HOW I WENT SHOPPING

One day my friend Nick and I decided to go shopping. I took my salary and Nick took his father's salary. Nick needed some new clothes badly. There are a lot of shops, supermarkets and department stores in the centre of the city, so we decided to go through some of them.

The first shop on our way was a large supermarket. The choice of goods was very impressive. It seemed to us that on the counters and shelves there was everything one could want. We could see sausages of different kinds, fish, meat, poultry. At the bakery there was bread, rolls, biscuits. At the dairy department there was milk, cream, cheese, butter. Everything was nicely packed and when we came to the cashier our baskets were full.

Then we went to the department store which was right across the street. Nick and I are fond of computers and video and hi-fi equipment, so we couldn't go past our favourite department. There were a lot of computers, video cassette recorders, TV sets, hi-fi centres and tape recorders. Nick bought three new CDs and I bought two video cassettes.

And then, at last, we found the men's clothing department. There were a lot of suits, trousers, jackets, shirts and many other things. Nick needed a suit because he was going to the theatre with his girlfriend and her parents to see Pygmalion. As you probably remember, Nick is very tall and slim. So it's always difficult to find clothes that would suit him perfectly. The shop assistant asked Nick's size and offered him a nice suit. But when Nick tried it on I couldn't help laughing. The jacket was too big for him and the trousers were too short. He looked so funny! The shop assistant thought for a moment and then suggested that Nick should try on some jackets and some trousers separately. An hour later Nick looked like an English gentleman. The pinstriped jacket matched the black trousers perfectly. The shop assistant also showed Nick a wonderful tie and he immediately agreed to buy it.

We had to go home by taxi because our bags were so huge that we could hardly lift them. We came home completely broke but happy.

Questions

1. Who does the shopping in your family?

2. How often do you go shopping?

3. Do you prefer to go shopping on weekdays or at the weekend?

4. Do you like to go to small shops or to big department stores and supermarkets?

5. Which do you think is the most convenient time for shopping?

6. Some people are fond of window-shopping (разглядывание витрин). Can you say that you belong to such people?

7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of big supermarkets?

8. When did you last go shopping? What did you buy?

MY MEALS

It goes without saying that I prefer to have meals at home. At the weekend I like to get up late and have a good breakfast of scrambled eggs, or pancakes, or something like that. But on weekdays I'm always short of time in the morning. So I just have a cup of strong tea or coffee and a couple of sandwiches.

As I spend a lot of time at school (usually eight or nine hours) it's necessary to have a snack at midday just to keep me going. That's why I have to go to the school canteen to have lunch. Our school canteen leaves much to be desired. It has become a tradition with our canteen to serve chops and watery mashed potatoes every day with a glass of cocoa or stewed fruit.

But I enjoy my evening meal at home. My mother is a wonderful cook and her dinners are always delicious and various.

To begin with, we usually have some salad — tomato and cucumber salad or mixed salad (I like it very much). For the first course we have some soup — noodle, mushroom or cabbage soup, or maybe some fish soup for a change. For the main course we have meat, chicken or fish dishes, for example, steak or fried fish with spaghetti or potatoes (boiled or fried). We also have a lot of vegetables — green peas, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers. I prefer meat to fish but my mother makes me eat fish from time to time. She says it's good for my brains.

For dessert we have some fruit, fruit juice or just a cup of tea with a slice of cake.

On Sundays we sometimes go to McDonald's. I like everything there: cheeseburgers, hamburgers and Big Macs, apple pies and fruit cocktails. But unfortunately we can't afford to go there very often, because it's rather expensive for a family and besides, they say it's not very healthy to eat at McDonald's.

Questions

1. How many meals a day do you usually have?

2. What do you usually have for breakfast?

3. Where do you have lunch (dinner)?

4. How many courses does your lunch (dinner) usually consist of?

5. What is your favourite dish?

6. What vegetables do you like?

7. What do you usually have for dessert?

8. How often do you eat out?

9. Have you ever eaten at McDonald's?

10. Some people say that eating at a restaurant is a waste of money. Do you agree?

11. Can you cook?

12. Do you agree that the best cooks in the world are men?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14