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That’s what I was saying. Yeah, never give up and it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase
just follow what you feel inside your heart.
PRACTICE 8
TRACK 45 (Practice 8, Activity 13)
"A Nice Cup of Tea", by George Orwell
Student 1: I think this essay is about how to make beforehand. This is better done by placing it
tea because of the title.
Announcer: If you look up 'tea' in the first
cookery book that comes to hand you will
probably find that it is unmentioned; or at most
you will find a few lines of sketchy instructions
which give no ruling on several of the most
important points.
This is curious, not only because tea is one
of the main stays of civilization in this country,
as well as in Eire, Australia and New Zealand,
but because the best manner of making it is the
subject of violent disputes.
When I look through my own recipe for the
perfect cup of tea, I find no fewer than eleven
outstanding points. On perhaps two of them
there would be pretty general agreement, but at
least four others are acutely controversial. Here
are my own eleven rules, every one of which I
regard as golden:
Student 2: The author is talking about tea, as he
stated in the title and he will guide the reader
through his own recipe to make a nice cup of tea. take the teapot to the kettle and not the other
Student 1: He also said that he has never seen a
recipe on how to make tea, and I haven’t either.
I learned how to make it when I was 6 and I had
a stomachache. The nurse at school gave me
some chamomile tea.
Student 2: Yes, I like to read about these topics
because we assume that everyone does things
the way we do, but of course it is not true! I
didn’t know people drank tea using different
techniques. How do they make it in Russia,
Japan, China, and India? It would be interesting
to learn about that.
Announcer: First of all, one should use Indian
or Chinese tea. China tea has virtues which are
not to be despised nowadays–it is economical,
and one can drink it without milk–but there is
not much stimulation in it. One does not feel
wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking
'a nice cup of tea' invariably means Indian tea.
Secondly, tea should not be made in small
quantities–that is, in a teapot. Tea out of an urn
is always tasteless, while army tea, made in a
cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The
teapot should be made of china or earthenware.
Silver or Britannia ware teapots produce inferior
tea and enamel pots are worse; though curiously
enough a pewter teapot (a rarity nowadays) is
not so bad. Thirdly, the pot should be warmed
on the hob than by the usual method of swilling
it out with hot water. Fourthly, the tea should
be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are
going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped
teaspoons would be about right. In a time of
rationing, this is not an idea that can be realized
on every day of the week, but I maintain that
one strong cup of tea is better than twenty
weak ones. All true tea lovers not only like their
tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each
year that passes–a fact which is recognized in
the extra ration issued to old-age pensioners.
Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the
pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices
to imprison the tea. In some countries teapots
are fitted with little dangling baskets under
the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are
supposed to be harmful. Actually one can
swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities
without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the
pot it never infuses properly. Sixthly, one should
way about. The water should be actually boiling
at the moment of impact, which means that one
should keep it on the flame while one pours.
Some people add that one should only use water
that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I
have never noticed that it makes any difference.
Seventhly, after making the tea, one should
stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake,
afterwards allowing the leaves to settle. Eighthly,
one should drink out of a good breakfast cup–
that is, the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat,
shallow type. The breakfast cup holds more, and
with the other kind one's tea is always half cold–
before one has well started on it. Ninthly, one
should pour the cream off the milk before using
it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea
a sickly taste. Tenthly, one should pour tea into
the cup first. This is one of the most controversial
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