Remember that this is show business, and under the camera, every plate of food
has to look like a star.

Questions:
1. Write a summary of the text in English, including the most important points
using your own words (approximately 50 words; 1 point).
2. Mark the following sentences true or false (T/F) according to the text. Then
write the part (and ONLY that part) of the text which justifies your answer. (1
point; 0.25 each)
a. Food stylists cook and prepare food for photos
b. Vaseline is a type of jelly .
c. Taking a good photo of food takes few minutes
d. Whipped cream and hot lights go well together

3. Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and
definitions given here. (1 point; 0.25 each).
a) bread used to put a hamburger in b) not against
the law
c) turns into liquid d) do not rely on it
as accurate

4. Pronunciation. (1 point; 0.25 each)

a. Find a word in the text which includes the sound /u:/ as in glue
b. Write the word whose underlined letters are pronounced differently cream- see-
being-steak
c. Which of these words includes the diphthong /aʊ/ as in mouth: enough, would, hour,
colour
d. Find a word in the text that includes the sound /ʃ/ like the “t” in “emotion”.

5. Rewrite the following sentences without changing the original meaning. Use
the word in brackets and/or the expression given, making the necessary changes.
(1.5 points; 0.5 points each).
a) If we use some tricks, the food will look prettier
She suggested ……………….
b) The food doesn´t really look like that. However, it´s perfectly legal (in spite )
………..….
c) “Do those beautiful food advertisements you see on TV and on food packages make your
mouth water?”
She asked….

6. Choose ONE of these topics to write 120-150 words (3 points)

a) How much does advertising influence you as a consumer? Explain
b) “Junk food adverts for kids should be banned on television”. Do you agree or disagree
with this statement? Explain