Pre-Reading Questions:
- What is your comfort food?
- What local dessert is popular in your city? What is it made of?
Vocabulary:
- peak /peek/
- feature /FEE-cher/
- luxury /LUHK-shuh-ree/
- convenient /kuhn-VEEN-yuhnt/
- questionnaire /kwes-chuh-NAIR/
[noun] the highest, strongest, or best point, value, or level of skill
Rates are different after the peak of the summer season.
[verb] to include someone or something as an important part
The new iPhone 11 features mobile tech development.
[noun] the pleasure and comfort you get from expensive and beautiful things
Towers and temples are the luxuries of a princess.
[adjective] suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty
Which is more convenient, to go by bus or train?
[noun] written list of questions that people are asked so that information can be collected
Over the decades, these subjects periodically answered extensive psychological questionnaires.
1. Climate – Kanazawa citizens consume frozen treats more during the hot summer season and even when the temperature drops down to 5 degrees. In Ishikawa Prefecture, it rains on half of the days, so people spend more time indoors and eat luxury grocery items including ice cream mostly to indulge.
2. Household expenses – When two households work, they earn more and spend more on consumption. Kanazawa citizens also spend more on confectionery, coffee, cocoa, and other luxury groceries because they have the cash to spare, according to a report.
3. and 4. Retail and Lifestyle – Ishikawa Prefecture is second in terms of the number of department stores and general merchandise stores per 100,000 people, which makes it a highly convenient place to shop. Retailers often offer 40 to 50 percent discounts on ice cream products in bulk to encourage people to purchase. Moreover, because of the spacious houses, most responders to the questionnaire said that they have at least two refrigerators at home to stock up ice cream products and eat them whenever they want to.
5. Preference – Lastly, a report also added that Kanazawa citizens turn out to have a sweet tooth, and Kanazawa is actually the top-ranking city in Japan when it comes to spending money on cakes, chocolate, Castella sponge cakes, and other sweets.
With the variety of ice cream flavors, your cups will be overflowing with deliciousness that will make your whole house happy. If you ever visit Japan, go to Kanazawa prefecture and indulge yourself in some ice cream.
Comprehension Questions:
- What did Japan Ice Cream Association conduct to answer their question on why people in Hokuriku region spend so much on ice cream?
- What are the five results of the comprehensive study?
- How do the Kanazawa citizens’ household expenses relate to their craving with sweets?
- According to the article, how were Kanazawa citizens able to stock up ice cream products?
- According to the article, what is the usual preference of the people in Kanazawa?
Discussion Questions:
- Which of the featured keywords do you agree with? Please explain your answer.
- Are people in your city fond of confectionery too? Why or why not?
- Why do you think people like eating sweets?
- When do you usually eat sweets?
- What should we avoid when eating sweets and why?