Food shopping

Task 1. Read the following words and word-combinations, state the phonetic phenomena in them and be ready to present their reading in class

and we were in; behind the disused station; a trestle table; were eating bread that was still warm; a wooden-handled pocket knife; a glass of red wine; the litre bottle; the occasional; from Paris with track suit; walked slowly along the rows; at work.; the matchstick-thin green; don't come up; glare at the stallholder; at one end; their income on their stomachs

Task2. Before reading make sure you know the following words, their pronunciation and translation

Disused; van; a trestle table; stallholder; to slice; lengthways; fashionable; haughty; track suit; inhabitant; peasant; greenhouse; merely; to grips; to squeeze; aubergines, to sniff; to snap; matchstick-thin; to glare; pink-streaked onions; dough; almonds.

Task3. Read the text and find in the text the English equivalents to the given word-combinations

Простір, окреслений вантажівками; загорілий; намазувати; підтримає до обіду; не задоволена; власні критерії; завалений стіл; запах свіжого тіста; прибуток

All good Sundays include a trip to the market, and we were in Coustetlet by eight. The space behind the disused station was lined with elderly trucks and vans, each with a trestle table set up in front. A blackboard showed the day's prices for vegetables. The stallholders, already tanned from the fields, were eating bread that was still warm from the bakery across the street. We watched as one old man sliced his loaf lengthways with a wooden-handled pocket knife and spread on fresh goat's cheese before pouring himself a glass of red wine from the litre bottle that would keep him going until lunchtime.

The Coustellet market is small and not yet fashionable. Customers carry baskets instead of cameras, and only in July and August are you likely to see the occasional haughty woman down from Paris with her Dior track suit and small, nervous dog. For the rest of the season, from spring until autumn, it is just the local inhabitants, and the peasants who bring in what they have taken from the earth or the greenhouse a few hours earlier.

We walked slowly along the rows of tables, admiring the French housewife at work. Unlike us, she is not content merely to look at the produce before buying. She gets to grips with it - squeezing aubergines, sniffing tomatoes, snapping the matchstick-thin green beans between her fingers, tasting cheese and olives - and, if they don't come up to her private standards, she will glare at the stallholder as if she has been betrayed before taking her custom elsewhere.

At one end of the market, a van from the wine co-operative was surrounded by men rinsing their teeth thoughtfully in the new rose. Next to them a woman was selling free-range eggs and live rabbits, and beyond her the tables were piled high with vegetables.

We bought red peppers to roast and big brown eggs and basil and peaches and goat's cheese and lettuce and pink-streaked onions. And, when the basket could hold no more, we went across the road to buy half a yard of bread. The bakery was crowded and noisy, and smelt of warm dough and the almonds that had gone into the morning's cakes. While we waited, we remembered being told that the French spend as much of their income on their stomachs as the English do on their cars and stereo systems, and we, could easily believe it.

Task 4. Finish the sentences with the information from the text

1) The stallholders, already tanned from the fields, were … 2) For the rest of the season, from spring … 3) Unlike us, she … 4) She gets to grips … 5) Next to them a woman … 6) And, when the basket could hold no more, …

Task 5 Discussion

1. Pay attention to the market description. Does it resemble an average market in your country? 2. Where are the prices pointed? 3. What is the usual behaviour of stallholders in your country? 4. Do you buy food at the market? What exactly: fruit, vegetables, meat? 5. What is the world –wide spread reputation of the French and the English about shopping and expenses?