Shopping for Food. Mary: Isn’t it good that we have bought this refrigerator, Mama?

Mary: Isn’t it good that we have bought this refrigerator, Mama? Now we can buy in the things we need for the whole week.

Mother: Yes, it is very convenientindeed. Now, Mary dear, I’d like you to do some shopping as I am very busy now. I’ll send Tom along with you.

Mary: Yes, Mother dear. What do you want me to buy?

Mother: Make a shopping list, please. First, buy some beef.

Mary: How much beef, Mother?

Mother: Well, let it be 2 or 3 pounds, but see that it is fat. The last time I was there

he managed to wrap up a joint which happened to be very lean. If he plays such a trick on me again, I’ll never buy at his shop any more. That done, you buy 6 pounds of potatoes, I think six will do, and a good-sized cabbage.

Mary: Any beans, Mother dear? I like them very much.

Mother: Yes, buy 2 pounds of them. Now, we shall also need nuts and apples.

Mary: What sort, mom? Cooking apples or for eating?

Mother: Buy 2 pounds of each. Put down a pound of mixed nuts and a dozen

oranges as well. Then, buy one loaf of bread and …

Mary: White?

Mother: Yes, a dozen fancy cakes, and one pound of fruit cake. That’ll be all

there. Drop at the dairy section and buy a dozen eggs.

Mary: Aren’t we going to need some milk today, ma?

Mother: Yes, I think we shall. Don’t forget to take the milk-can. A pint and a half will do, I suppose. Oh, and don’t forget to buy a pound of fresh butter, a pound of bacon, but not too fat. You watch them closely or you will be cheated – they’ll give you it all fat. You might as well buy the sweets – a pound of caramels and a pound of chocolate with nut filling. Check up the expiration date.

Mary: What kind of caramels, mom?

Mother: At a shilling a pound. Well, get the shopping basket ready. Now where is that boy? You can never find him when he is wanted. Tom!

Mary: No need to call him, Mama. He’s out in the street. Give me the money, please and off I go.

Buying Food at the Market

Vera: Good morning, Nina!

Nina: Oh, that’s you, Vera! How nice that you have come.

Vera: I haven’t seen you of late so I thought I’d…

Nina: I say, Vera, have you timeto go with me to the market? Ma feels unwell and she wants me to do the shopping.

Vera: Why, yes! I am quite free.

Nina: Just wait a minute while I get the bag ready. Where can it be, I wonder? I’ll

go and ask…

Vera: It cannot be in the larder, Nina, can it?

Nina: Of course, it must be there. (Comes back with the bag.) Well, let’s go.

Vera: Have you taken the money?

Nina: Oh, how silly I am! Going to the market without a penny in my pocket.

Nice, indeed! (Goes out and shortly comes back.) Well, it seems to be all.

Come on.

(At the market.)

Vera: What do you want to buy?

Nina: Some meat, eggs, vegetables and some berries.

Vera: Are berries in season now?

Nina: They are. Now, what shall we buy first? Vege­tables?

Vera: I think so. Where do they deal in vegetables?

Nina: I don’t know. This is the first time I’m out marketing. It seems over there.

Vera: Say, Nina, let’s go over to that woman. See what a wealth of vegetables she

has.

Nina: (to the saleswoman). How do you sell the cabbage, by the head or by

weight?

Saleswoman: By the head. Here is a nice head, young lady.

Nina: Show me that nicely trimmed one over there, please.

Saleswoman: Here you are. See how firm it is.

Nina: Yes, I shall take it.

Saleswoman: What else would you like?

Nina: A bunch of carrots, please. No, those are over­grown. Give me the bunch

next to it. Yes, that one.

Saleswoman: Anything else, young lady?

Nina: Now pick out ten cucumbers, please.

Saleswoman: Here you are, please. Right from the garden. Some onions?

Nina: Yes. How do you sell them?

Saleswoman: These – by the ten, and these of thesmaller size – by weight.

Nina: I’ll take ten of these.

Saleswoman: Here’s a couple of small ones into the bargain. You are one of my

best customers. Vegetables sell badly today.

