La recensione del ristorante (The restaurant review)
QCER B1247 parole
Casa Nuria has stood on the same corner of my home town for forty years, and I ate there almost every Sunday until I moved away. Last month I went back for the first time in ten years, so take this review as the opinion of somebody who left, not of a regular customer.
The good news first. The dining room is brighter: the heavy curtains have gone and there is proper light over every table, so you can finally read the menu. There are three vegetarian main courses now, where there used to be one plate of grilled vegetables, and the staff no longer look offended if you ask what is in the sauce. The bill came two minutes after I asked for it, which used to be unthinkable.
Something else left with the curtains, though. The menu used to be written by hand every morning, depending on what the market had; today it is printed, laminated and identical to the one on their website. The bean stew my grandmother ordered for thirty years has gone. The portions have shrunk as well, and the prices have not.
So, a mixed verdict. It is a better-run place than the one I remember: cleaner, faster, kinder to anybody who does not eat meat. It is also more predictable, and I miss being surprised. Perhaps a family business cannot grow up and stay unpredictable. I will be back in the summer, and I will still ask for the stew.
Parole che forse non conosci
- reviewrecensione
- curtaintenda
- main coursepiatto principale
- staffpersonale
- billconto
- laminatedplastificato
- stewstufato
- portionporzione
- to shrinkridursi, rimpicciolirsi
- verdictverdetto, giudizio
Domande
Si risponde con il testo davanti. Non è memoria: è capire.
How long had the writer been away from Casa Nuria?
Ten years — «I went back for the first time in ten years». Quarant'anni è da quanto è aperto il ristorante; la visita risale a un mese fa.
The dining room is now ___ than it was, because the heavy curtains have gone.
brighter — «The dining room is brighter: the heavy curtains have gone». Poiché la frase fa un confronto con prima, serve il comparativo: brighter, non bright. Si accetta anche lighter.
Casa Nuria offers more vegetarian main courses than it did ten years ago.
True — Vero: «There are three vegetarian main courses now, where there used to be one plate of grilled vegetables». Used to be indica com'era prima, e tre è più di uno.
Which change is presented as something the restaurant has lost?
The menu is no longer written by hand each morning — La luce e la rapidità sono nel paragrafo 2, tra i miglioramenti. Il menù scritto a mano in base a quello che c'era al mercato è nel 3, tra le cose perdute: ora è stampato e sempre uguale.
What does the text tell us about the amount of food and the prices?
You get less food, but you do not pay less for it — «The portions have shrunk as well, and the prices have not». Quel have not è un'ellissi: sottintende shrunk, cioè i prezzi non sono scesi. Il testo non dice che siano gli stessi di prima, solo che non sono scesi; per questo l'opzione parla di non pagare di meno.
Which sentence best sums up the final verdict?
The restaurant is run better than before, but it no longer surprises the writer — A mixed verdict: better-run da una parte, more predictable e I miss being surprised dall'altra. Né un elogio né una lamentela, e la prova è che pensa di tornare in estate.