Core Skills
Communication
Study Section 1: Food
[INTERMEDIATE 1]
Introduction
Lesson 1A: Safe handling of food
Lesson 1B: Bananas
Lesson 1C: Healthy eating
SAQ answers
1
2
9
15
20
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this study section. You are studying Com munication at
Intermediate 1 level.
This package contains three separate lessons. Each lesson is a
‘chunk’ of material that is similar to a complete lesson. The difference
is that you can work at your own pace through the lesson. Each of
these lessons will take you approximately an hour to complete.
The theme of this study section is food. The three lessons are:
 Safe handling and storage of food
 Bananas
 Healthy eating.
This study section contains activities, self-assessed questions and a tutor
assessment.
An activity asks you to do something such as read an article or write a
letter. Most activities have feedback on the next page. The word
feedback just means comments. You should try the activity before
reading the feedback.
Self-Assessed Question (SAQ)
When you see this symbol, you should answer the
questions, and then check your answers with those given at
the end of the study section.
Tutor Assessment (TA)
These are activities or questions that you answer then
submit to your teacher or tutor for marking.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
1
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1A: SAFE HANDLING OF FOOD
LESSON 1A
Welcome to your first lesson. This lesson is all about the safe handling of
food. As you work through the lesson, you will be practising these skills:
 reading skills
 writing skills
 writing a memo.
Reading skills
First of all, we’re going to look at reading skills. When you read
something, you do the following.
 You read the words.
 You understand the words.
 After reading and understanding the words, you should know
something that you didn’t know before.
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COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1A: SAFE HANDLING OF FOOD
SAQ 1
Read the newspaper article that follows. After you’ve read it, answer the
questions that follow on. This is your first self -assessed question (SAQ).
Food Poisoning
By our health correspondent Lynn Paterson
The number of food
poisoning cases is on the
rise. No-one knows for
sure why this is the case.
Some people feel that
food poisoning won’t
affect them, but it can
affect anyone. Children,
adults and the elderly
are all potentially at
risk.
Many people don’t
know the basic rules of
food
handling.
For
example did you know
that dish-towels should
be washed daily? That
raw meat must be stored in
your fridge below cooked
meat? Did you know that
you must use different
chopping
boards
for
vegetables and for meat?
Do you always check sellby dates?
If you don't, you're
running
the
risk
of
becoming one of the rising
number of people affected
by food poisoning.
Food poisoning is nasty
and can even lead to death.
Don't let yourself get
caught out.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1A: SAFE HANDLING OF FOOD
SAQ 1 (continued)
1
What is happening to the
number of food poisoning
cases each year?
A
The number is increasing
B
The number is decreasing
C
The number is roughly
the same
2
Who can be affected by food
poisoning?
A
Anyone
B
Elderly people
C
Young people
3
How often should dish towels
be washed?
A
B
C
Weekly
Twice weekly
Daily
4
Where should cooked meat
be stored in a fridge?
A
B
C
Above raw meat
Below raw meat
On the same shelf as raw
meat
5
What does the author think
about food poisoning?
A
That it is nothing much to
worry about
That it is nasty and very
unpleasant
It's something that only
affects unlucky people
B
C
Once you've answered the questions, check your answers w ith those on
page 20. You should work out your score out of five.
Also, complete the table below, and ask your teacher/t utor to sign it.
Score
___ out of 5
Date completed
Teacher/tutor comments
/
/
Signed by student
4
Teacher/tutor initials
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1A: SAFE HANDLING OF FOOD
Writing skills
Good writing skills are important when you're studying Communication.
Being able to write well is also useful for your studies. Employers also
agree that good writing skills are important.
How do you write well?
Good writing must follow these rules:






