LESSON
3
Predict the topic
READING
GET READY
A
Frank is reading an article about breakfast.
How often do you eat the following breakfast foods?
beans cereal eggs pancakes rice bread
B
Read the Reading Skill.
What do you think the article will be about?
Look at the title and the photo and make a prediction.
READ
Listen and read the article. Was your prediction correct?
Watching the news one evening, Maria
Campos heard some startling information:
Skipping breakfast could potentially make
you gain weight. “I called my friend
Christina right away,” she said. “A few
months before, we had both decided to go on
a diet. We started skipping breakfast to cut
calories, but it wasn’t working. We didn’t lose
any weight at all. In fact, we both got a little
heavier! Now I understand why.”
Skipping breakfast is common. In the U.S.,
about 10% of the total population, over 31
million people, don’t eat breakfast regularly.
People give many reasons for skipping
breakfast. Like Maria, many do it to lose
weight. Some claim they are too rushed in the
morning—that they don’t have enough time
to prepare a meal. Others say that they just
don’t feel hungry so soon after waking up.
However, research shows that breakfast is
more important than people think. “Breakfast
gives us the energy we need for our day,” says
nutritionist Monica Wells. “It helps us
concentrate on our work. And it also keeps
us from getting hungry. Studies show that
people who don’t eat breakfast are far more
likely to grab an unhealthy snack before
lunch. And this can cause them to put on
weight.”
According to Ms. Wells, a healthy breakfast
doesn’t need to be a full meal. It can be as
simple as a piece of fruit, a container of
low-fat yogurt, and a slice of whole wheat
toast with peanut butter. “A few simple
‘grab and go’ items can provide enough
energy to get you through the morning
without feeling the urge to snack,” says Ms.
Wells. “One trick is to include some protein.
Protein lasts longer in your body than sugar
or carbohydrates, so you don’t get hungry
as quickly.”
So what happened with Maria and
Christina? “We went back to eating
breakfast,” reports Maria. “And we’re finally
starting to lose weight!”
Making predictions
can help
you better understand what
you read. You can guess the
topic of an article by looking
at the title and any subtitles,
pictures, and charts.
Reading Skill
8
UNIT 1
