The Restaurant

The Restaurant
Practice
1.- TRUE OR FALSE SENTENCES. CORRECT THE FALSE ONES.

1) Mrs. Hughes listened to the conversation in the kitchen because she put her ear to
the wall. TRUE / FALSE

2) Clive doesn't like working in the hotel.

TRUE / FALSE

3) Mr. Hughes and Mrs. Williams are the only customers in the restaurant that day.
TRUE / FALSE

2.- WHO SAID THAT? WRITE THE NAME OF THE CHARACTER WHO SAYS THESE
WORDS.

1) "I don't live in this country, you see. I'm on holidays". ___________________

2) "We like to keep our customers happy". ___________________

3) "Good food is not the only important thing for our guide". ____________________

3.- VOCABULARY. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE RIGHT WORD FROM THESE:

AISLE CUSTOMER DUTY FREE GUN

POCKET TIE WELL-DRESSED INSPECTOR

1) A __________________ is somebody who buys something in a supermarket or

comes into a restaurant for a meal.
2) To be __________________ is to wear elegant clothes.

3) A __________________ is a long, thin piece of material we wear with a shirt.

4.- MATCH THESE DETAILS TO THE CUSTOMERS. WRITE:

A FOR MR. HUGHES AND B FOR MRS. WILLIAMS.

 expensive car  white shirt and red tie  plastic bag

 grey hair and old  important manner  dark hair and big

 round glasses  anorak and trousers  expensive wine

 glass of water  inspector of the guide  little book

 cheap clothes  tourist on holiday  sitting beside the kitchen

 The Restaurant
5.- ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE? CORRECT THE FALSE SENTENCES.
1) Clive Gordon owns the Flower Garden hotel and restaurant. TRUE / FALSE

2) The hotel is in the middle of a city. TRUE / FALSE

3) Today he is expecting an inspector from The Good Hotel Guide. TRUE / FALSE

4) His wife, Karen, works in the kitchen. TRUE / FALSE

5) Clive is a good cook but a lazy man. TRUE / FALSE

6) Karen's hands are red from cutting vegetables. TRUE / FALSE

7) The first customer arrives at the hotel in an expensive car. TRUE / FALSE

8) The second customer is wearing expensive clothes. TRUE / FALSE

9) The woman enjoys the meal and the ambience. TRUE / FALSE

6.- ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

1) Why does Karen want to run away from the hotel?

2) What does Clive do when the old woman walks into the restaurant?

3) How does Mrs. Williams know that Clive is unkind to his daughter?

4) Why does Clive think that Mr. Hughes is the inspector?

5) What does Clive do when Mr. Hughes says the wine is too expensive?

To download the audio file copy and paste this audio

file link or scan the QR code:
My Glossary: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ciPuv3WNyLSkqby2ARIpmE
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 The Restaurant

The Restaurant
by Rod Smith

Name: _______________________________________________________________
 The Restaurant

The Restaurant
by Rod Smith

Clive Gordon was dreaming of food. He didn’t finish the dream. The sound of a telephone woke him up.
Automatically, he moved his hand towards the small table by the bed.
“Who is it?” he asked.
“Marcus. I have some news for you.”

Clive sat up. Marcus Baxter was a friend of his. He

wrote articles for a local newspaper. He often knew
about things before they happened.
“I’m listening,” Clive said.
“An inspector from the Good Restaurant Guide is going
to visit your hotel sometime today. You should be
prepared.”
“Thanks for telling me. But how did you know...?”
“I’ll explain later. I must go now. I’m phoning from work.”
“Karen,” he called in a loud voice. “It’s time to get up. You’ve got work to do.”



Clive was the owner of the Flower Garden, a small hotel by the sea. His wife had died several years before
and now he lived in a hotel with his fourteen-year-old daughter, Karen. During the summer they were
very busy. But winters were quiet. There were very few guests at this time of year, and very little money.
Clive wanted to change the situation. He wanted to make the hotel restaurant famous. “If I can do that,”
he thought, “people will come here all year.”

There was a good chance that Clive could do this. He was a good cook with good ideas. But he didn’t like
hard work and his daughter had to do most of the cooking. Every week day, when Karen got home from
school, she had to stay in the kitchen until midnight. And she worked all day Saturday and most of
Sunday. She hated doing so much work in the kitchen. She never had time to do her school homework or
 The Restaurant
to go with her friends. She wanted to run away from the hotel. But she couldn’t. She had to finish school
first.

“Clean those vegetables,” Clive said, when Karen walked into the kitchen that Saturday morning.
“An inspector from the Good Restaurant Guide” is coming to eat here this morning. I want everything to
be perfect. If he has a good meal, he will put our name in the guide. This is the best chance we have of
making this restaurant famous.”
Karen was silent. She thought about all the work she had to do. “this,” she said to herself, “is going
to be a very long day.”