Nina: What does it come up to?

Saleswoman: Now, let me see. A cabbage, that’s a pound ten, a bunch of carrots –

£ 1.80, please.

Nina: Here you are. Thank you.

A Few Errands

Felix: I'm just going down to the shops to buy some cigarettes, Gertie. Do you

want anything while I’m there?

Gertie: Yes, what a good idea! There are a lot of things I need, as a matter of fact. Let me see... We haven’t got many eggs left, so bring a dozen large ones. And there isn’t much cooking-fat in the jar, so bring a pound of lard. And...

Felix: Hold on! If you want me to get a lot of things, write them down on a piece of paper, or I’ll forget something.

Gertie: All right. But wait a minute, while I look in the other cupboard to see what we need.

Felix: Hurry up, then! I want to call in for a chat with Gerry on the way back.

Gertie: We’ve got plenty of cocoa, but there isn’t much tea or coffee left. Bring a large tin of instant coffee and a quarter pound of tea. Oh! And I want some ham.

Felix: How much?

Gertie: Half a pound will do. We’re short of vegetables, too; bring some beans, and a tin of carrots...

Felix: I only wanted to go out for a stroll and a chat. I’ll need a lorry to bring all that home.

Gertie: Here’s the list. Oh, and you can pick up my coat at the dry-cleaner’s while you are passing? And do me a favour while you are at Gerry’s: ask Pam if she’s free on Thursday morning. We’re having a meeting at ten o’clock about the tennis-club dance in August. Bye, dear.

2.27. Work with a partner and act out the following situations.

1. You buy a sweater and leave it in a store by mistake. When you discover it is missing, you return to the store and ask the clerk if he has seen it.

2. You have bought a pullover. You get home, try it on and it doesn’t fit. You haven’t washed it and you tried it onin the shop. Maybe, they gave you the wrong pullover by mistake. You go back to the shop to sort things out.

3. You are at a men’s ready-made clothes depart­ment. You want a suit for everyday wear, some shirts and a tie to match the suit. The shop-assistant is ready to help you. (You are going to buy those things for you or for your husband/son).

4. You are at a shoe department. You want a pair of good summer walking shoes. The shop-assistant is very helpful.

5. You are at a computer shop. You need a new computer. You want it to be both

cheap and reliable.

6. Tomorrow is your mother’s birthday. You need to buy a lot of food. The

sales assistant is eager to help you.

7. You are at a women’s outfit department. You need a summer/ evening dress.

You ask the shop-assistant about the fabrics, the price and other details.

2.28. Work in a small group and discuss these questions. Then discuss them in class.

1) Do you often go shopping? Is there a greengrocery near your house? What is it

like? When did you last go shopping there? What did you buy there?

2) Wheredo you usually buy your food? What is the shop like? Do you like to do

your shopping there? Why? When did you last go there? What did you buy?

How long did it take you to do your shopping there?

3) Which is the biggest department store in your town? Where is it? What is it

like? How often do you do your shopping there? When did you last buy

anything there? What was it?

4) What shop do you usually go to if you want to buy a present? What present did

you buy for any of your relatives (mother, father, sister, etc.) or friends last?

What was the occasion? Where did you buy the present? Did it take you long to

choose it? Are you sure the person you’d bought the present for really liked it?

2.29. Comment on the following proverbs and sayings about money, buying and bargains. Which one do you like best? Why? Which one do you disagree with?

Citations about the about money, buyin and bargains:

1. Everyone is model size when it comes to handbags. (Karl Lagerfeld)

2. [A bargain] is anything a customer thinks a store is losing money on. (Kin Hubbard)

3. [A bargain] is a transaction in which each participant thinks he has cheated the other. (Anonymous)

4. [A bargain is] something you have to find use for, once you’ve bought it. (Franklin Jones)

5. [Money is] sweet balm. (Arabian proverb)

6. [Money is] a good servant, but a bad master. (Henry G. Bohn)

7. [Money is] a new form of slavery. (Leo Tolstoy)

8. [Money is] a eel in the hand. (Welsh proverb)