You should have a purpose or a reason for writing .
It should include all of the information that you need to say.
It should be written so that the reader can understand it .
It should be written in proper sentences.
It should be written in proper paragraphs.
Punctuation, spelling and word order should be accurate.
How good do you think your writing skills are?
Some people worry about their writing. It can seem as if it's easy to do,
but when you sit down to write, it can seem much harder than you
thought.
Do you feel like that sometimes? I do! As I sit here writing this Study
Section, I keep asking myself if I'm writing it well. I'm also asking myself if
I'm expressing myself well.
It's clear to me that everyone has some concerns about their own writing.
It's useful to know what your own concerns are. It's also useful for your
teacher or tutor to know what your concerns are about your writing.
Doing this means you can get any extra support that you need.
So, it's now time to do your first Activity.
Activity 1
There's a checklist overleaf. It lists various things that are needed when
you write something. Put a tick against each thing according to whether
you feel (1) very concerned; (2) some concerns; (3) quite comfortable; or
(4) very comfortable.
You should discuss this Activity with your teacher/tutor after you've
finished it.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1A: SAFE HANDLING OF FOOD
Very
comfortable
Some
concerns
Quite
comfortable
Very
concerned
How do you feel about
this aspect of writing?
1
2
3
4
Using punctuation (full stops, commas, etc)
Writing in sentences
Spelling
Writing in paragraphs
Organising your thoughts into a clear order
Making your meaning clear
Getting ideas about what to write
Getting ideas from your head onto paper
Writing job application letters
Writing letters to friends or family
Writing e-mails
Writing memos
Writing reports
Writing an essay arguing a point
(argumentative essay)
Writing an essay about a personal experience
(personal reflective)
Writing a letter to a newspaper
Writing a letter of complaint
Writing an article for a newspaper or magazine
Use this space to list anything else that you feel you might need help with
when writing.
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COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1A: SAFE HANDLING OF FOOD
TA 1
You are going to write a memo now. Here is what a memo looks like.
Memo
To:
Subject:
All Staff
Complaints
From:
Date:
Mr Butler
13/8/2003
We have been getting too many complaints about hygiene from
customers recently. Last week a customer complained because
she found a hair in her soup. Another customer complained that
some of the staff had dirty overalls on when serving food.
Everyone should know the rules and the regulations about safe
food handling by now. If you're not sure about any of the rules
and regulations please speak to me and I will arrange for you to
attend a training course.
Please ensure that you take more care in the future and
remember that hygiene in the food area is of vital importance.
For your TA, you should write a memo based on the following information .
 You are manager of a café and you're writing a memo to all of your