Time passed slowly. Karen’s hands were red

from washing and cutting vegetables. When
she looked at the clock, she saw that it was
only twelve-thirty. She felt as if she had
been in the kitchen all her life.
Five minutes later her father ran
into the room. “It’s the man from the Good
Restaurant Guide,” he said in an excited
voice. “He’s here.”
“How do you know?” Karen asked.
“It’s everything about him,” Clive
said. “Well-dressed, expensive car,
important manner. He’s also carrying some
kind of book. He keeps opening it and
writing things down.”
“But couldn’t he...?” Karen began.
“Oh, stop asking stupid questions,” Clive said. “Get the food ready. I’m going to take his order.”
Karen watched her father leave the room. “Get the food ready yourself,” she said in a low voice.



When Clive walked back into the restaurant, there was another customer in the room. It was a little old
woman with grey hair and blue eyes. She was wearing trousers and an anorak. “She’s not important,”
Clive said to himself. Her clothes looked cheap and she was carrying a plastic bag.
He thought quickly. The inspector was sitting at a table in the middle of the room. He didn’t want
to put the old woman at a table where the inspector could see her. There was a table beside the door to
the kitchen, behind the inspector. She could sit there.
 The Restaurant
“Good afternoon,” Clive said. “Follow me, please.” He took the old woman to the table and gave
her a menu.

“Thank you,” she said. She looked up to ask for

a glass of water. But Clive had gone. He was standing in
front of the other customer with a wide smile on his
face. The other customer looked important. He was a
big man with dark hair and round glasses. He wore a
blue jacket with a white shirt and a red tie. His clothes
looked expensive. The old woman listened to their
conversation and smiled.
“Would you like to try one of our fine red wines
with your meal?” Clive was asking. He put his mouth
close to the man’s ear. “The Bordeaux is very good.” He
spoke like a man who was telling someone a secret.
The customer closed the wine list. “It’s a little
expensive,” he said. “Maybe one of your ‘fine glasses of
water’ would be just as good.”
Clive laughed and put his hand on the man’s
arm. “We have special prices today, Mr. ... er?”
“Hughes,” the man said. “Thomas Hughes.”
“Please accept half a bottle of our finest wine at
half price, Mr. Hughes.”
Mr. Hughes was surprised. “Oh, all right,” he said. “And thank you.”
“Not at all,” Clive said. “We like to keep our customers happy.” He stepped back and fell over a
chair behind him at the next table. He got up quickly, still smiling. “Oh, excuse me,” he said.
“What a strange man!” thought Mr. Hughes.
Clive went to ask the old woman what she would like to eat.
“Now I can tell you what my name is,” she said, when he came up to the table. “It’s Mrs. Williams.
And I would like a glass of water to drink and something from your menu. I don’t care whaat you give me.
But I want to enjoy it of course.”
“She’s trying to be funny,” Clive thought. “Certainly, Mrs. Williams,” he said. He felt uncomfortable
and went away quickly.
When Clive walked into the kitchen, Karen was making a Caesar salad. “Isn’t Mr. Hughes’s meal
ready yet?” he shouted.
Karen jumped. “Who’s Mr. Hughes?” she asked.
“The inspector. The man from the Good Restaurant Guide. The most important customer of the
year, you stupid girl,” Clive said angrily. “Now be quick.”
 The Restaurant
“All right, all right,” Karen said. “But be quiet. Someone will hear you.”

Clive’s face went very red. “Don’t tell me what to do,” he said. “The only person who can hear me
is you. And you don’t listen.”
But Clive was wrong. Someone else did hear him shouting. It was Mrs. Williams. She wanted to
know what was happening, so she out her ear to the wall and listened to the conversation on the other
side. She was surprised. Clive was a lot nicer in the restaurant than he was in the kitchen.


More people came to eat. Karen worked very hard. It was difficult. Clive kept going in and out of the
kitchen and shouting at her angrily.
At two o’clock, Mr. Hughes stood up to go.
Clive walked with him to the door. “I hope you enjoyed your meal,” he said in a soft voice. “We are
always happy to have you here. Please remember that.”
“Yes, I will,” said Mr. Hughes. “But sadly I don’t think I will be here again for a long time. I don’t
live in the country, you see. I’m just here on holiday.” He held up the book he was carrying. “Most people
take photographs. I like to write about what I see in this little book.”
“But I thought...” Clive began. But Mr. Hughes was already walking to his car.
“Excuse me,” said a voice. Clive turned. It was Mrs. Williams. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said.
“I would like to pay for the meal.”
“Er, yes. Of course,” Clive said. There was no enthusiasm in his voice.
“I would also like to tell you,” Mrs. Williams continued, “that I am from the Good Restaurant
Guide.”
“You! But that’s not possible!” Clive said. “The other man –I thought he...”-
Mrs. Williams smiled. “Things are not always
what they seem to be, Mr. Gordon. Now, about tour
restaurant. I thought the food here was very good. But
good food is not the only important thing for our guide.
We need to be sure that the ambience of a place is as
good as the food on the table. And the ambience of your
restaurant isn’t bad. But then there’s the kitchen to
think about. Oh, dear, Mr. Gordon. I don’t think I would
like to work in your kitchen. I wouldn’t like to work
there at all. For that reason I’m afraid I can’t put your
restaurant in next year’s guide. I’m very sorry.”
Clive Gordon was too surprised to say anything.
He watched the old woman walk away. His dream was
finished. It was going to be another long winter.
The Restaurant