BEFORE READING / LISTENING

   1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article's headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T)
   or false (F):

   a.   The French president put his British dinner in the trash can.               T / F   
   b.   Mr. Chirac said Finnish food was the worst in Europe.                       T / F   
   c.   Mr. Chirac said British people could not cook well.                         T / F   
   d.   Mr. Chirac's jokes have eased Anglo-British tensions.                       T / F   
   e.   Paris's Olympic bid may be harmed by Mr. Chirac's remarks.                  T / F   
   f.   British shoppers are boycotting French produce.                             T / F   
   g.   A British food critic said Mr. Chirac is an expert judge of good food.      T / F   
   h.   Mr. Chirac loves playing with marbles.                                      T / F   

   2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

   a.       hot water                                          bash                               
   b.       quips                                              blunders                           
   c.       swipe                                              insulting                          
   d.       antagonistic                                       comments                           
   e.       stoked up                                          comment                            
   f.       asides                                             tirades                            
   g.       broadsides                                         big trouble                        
   h.       faux pas                                           gone crazy                         
   i.       pronounce                                          wisecracks                         
   j.       lost his marbles                                   intensified                        

   3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one
   combination is possible):

   a.       landed himself                                     swipe at                           
   b.       alleges                                            Anglo-French rivalries             
   c.       an added                                           Paris's 2012 Olympics bid          
   d.       antagonistic                                       field day                          
   e.       stoked up                                          remarks                            
   f.       may have connotations for                          pronounce on food                  
   g.       British people have retaliated                     in hot water                       
   h.       newspapers too have had a                          his marbles                        
   i.       not fit to                                         at Mr. Chirac's broadsides         
   j.       he has lost                                        to have overheard                  

                               France's Chirac rubbishes British food

   BNE: French President Jacques Chirac has landed himself in hot water over comments he made
   about British and Finnish cuisine. A reporter from France's Liberation newspaper alleges to
   have overheard Mr. Chirac making culinary quips to Russian and German leaders. President
   Chirac joked that Finnish food was the worst in Europe, followed closely by British fare. He
   said: "The only thing they [the British] have done for European agriculture is mad cow". An
   added swipe at British cooking was: "You can't trust people who cook as badly as that." His
   antagonistic remarks have stoked up Anglo-French rivalries ahead of the G8 summit, which
   begins on July 6.

   Mr. Chirac's tasteless and unsavory asides may have connotations for Paris's 2012 Olympics
   bid. The final decision will be made on July 6 and two Finnish delegates are part of the
   deciding committee. British people have retaliated at Mr. Chirac's broadsides against their
   food by boycotting French produce. British newspapers too have had a field day lambasting the
   French leader for his irreverent diplomatic faux pas. Egon Ronay, a renowned food critic,
   wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "A man full of bile is not fit to pronounce on food." The Sun
   was equally unrestrained, calling Mr. Chirac a "petty, racist creep"; while the Daily Express
   gibed, "he has lost his marbles".