staff.
You are writing to tell your staff about some hygiene-related issues.
Dish cloths and cleaning cloths must be washed every day.
Raw meat must be stored in the fridge below cooked meats .
Different chopping boards must be used to cut meat and vegetables .
Food must be used up before its sell-by date.
Food must never be used if it's passed its sell-by date.
Hair must be covered when you are working with food.
If there is any food left over from a tin, it must be stored in the fridge,
but not in its tin. It must be transferred to a covered dish.
Use the memo above to help you to decide how to lay out your own
memo. Try to include all of the bulleted points in your memo. Once
you've written the memo, give it to your teacher or tutor.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1A: SAFE HANDLING OF FOOD
Summary of this lesson
Here is a list of what you’ve done in this lesson.
 You learned about reading skills.
 You learned about writing skills.
 You learned about how to write a memo.
End of lesson 1A
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COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1B: BANANAS
LESSON 1B
Welcome to lesson 1B. I hope by now that you are comfortable with
this style of learning and that you are managing to cope with the
Activities, Self-Assessed Questions (SAQ), and the Tutor Assessments
(TA).
This lesson is all about bananas. You might think that a banana is a
fairly ordinary piece of fruit – but I hope you will think differently by the
end of this lesson!
During this lesson you will develop this skill:
 reading a long article.
Reading skills
You're going to do some more practice with reading skills in this
lesson. You'll be asked to read quite a long article this time.
You might find that the following technique works well when you read a
long article.
1.
2.
3.
Read the whole article from beginning to end to g et a feel for it.
Look up any words in a dictionary that you don't understand.
Re-read the article, this time using a highlighter pen to mark the
most important parts (or underline the most important parts).
You might have your own way of reading, of course – that's fine as
long as it works for you.
SAQ 2
Overleaf is a copy of a magazine article about bananas. Read it
carefully, and then answer the questions on the following page.
Some of the questions are multiple-choice questions. Others ask you to
write your answer down.
After you've answered the questions, check your answers with those
given on p 20.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1B: BANANAS
Bananas are good for health
Jan Green
‘Go bananas today!’ That seems to
be the message from new studies
showing that bananas might be
even better for your health than
everyone realised.
We all know that eating fruit is
good for health, but bananas might
be the most useful fruit of all.
Bananas are high in potassium and
low in salt. This combination can
help people who have high blood
pressure. High blood pressure can
cause strokes, which can leave
victims with various disabilities.
Many people also die from
strokes.
Bananas have other healthgiving properties. Many people
who smoke find that when they try
to stop, the body craves nicotine.
Bananas contain a combination of
vitamins which help the body to
fight this craving.
Bananas are also high in fibre
and this can help people suffering
from constipation. Many people
also swear by them as a cure for
hangovers. Apparently, a banana
is easily digested, and the fruit
soon gets the blood-sugar level
back to normal.
It’s this effect on blood-sugar
levels that is thought to help
people who are stressed and
overweight.
10
When blood-sugar levels fall,
people begin to feel stressed.
The simplest solution for many is
to reach for some sugar-filled
snack, such as chocolate or a
biscuit. These raise blood-sugar
levels quickly. The downside is
that they’re high in calories and
that blood-sugar levels fall
quickly, afterwards.
Eating a banana when you feel
stressed raises the blood-sugar
level quickly, and helps to keep
it stable for some hours. Because
the
blood-sugar
level
is
maintained, stress is reduced.
Calorie intake is reduced, too.
Bananas can help with other
mental health-related problems.
They contain high levels of a
protein called tryptophan. This
is converted by the body into
something called serotonin. This
is known to make people relax,
and improves the mood of people
who are depressed.
It’s clear that bananas have a
lot to offer! If you suffer from
any of the conditions mentioned
here, then it might be worth
trying to eat more bananas. Even
if you don’t, you know that
you’re eating more fruit, which
must be good for you.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1B: BANANAS
SAQ 2 (continued)
1
What does the author think
about bananas?
A
B
She thinks that they
are good
for health
She has no feelings
either way
C
She thinks that they
are bad for health
2
3
Give one quotation from the
article that supports your
answer to Q 1.
Why does the author start
the article by saying 'Go
bananas today!'
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
A
She wants to warn people that
the article is not really serious
B
She wants to warn people
about eating too many
C
4
Why do bananas help to
lower blood pressure?
A
B
C
5
Bananas are good for stress,
and good for people who are
overweight. Why?
A
B
C
bananas
She wants to encourage
people to eat more bananas
They are high in salt
and low in potassium
They are low in salt
and high in potassium
They are low in salt
and low in potassium
They raise blood sugar levels
without adding lots of calories
They add lots of calories
to help stressed people
to stop worrying
They lower blood-sugar levels
for several hours
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1B: BANANAS
SAQ 2 (continued)
6
What is tryptophan?
A
B
C
7
What does serotonin do in
the body?
A
B
C
8
Does the picture help you
to understand the article?
Explain your answer.
9
What were the best parts of
the article? List two things
you liked about it, and say
why you liked these things.
(One has been done for you
to give you some idea.)
It is a form of fibre found
in bananas
It is a protein found
in bananas
It is a form of vitamin
found in bananas
It makes you depressed
and moody
It makes you feel relaxed
and improves your mood
It makes you have high levels
of tryptophan in the body
e.g. It had lots of good reasons
why you should eat bananas
and this will encourage me to
eat more bananas.
1)
Each answer you give is
worth one mark.
1 mark
2)
1 mark
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COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1B: BANANAS
SAQ 2 (continued)
10
What were the worst parts
of the article? List two things
that you disliked about it,
and say why you disliked
these things. (Again one has
been done for you.)
Each answer you give is
worth one mark.
e.g. It had a lot of detail in it so I
found it took a long time to
read.
1)
1 mark
2)
1 mark
Now check your answers with those on page 20 and then fill in the
table below.
Score
___ out of 12
Date completed
Signed by student
/
Teacher/tutor comments
/
Teacher/tutor initials
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1B: BANANAS
Summary of this lesson
Here is a list of what you’ve done in this lesson.


You learned to read an article.
You’ve learned to re-read it, and then to answer questions about it
End of lesson 1B
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COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1C: HEALTHY EATING
LESSON 1C
This lesson is all about healthy eating. In this lesson you are going to be
asked to create an advert to sell bananas. You need to work in a small
group. You will be developing the following two skills in this lesson:
 talking and listening skills
 writing skills.
Talking and listening skills
Good talking and listening skills are important in communication. You are
now going to be given a chance to use them.
When you're talking, you need to make sure that you say things clearly , so
that others can understand your point. Try to do these things when you talk.




Know what you want to say.
Say it clearly.
Explain any points by offering examples or more information.
Be prepared to answer any questions.
When you're listening, you need to make sure that you understand the
other person. Try to do these things when you listen.




