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Hello everyone and welcome to English with a friend from New York. I’m Anita, your friend from New York City who will help you to ace the TOEFL.
Today’s TOEFL practice question is:
Describe some significant features of a restaurant or cafe that you like.
Before we answer today’s TOEFL question, first let’s talk about what a feature is. A feature is a typical quality or an important part of something. You can easily identify a significant feature because it stands out. So when thinking about the answer to this question, think about something that you notice right away.
Some examples of a restaurant feature that are usually mentioned are the name and type of restaurant; the location of the restaurant; information about the staff; the restaurant theme; the decorations; the cleanliness and the size of the restaurant.
Per Se is a new American and French restaurant located in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan and it features a serene and intimate environment with sweeping views of Central Park and Columbus Circle.
This news report stating the features of a restaurant in New York City is less than 10 seconds long, but it gives several features of the restaurant. It gives the name and type of restaurant: Per Se is the name of the restaurant and it is an American and French restaurant. It give the location. It is located in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. This report also talks about the decorations. It features a serene and intimate environment with sweeping views of Central Park and Columbus Circle.
This monument to greasy gluttony is called The Heart Attack Grill. It’s a sort of hospital themed Hooters located in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. Every customer must wear a hospital gown and they are waited on by scantily clad nurses. Still it’s what’s on the menu that gets the most attention. The single, double, triple or quadruple bypass burger. Oh and they do have fries, called flatliner fries, fried in lard and those are unlimited. To wash it all down, how about a butter fat shake.
This television news report about a restaurant in Arizona is about 40 seconds long and details 4 different features. It gives the name and location. The Heart Attack Grill and it is located in Chandler, Arizona. It talks about how the staff are dressed like nurses in scantily clad uniforms. Scantily clad means that the clothing being worn is very small and doesn’t cover much of the body. This news report also says that the restaurant is a hospital themed Hooters. Hooters is the name of another American restaurant which now has locations around the world. Lastly, this report discusses the food which is all unhealthy.
Porto Portugal might not be at the top of your list when you think of fast food, but McDonald’s makes the grade. This picturesque European town boasts one of the fanciest McDonald’s locations in all of the world. The fast food giant pulled out all of the stops and outfitted this location with crystal chandeliers and stained glass windows. It really does look like something out of a storybook.
This is final news report talks about a McDonald’s restaurant in Porto, Portugal. This 22 second report identifies several features of this restaurant. The name and location. It is a McDonald’s located in Porto, Portugal. The theme. It looks like something out of a storybook and the decorations. It has crystal chandeliers and stained glass windows.
Now if I were asked to describe some significant features of a restaurant or cafe that I like. I would say:
One of my favorite restaurants is named the Cheesecake Factory in Westbury, New York which is about an hour outside of NYC. When you walk into The Cheesecake Factory you immediately think of Egypt. Everything is covered in gold and dark wood with designs that make you think you have walked into an Egyptian Palace. It’s huge with 2 floors for dining and features super high ceilings with gold columns situated every few feet. This casual dining eatery features big booths with comfortably padded benches for seating, a super friendly staff and is extremely clean. But the most outstanding feature of this restaurant is the menu. It has page after page of menu items to choose from and over 30 different types of cheesecake.
Remember you only have 45 to 60 seconds for the speaking portion of the TOEFL. My description of the restaurant took about 50 seconds but includes the name, location, information about the staff, the restaurant theme and decorations and the size of the restaurant.
To prepare for this speaking question on the TOEFL, I suggest you pick a few restaurants and cafes that you enjoy and write down how you would describe the features.
Well, that’s it for today. If you study the information from this podcast I’m sure you will ace this question on the TOEFL. Make this a question you don’t