Better tables for beautiful people in Paris restaurants (10th November, 2013)

BEFORE READING 

1. SYNONYM MATCH:Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	trendy	a.	body
2	good-looking	b.	certain
3.	former	c.	reservation
4.	policy	d.	ex-
5.	physique	e.	fashionable
6.	sure	f.	place
7.	regularly	g.	system
8.	furthermore	h.	frequently
9.	booking	i.	in addition
10.	seat (verb)	j.	attractive

Two trendy restaurants in Paris give good-looking people better tables than not-so-good-looking people. This is according to staff who used to work at the two eateries. The former employees told a Parisian newspaper about the restaurants' seating policy. They said: "The good-looking customers are led to the good places, where they can be easily seen; the non-good-looking ones must be seated in the corners of the room." This rule did not apply to celebrity diners. The rule for them was that, "pretty or ugly, old or young," they got the good tables. Even the waiters and waitresses were employed based on looks. One ex-waitress said: "Anyone short, without a model's physique and over 30 need not apply."



The ex-staff members said the restaurant owners wanted to make sure the restaurant had a good image by seating attractive guests in easy-to-see places. They said the restaurants' owner would visit regularly to make sure his 'beauty policy' was working. If he saw someone whose face he didn't like at a good table, he would tell the staff: "There are good-looking people, you put them here; there are bad-looking people, you put them there." Furthermore, staff could not promise to give a table to customers who telephoned to make a booking, just in case they were not beautiful. Staff only decided where to seat them after they came to the restaurant and looked at their faces.

COMPREHENSION

1. TRUE / FALSE:Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Most restaurants in Paris seat attractive diners at good tables.	T / F
b.	Staff at two restaurants refused to talk to a Parisian newspaper.	T / F
c.	Old celebrities at two Paris restaurants are given good tables.	T / F
d.	You cannot become a waiter at the two restaurants if you are aged 32.	T / F
e.	The restaurant put good-looking people in seats others could see them.	T / F
f.	The owner of the restaurants rarely visited them.	T / F
g.	It is easy to book your favourite table at the restaurants by telephone.	T / F
h.	Staff seated people who booked by phone after looking at their faces.	T / F