Take time to listen.
Think about what the other person said before you 'dive in'.
Give the other person time to make their points.
Ask questions when you're not sure.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1C: HEALTHY EATING
Activity 2
For this activity, you need to work with one or two partners. Your task is
to create an advert to sell bananas. Try to mak e your advert imaginative
and positive. Your purpose is to encourage people to buy and eat more
bananas. In the advert, try to:





identify the benefits of bananas to a healthy diet
remember that bananas do more than help you to watch your weight
show many of the benefits of eating bananas
persuade people to buy bananas
persuade people to include bananas in their everyday diets.
Your advert must include some pictures or diagrams (don’t worry about
the quality of these – this is not an art class!). It must also include some
words. You should include about 30–100 words in your advert.
You should look at the article about bananas that you rea d in lesson 1B.
It’s on page 10 and it includes a lot of useful information for you.
You can use a PC, if available, or you can create your advert on paper.
Make it about A4 size (i.e. one sheet of printer paper).
There is a planning sheet overleaf to help you with this task.
A typical advert for bananas
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COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1C: HEALTHY EATING
Planning sheet for Activity 2
1.
Your group should start off by discussing words that people
associate with bananas. Write a list of words here.
E.g. healthy, energy
2.
Now your group should discuss any images that people associate
with bananas. Describe those images here.
E.g. monkeys, athletes eat bananas, slipping on a banana skin
3.
The group should now try to invent some catchy slogans or phrases
that you think would make people look at your advert.
E.g. “Make friends with a banana today!” “Peel better! Eat more bananas.”
4.
List the important points that you're going to include in the advert.
(You don’t need to include every single detail from the article on
p. 10. You should decide which parts you want to include.)
5.
Describe the type of images that you would like to include in your
advert.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1C: HEALTHY EATING
6.
You’ve now got a list of words, images and slogans to choose from.
You should also have decided what images to include, and what
positive health messages you’re going to include in the advert.
Discuss these in your group, and describe your final plan here.
7.
In the group, you now need to decide who's going to do what.
Art work _________________________________________
Writing copy * _____________________________________
Word processing __________________________________
List any other tasks that you can think of, and say who’s going to be
responsible for them.
*
'Copy' is the word used by the media to refer to the text that is included in adverts,
newspapers etc.
8.
Now, create your advert! Remember that the quality of the art work
is not important. What you’re really doing is creating a draft advert.
Your teacher or tutor will be looking for proof that you’ve:




worked together
shared ideas
made a draft advert that persuades people to buy more bananas
stressed the health benefits of eating more bananas.
After you’ve finished your advert, give it to your tutor for comment.
Make sure that the name of everyone involved is written on the back
of it.
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COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
LESSON 1C: HEALTHY EATING
Summary of this lesson
Here is a list of what you’ve done in this lesson.



You learned how important it is to say things clearly
You learned to take time to listen
You learned to work in a small group.
End of lesson 1C
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
SAQ ANSWERS
SAQ ANSWERS
SAQ 1 Answers
The correct answers are:
1A
2A
3C
4A
5B
SAQ 2 Answers
1.
2.
A
Give yourself one mark for selecting any one of these quotations
(or something similar):





3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
C
B
A
B
B
Give yourself a mark if you said something like this:


20
‘Go bananas today!’
‘…. eating fruit is good for health, but bananas might be the
most useful of all.’
‘It’s clear that bananas have a lot to offer!’
‘… it might be worth trying to eat more bananas.’
‘Bananas are good for health’ (the headline).
Yes, the picture helps you to understand the article, b ecause it
shows a picture of two bananas, one of which is peeled and
looks as if it’s just ready to eat.
Yes, the picture helps because the article is about the health
benefits of bananas, and the picture shows us some bananas.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004
SAQ ANSWERS
If you thought the picture didn’t help, give yourself a mark if you
said something like this:
9.
10.

No, the picture doesn’t help because it shows two bananas,
but it’s not clear that the article is about health. A picture of a
sports player eating a banana for energy would have been
better.

No, the picture doesn’t help as it doesn’t link bananas to
health in any way. Maybe a picture of someone ‘smoking a
banana’ would have been more useful because then we would
have wanted to read the article to find out what the picture
meant.
Give yourself one mark for each answer you gave that was similar
to one of these:

It contained information showing that bananas help your health
in many ways. Most people would get some useful information
from this article.

It explained things in depth, without going into too much detail.
This was good because it meant you knew that the article was
based on fact, and not just an opinion.

It contained scientific terms to prove it was an article based on
science, but it explained what the terms meant, so we could
understand it.
Give yourself one mark for each answer you gave that was similar
to one of these:

It didn’t compare bananas to any other fruit, so we don’t know
how much better bananas are than other fruit.

It contained a lot of detail that was not needed. For example,
we didn’t really need to know all about blood-sugar levels.
The writer could have just told us that bananas are better for
health than chocolate or biscuits.

The article didn’t really prove anything. The writer didn’t
quote from any experts to give us proof.
COMMUNICATION: STUDY SECTION 1 (INT 1)
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© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2004