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, buscuits. 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?

LESSON NINE (9) NINTH (9^TH) LESSON

Simon's birthday

PART I

Carol Fenton I'm Carol Fenton. I'm Mrs. Hunt's sister. This evening my sister's family is coming to celebrate my nephew's birthday. I've planned a small party but Simon doesn't know about it yet. It's a surprise. I'm very excited. I haven't seen Sarah's family for five years. They've been in Geneva for three years and we've been in London for three years. My husband and I are from Bristol but we haven’t lived there for eight years. Many of our friends still live in Bristol. Next month we're going there to visit my husband's family. We're staying at his brother's house. All my relatives are going, too.

PART 2

The Fentons

Mr. Fenton Someone's at the door, Carol.

Mrs. Fenton Is everything ready?

Mr. Fenton Yes, dear, everything's fine. Answer the door. Mrs. Fenton Hello! I'm so happy to see you. Come in!

Mrs. Hunt Carol, you look very well.

Mrs. Fenton Thank you, Sarah... you look very well, too. And the children... they're both so tall! Mrs. Hunt Well... you haven't seen them for five years. Mr. Hunt Sarah, you've forgotten to introduce Sheila.

Mrs. Hunt I'm very sorry. Carol, we've brought a friend with us. This is Sheila Morgan. She hasn't visited London before. Mrs. Fenton Hello, Sheila.

Sheila How do you do, Mrs. Fenton?

Mrs. Fenton Please, call me Carol! Now sit down everyone. I’ve made some tea. It’s in the kitchen. Can Jane help me?

Mrs. Hunt Of course she can.

Three days

Mrs. Fenton How long have you been here? Mrs. Hunt We've been here since Sunday. Today's Wednesday . . . we've been here for three days.

Mrs. Fenton And what have you seen since Sunday? Mrs. Hunt We've been very busy but we haven't seen very many things. London's so big!

We've seen some of the sights and we've shopped in Oxford Street.

Mrs. Fenton Have the girls bought anything?

Mrs. Hunt Yes, they've bought some lovely things. Mrs. Fenton And you, have you bought anything? Mrs. Hunt I've seen a few nice things but I haven't bought anything yet. Mrs. Fenton I'm going to Oxford Street on Friday. Come with me. I know the good shops.

Carol's sons

Mrs. Hunt How are your sons?

Mrs. Fenton Tim's still living with us.

Mrs. Hunt Has he finished university yet?

Mrs. Fenton Yes, he has. He's worked here in London for eighteen months. Mrs. Hunt What does he do? Mrs. Fenton He works in an export company. He's worked there since January. Mrs. Hunt And what does Chris do? Mrs. Fenton He works in Dad's company in Bristol. We still haven't met Chris's fiancee. They're going to visit us this year. Mrs. Hunt When? Mrs. Fenton Either this month or next month.

Mrs. Hunt How long is Chris's holiday? Mrs. Fenton No one's told him yet. He wants four weeks. Maggie's got four weeks' holiday. Mrs. Hunt Is Maggie Chris's fiancee? Mrs. Fenton That's right. Her name's Margaret but we call her Maggie.

Happy birthday

Mrs. Fenton Ah! Here's Tim.

Tim Hello, Aunt Sarah. Uncle Guy. How are you? Are these my cousins?

Mrs. Hunt Yes. This is my daughter, Jane, and this is Simon.

Mr. Hunt Sarah, you've forgotten to introduce Sheila again.

Mrs. Hunt Oh sorry. This is Sheila Morgan. Sheila, this is Carol's son, Tim. Tim Hello, Sheila. Are my aunt and uncle your parents' friends? Sheila No, my parents don't know Mr. and Mrs. Hunt. My parentls' home's in Devon. Mrs. Fenton Is everyone ready? We're having the party now. Simon Party?

Mrs. Fenton Yes, this is your birthday party, Simon.

All Happy birthday!

PART 3

Aunt Jane

Jane I'm so tired!

Ruth Yes, you look tired.

Jane I've shopped all day.

Ruth Why?

Jane Because today's my nephew's birthday.

Ruth Have you bought anything?

Jane No, nothing.

Ruth Why not?

Jane Because he's got everything!

The party

Tom Is everything ready?

Sue No, I haven't bought the melon yet.

Tom Are there any sandwiches?

Sue Yes ... well . . . no. I've bought the bread but I haven’t made the sandwiches yet. Tom Have you made the pies?

Sue No, I haven't made them yet.

Tom Is the wine here?

Sue No, it hasn't arrived and the shop's closed now. But I've bought a dress.

Комментарий к девятому уроку

Часть первая

1 Simon's birthday. День рождения Саймона.

Вы снова встречаетесь с притяжательным падежом одушевленных имен существительных (см. прим. 1, урок 4).

2 I'm Mrs Hunt's sister. Я сестра миссис Хант.

3 This evening my sister's family is coming to celebrate my nephew's birthday. Сегодня

вечером семья моей сестры придет отпраздновать день рождение моего племянника. Обратите внимание на то, что артикль не употребляется, если перед существительным стоит другое существительное в притяжательном надеже: Simon's birthday, Mrs Hunt's sister, my sister's family, my nephew's birthday.