Lunch at the Refectory: Whose Plate Is This?

1Conversation: lunch at the refectory

Mama Jeanne (the cook): Next! Plates up, please. Rice, beans and cabbage today, and there's groundnut sauce for anyone who wants it.

Keza: Thank you, Mama Jeanne. Mugisha, is this cup yours? It was on my tray.

Mugisha: No, mine is the green one. That blue cup is Byiringiro's. Look, his name is written on its handle.

Keza: Byiringiro! Here's your cup.

Byiringiro: Thanks, Keza. Mama Jeanne, please don't put any sauce on my plate. I'm allergic to groundnuts.

Mama Jeanne: I remember, my son. Your beans are in this small pot. I cooked them without groundnuts.

Mugisha: Where's Hassan? His plate is still on the shelf.

Keza: He's fasting. It's Ramadan, so he and the other Muslim students eat after sunset. Mama Jeanne keeps their food warm for them.

Mama Jeanne: That's right. Their dinner is in the kitchen. Hassan's portion is the big one. He's growing fast!

Mugisha: (laughing) Mine should be the big one! Can I have a second helping of rice?

Mama Jeanne: After everyone has eaten, dear. Keza, is that your sweater on the bench?

Keza: No, it isn't mine. Mine is in my locker. I think it's Uwera's: hers has a red stripe.

Byiringiro: Our table is free now. Let's sit down before the bell!

2Understanding the conversation

1. What is for lunch today?
2. Whose is the blue cup, and how does Mugisha know?
3. Why doesn't Byiringiro want the sauce, and how has the cook helped him?
4. Why is Hassan not at lunch? When will he eat?
5. What does Mugisha ask for, and what answer does he get?
6. Whose sweater does Keza think it is? What is her evidence?
7. How do the cook and the students show respect for each other's eating needs? Give two examples.

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1. Rice, beans and cabbage, with groundnut sauce for those who want it.
2. It is Byiringiro's. His name is written on its handle.
3. He is allergic to groundnuts. The cook cooked his beans separately, in a small pot, without groundnuts.
4. He is fasting during Ramadan. He eats after sunset, with the other Muslim students; the cook keeps their food warm.
5. A second helping of rice. He can have one after everyone has eaten.
6. Uwera's, because Uwera's sweater has a red stripe.
7. The cook remembers Byiringiro's allergy and cooks for him separately; she keeps the fasting students' dinner warm; the students know and explain each other's needs without making fun of them.

3Vocabulary: meals and eating needs

4Grammar: showing who owns what

Possessive 's

5Speaking

1. Lost property. In groups of four, each person puts one object (a pen, a ruler, a book) in a pile. One student picks up each object and asks. The others answer with possessive pronouns and 's.

2. Eating needs. Talk about the eating habits in your family or your religious community. Listen with respect and ask one polite question.

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A: Whose ruler is this? Is it yours, Keza?
B: No, it isn't mine. Mine is shorter. I think it's Mugisha's.
C: Yes, it's mine, thanks. And this pen is Uwera's: her name is on its cap.

A: In my family we don't eat pork, because we are Adventists.
B: In ours, my father doesn't eat fish, but my brothers love sambaza. May I ask what you eat at Christmas?
A: Our big meal is chicken, rice and beans.

6Writing

Write a paragraph (80–100 words) comparing meals at your home with meals at school. Use at least three possessive adjectives, two possessive pronouns and one possessive 's.

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Meals at my home and at my school are quite different. At home, my mother cooks sweet potatoes, beans and dodo, and my father's favourite, isombe, every Sunday. Our kitchen is small, so we eat together in the sitting room. At school, the cooks prepare food for six hundred students, and their pots are as big as barrels! My friend Uwera is a vegetarian, so the cooks give her extra beans instead of meat. Her plate always looks greener than mine. I like both, but I think the best meals are ours at home.