TEACHER’S NOTES
www.macmillandictionary.com
paleo diet
Overview: Suggestions for using the Macmillan Dictionary BuzzWord article on paleo diet and the
associated worksheet.
Total time for worksheet activities: 45 minutes
Suggested level: Upper intermediate and above
1. If you intend to use the worksheets in class,
go to the BuzzWord article at the web address
given at the beginning of the worksheet and
print off a copy of the article. Make a copy of
the worksheet and the BuzzWord article for
each student. You might find it helpful not to
print a copy of the Key for each student but to
check the answers as a class.
2. If the members of your class all have
computer access, ask them to open the
worksheet before they go to the Buzzword
article link. Make sure they do not scroll
down to the Key until they have completed
each exercise.
3. Encourage students to read through the
questions in Exercise 1 before they look at the
BuzzWord article. Ask them to read through
the whole article carefully and answer the
questions. Ask them to compare their answers
with a partner. Then check the answers as
a class.
4. Ask students to complete Exercise 2 in pairs.
Less able students could be guided to look in
specific paragraphs. Check the answers as
a class.
5. Ask students to complete Exercise 3
individually and then compare their answers
with a partner. When students have completed
the exercise, check the answers as a class,
asking students to explain each answer by
identifying relevant parts of the text (see the
Key for suggestions).
6. Exercise 4 introduces some higher level
adjectives on the theme of describing food.
Complete the exercise as a class activity in
random order, asking students to identify any
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2015
MACMILLAN DICTIONARY BUZZWORD / paleo diet
answers they know. Other adjectives that
could be highlighted include: hot (=spicy),
bitter, sweet, tough, light (= having less fat,
sugar, etc.) and adjectives derived from food
nouns, e.g. salty, spicy, juicy, fruity, creamy,
sugary, etc. Ensure students understand
that such adjectives sometimes relate to
specific foods – e.g. tender usually refers
to meat, stale to baked goods and stodgy
to carbohydrates.
7. Exercise 5 puts six of the adjectives from the
previous exercise in context. Ask students to
complete the exercise individually. Check the
answers as a class. As an extension, students
could be asked to write further sentences
based on the unused adjectives (stodgy, juicy)
or using the other food adjectives discussed.
8. As an opener to Exercise 6, show students
some examples of menus (easily sourced
on the internet). Explain that the exercise
practises understanding of typical headings
found on them. Ask the students to complete
the exercise in pairs and then check the
answers as a class, ensuring students
understand the meaning of all answer options
(all covered in the Macmillan Dictionary).
Point out that appetizer and starter are the
same thing, and that main course (or entrée)
describes the main part of a restaurant meal.
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 WORKSHEET
www.macmillandictionary.com
paleo diet

Go to the Macmillan Dictionary BuzzWord article at:

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/paleo-diet.html

1 Find the information

Read the BuzzWord article on paleo diet and answer these questions.
1. Give two alternative terms for the expression paleo diet.
2. What kind of food is eaten in a paleo diet?
3. What are two advantages of a paleo diet?
4. What are chips and cheese made from in a paleo restaurant in London?
5. What does the expression go paleo mean?
6. Who coined the terms paleolithic and neolithic?

2 Find the word

Look in the text and find the following words. The first letters of the words are given. The words are in the
order in which they appear in the text.
1. a noun meaning a person who eats meat.
c_________
2. a verb meaning to try to be like something else.
e_________
3. a noun meaning a historical period.
e_________
4. a noun meaning someone who publicly supports an idea.
p_________
5. a noun meaning the fact of not including something.
o_________
6. a noun meaning an occasion when someone gives public support to a particular thing.
e_________
7. a verb meaning to create something.
s_________
8. an adjective meaning very successful.
t_________

3 Comprehension check
Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the text?
1. A paleo diet isn’t suitable for vegetarians. 4. Dairy products are never healthy.
2. A paleo diet excludes peas and beans. 5. Only a very small number of people are interested in the paleo diet.
3. A paleo diet includes yoghurt. 6. The word paleolithic can be spelled differently in the UK.
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MACMILLAN DICTIONARY BUZZWORD / paleo diet

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www.macmillandictionary.com
paleo diet

4 Food adjectives
Match the adjectives in the left-hand column with the definitions in the right-hand column.
1. bland a. containing a lot of things such as butter, eggs or cream that make
your stomach feel full very quickly
2. juicy b. old and no longer fresh
3. raw c. soft and easy to cut and eat
4. stodgy d. not having a strong taste and not interesting to eat
5. sour e. tasting good because of containing a lot of liquid
6. stale f. not cooked
7. tender g. heavy and making you feel too full
8. rich h. with an unpleasant taste like a lemon

5 Describing food
Complete the sentences with an adjective from Exercise 4.
1. The beef had been cooked very slowly and was _________ and delicious.
2. How old is that bread? It tastes _________.
3. Dessert was a _________ chocolate cake covered in whipped cream. It was lovely but I couldn’t eat very much of it.
4. This sauce doesn’t taste of anything, it’s much too _________.
5. I’ll add some sugar to the apples, they’re a bit _________.
6. Cook the burger a little longer – it’s still _________ in the middle.

6 On the menu
Circle the word which matches the definition.
1. one of the parts of a meal
course / snack / beverage
2. an amount of food that a restaurant serves you at the same time as the main course of a meal but on a
separate plate
snack / starter / side dish
3. a drink
beverage / dessert / appetizer
4. a small amount of food that you eat between meals
side dish / snack / entrée
5. sweet food that you eat after the main part of a meal
cocktail / beverage / dessert
6. a small amount of food that is eaten at the beginning of a meal
portion / entrée / starter
7. the amount of food that one person eats at a meal
appetizer / portion / course
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MACMILLAN DICTIONARY BUZZWORD / paleo diet

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 KEY
www.macmillandictionary.com
paleo diet

KEY

1 Find the information 4 Food adjectives

1. Possible answers: Stone Age diet, hunter-gatherer 1. d

diet, caveman diet 2. e
2. lean meat, fruit, eggs, and certain nuts, seeds and 3. f
vegetables 4. g
3. It is healthy and helps you lose weight. 5. h
4. Chips are made from carrots, and cheese is made 6. b
from nuts. 7. c
5. to adopt (= start following) a paleo diet 8. a
6. Sir John Lubbock

5 Describing food
2 Find the word
1. tender
1. carnivore 2. stale
2. emulate 3. rich
3. era 4. bland
4. proponent 5. sour
5. omission 6. raw
6. endorsement
7. spawn
8. thriving
6 On the menu

1. course
3 Comprehension check 2. side dish
3. beverage
1. True. A paleo diet includes meat (paragraph 2). 4. snack
2. True. Peas/beans were not thought to be available 5. dessert
in Paleolithic times (paragraph 2). 6. starter
3. False. Yoghurt is a dairy product and dairy products 7. portion
were not thought to be available in Paleolithic times
(paragraph 2).
4. False. Dairy products have clinically-proven
nutritional benefits (paragraph 3).
5. False. The paleo diet is growing in popularity and
in 2013 it was the most googled diet on the internet
(paragraph 4).
6. True. Paleolithic is also spelled palaeolithic in
British English (paragraph 6).
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