When we want to buy something, we go to a shop. There are many kinds of shops in every town or city, but most of them have a food supermarket, a department store, men’s and women’s clothing stores, a grocery, a bakery and a butchery. Big department stores and supermarkets sell various goods under one roof and this is very convenient.
A department store, for example, is composed of many departments: ready-made clothes, fabrics, shoes, sports goods, toys, china and glass, electric appliances, cosmetics, linen, curtains, cameras, records and etc. You can buy everything you like there. There are also escalators in big stores which take customers to different floors.
The things for sale are on the counters so that they can be easily seen. In the women’s clothing department you can find dresses, costumes, blouses, skirts, coats, beautiful underwear and many other things.
In the men’s clothing department you can choose suits, trousers, overcoats, ties and etc. In the knitwear department one can buy sweaters, cardigans, short-sleeved and long-sleeved pullovers, woolen jackets. In the perfumery they sell face cream and powder, lipstick, lotions and shampoos.
In a food supermarket we can also buy many different things at once: sausages, fish, sugar, macaroni, flour, cereals and tea. At the butcher’s there is a wide choice of meat and poultry. At the bakery you buy brown and white bread, rolls and biscuits.
Another shop we frequently go to is the greengrocery which is stocked with cabbage, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, carrots, beetroots, green peas and what not. Everything is sold here ready-weighed and packed. If you are at a dairy you can buy milk, cream, cheese, butter and many other products.
The method of shopping may vary. It may be a self-service shop where the customer goes from counter to counter selecting and putting into a basket what he wishes to buy. Then he takes the basket to the check-out counter, where the prices of the purchases are added up. If it is not a self-service shop, the shop-assistant helps the customer in finding what he wants. You pay money to the cashier and he gives you back the change.
17. Answer the questions:
1) Do you often go shopping?
2) What shops do you usually go to?
3) What do you buy there?
4) Do you prefer to go to big or small shops?
5) What are the advantages of big shops?
6) Are there any big shops in Perm? What are they?
7) What departments are there in the PERM store?
8) Is there an escalator in this store?
9) When were you at a big shop last?
10) What did you buy there?
11) Are the prices high in our shops?
12) What is sold at the butcher’s (baker’s, greengrocer’s)?
13) Where do you buy tea, coffee and sugar?
14) What clothes do you prefer: cotton, woolen, silk or nylon?
15) Do you prefer low or high-heeled shoes for everyday wear?
16) Which method of shopping do you like most of all?
18. Name in one word:
1) What do we call a person who sells goods (does shopping, to whom you pay money in a store)?
2) What do we call a place where you do shopping (pay for your goods, try on clothes, the goods are displayed)?
3) What do we call the department (shop) where ready-made clothes (shoes, face creams, milk, meat, bread, vegetables) are sold?