9. [Money is] the best messenger. (Yiddish proverb)

10. [Money is] like an arm or leg – use it or lose it. (Henry Ford)

11. [Money is] the sixth sense which enables you to enjoy the other five. (William Somerset Maugham)

12. [Money is] a kind of disease which those who have it don’t like to spread. (Mendel Maranz)

13. [Money is] read medicine. (Latin proverb)

14. For some people, shopping is all about the thrill of the hunt; for some, it's the high of the purchase; and for some, it's the socialization with the salesperson -- the acknowledgement and reinforcement they get. (April Lane Benson, a New York City psychologist specializing in "overshopping"and the author of I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self)

2.30. Read the text and answer the questions below, then discuss it in class.

Fresh Fish

Don Pedro wishes to attract the attention of the entire neighbourhood upon opening his new shop and for this reason spends a great deal of money on a sign. In bright colours, the sign bears the following words: FRESH FISH IS SOLD HERE. The very day of the shop’s opening a customer tells Don Pedro: "Why do you have the word HERE on the sign? Every­one knows that it is here and not on the other block where fish is sold. The word HERE is unnecessary."

The observation seems reasonable to Don Pedro. So he calls the painter and has the word HERE removed from the sign.

A few days later, a lady convinced Don Pedro that the words IS SOLD are not needed, since nobody is going to assume that the fish is given away free in the shop.

Without the words IS SOLD the sign will be much more beautiful, says the lady. “The only words that are necessary are FRESH FISH.”

Thoroughly convinced, Don Pedro calls his painter and has the words IS SOLD removed.

But the same week an employee from the telephone company comes around and after praising the beauty of the sign, says: “It seems to me that the word FRESH is one too many. No one is going to doubt that your fish is not fresh. How can you sell it rotten? You must remove the word FRESH. FISH is enough.”

Convinced again, Don Pedro calls his painter and has word FRESH removed. Good Heavens, how many expenses the fa­mous sign brings about! But now it is very nice with only one word FISH. In spite of everything, Don Pedro feels satisfied.

But his joy doesn’t last long. In a few days a friend of his, who lives in the country, passes through there, and shouts to him from the sidewalk across the street: "What a fool you are, Pedro! From far away everyone can tell, from the smell, that it is here where fish is sold. Why do you need that sign? The word FISH is not needed. Everyone knows that it is fish and not perfume which you sell here."

And poor Don Pedro, desperate, has the last word removed.

Questions:

1. Why did Don Pedro put a sign on his new shop? How do we call it now?

2. Why did the sign prove worthless? Do you agree with it?

3. What could Don Pedro have written on his sign to make it worthwhile?

2.31. Read the passage below on the advertisement. What do you think about it? Does it really influence people’s decision-making when shopping? What ways of advertising are used in Russia? Can people trust ads? Discuss these questions in class.

Advertisements are everywhere, from columns of small classified advertisements f or houses, jobs, cars, etc. in newspapers to big posters on walls and enormous advertisements on hoardings by the side of the road. The job of the advertising agencies is to publicise the products of the firms which and employ them. They design eye-catching advertisements and make television commercials to persuade us to buy, buy, and buy.

But things are not always as good as they are described in ads. According to a report released in 2002 by the US Federal Nrade Commission half of all weight-loss ads, whether in print, on television, or on the Internet, make false claims

1) “Shell is making waves for cleaner engines”

2) “Wash out your hair-monsters. Sunsilk anti-flat”

3) “Renault. Creatures of comfort”

4) “The Golden’s Gym 3-Apple a Day Plan”

Garage/Yard Sales

You may find inexpensive used household items, clothing, sports equipment or furniture at garage and yard sales. These are sales of personal objects by individuals at their home. Purchase and use of these items is considered culturally acceptable. At a garage sale, you may negotiate the price of items you are interested in purchasing. Some people go gaga over old or even antique things you might find there. Often people selling their belongings don’t even know the real price of the things.

WRITING

2.34. Read the text and write a similar 250-word essay on some piece of clothing that was all the rage some years ago and is fashionable now.

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