Family is an integral part of every person’s life. it is the most important social unit. a sense of stability and tradition, that family provides, can’t be replaced by anything or anyone. perhaps, every family follows some special traditions that have been passed to them by former generations. my family is not an exception. for example, in my family it is habitual to dine together. every evening, when my parents come home from work, we have a nourishing family dinner. first of all, it lets us feel as a close unit. secondly, we get to discuss the important events of the day. the same tradition can be seen in my grandparents’ house. other than that, we are used to share the household chores. everyone has its own duties. for example, my mum is responsible for cooking, while my dad always does the shopping. i’m responsible for the pets and plants, while my older sister is responsible for washing the dishes and vacuum-cleaning. in my opinion, we are a close-knit and friendly family. each time there is an official holiday we invite the friends and arrange a posh feast. we especially like celebrating new year and christmas. the traditional new year dishes in our home are a roast chicken, a couple of russian salads and my mum’s specialty - a vanilla cake. we always prepare postcards and presents for everyone who visits us and for our family members. the presents are usually placed under the christmas tree. other family tradition is going out on friday nights. every friday we go out for a dinner. after that, we either come back home to watch a good movie, or we go to the cinema. there are lots of other traditions in my family, but these seem to be the most important ones.
Food is an essential part of our daily life. one famous english saying goes “we are what we eat”, and it’s true. the food we eat can influence our body and our mind. it contains nutrients, such as proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates. different products contain different nutrients. for example, we can get lots of vitamins eating fruit and vegetables. as for me, i like salads very much but i don’t like meat products. the food we choose to eat depends on many factors. first and the most important is the taste. if we like the taste of the product, we often eat it. the second factor is its nutritional value. if the product is healthy and useful for our body, we should add it to our ration. other factors include culture and religion. advertising also influences our choices a lot. when we see colourful ads on tv, we decide to try the product. for some people food is just a fuel for energy. for me, it’s a pleasure. i like almost everything, except meat products and spinach. my usual day includes three or four meals. for breakfast, i prefer a cup of tea with a cheese and ham sandwich. sometimes i eat cereal with milk and drink a glass of orange juice. for lunch, i prefer salads from fresh vegetables and a soup. at about 5pm i have a cup of coffee with shortcake. for dinner, i like pasta or rice with vegetables. sometimes i eat french fries and hamburgers but i know that it contains a lot of fat. that’s why i try to cut down on fast food. i also try to it less sugar and salt.
