Shopping centres

Many families in big cities have flats in residential districts of the city. Sometimes these districts are located rather far from the centre but due to the branched system of public transport it is not a problem to get to major shopping centres. There are large nets of shops and stores in cities. The types of stores may vary but most districts have a food supermarket, a departments store, barber’s and hairdresser’s shops, a laundry, a cleaning establishment, and different repair shops.

A department store, true to its name, is composed of many departments. Indeed, it is in itself a miniature shopping centre selling everything: men’s and women’s clothes, shoes, hats, electric appliances, house ware, sporting goods, books, jewelry, stationary, cameras, records, cosmetics, toys, linens, curtains, chinaware, etc.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

1. Is it a problem to get to some shopping centre in your city?

2. What shops are near your house?

3. Is there a cleaning establishment in your street?

4. Where do you usually buy shoes?

5. What is usually sold in a department store?

Text 2

Exercise 1. Read and translate the text.

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, grocery, a bakery and butchery.

A lot of people like to do their shopping at big department stores and supermarkets. They sell various goods under one roof and this is very convenient. A department store, for example, has such departments as ready-made clothes, fabrics, shoes, sports goods, toys, china and glass, electric appliances, cosmetics, linen, curtains, cameras, records, 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, 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, tea. At the butcher's there is a wide choice of meat and poultry. At the bakery you buy brown and white bread, rolls, biscuits. Another shop we frequently go to is the greengrocery which is stocked by cabbage, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, carrots, beetroots, green peas and what not. Everything is sold here ready-weighed and packed. If you call round at a dairy you can buy milk, cream, cheese, butter and many other products.

The methods 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, and most small shops are not, the shop-assistant helps the customer in finding what he wants. You pay money to the cashier and he gives you back the change.

Exercise 2. Agree or disagree to the following statements. Start your sentence with: It’s quite right…, I’m sure it’s right…, I’m afraid it’s wrong… Prove your opinion. You can consult the text.

1. There are many kinds of shops in every town or city.

2. People like to do their shopping at small shops.

3. Department stores sell various goods under one roof.

4. A department store has two departments.

5. There are no escalators in big stores.

6. In a food supermarket we can buy sausages, fish, flour, etc.

7. Cabbage and potatoes can be bought at the greengrocery.

8. The method of shopping is the same everywhere.

9. In a self-service shop the customer can’t put into a basket what he wishes to buy.

Exercise 3. Say:

• what one can buy in the men’s and women’s clothing;

• what one can find in the knitwear department;

• what they sell in the perfumery.

Text 3

Exercise 1. Read the text and compare its description with the department store you usually go to.

When I want to go shopping I usually visit the shopping centre not far from my house. It is a huge multiple store. One can get there anything in the way of food and manufacture goods. One can also have his photo taken right here. Fashion shows are often held there. In a word – it is a wonderful place.

In the grocery department one can see all kinds of foodstuffs: meat, fowl, tinned food, sausage, bread, fruit, wine, all kinds of grouts and a hundred and one other foodstuffs.

Also there are departments of manufacture goods. Here one can find haberdashery, stationary, hosiery and leather ware. There is a department of household utensils: pots and pans, cutlery, crockery, electric appliances, refrigerators, vacuum-cleaners, cameras, television-sets and many other things one may want in the house.

We can visit the perfumery and florist shops or a gift and souvenir department.

On the second floor you also can do some shopping. There one can get everything in the way of clothes wanted by a man, a women or a child: footwear, knitwear, ready-made clothes, furs and what not.

Coloured posters announce the sale of different things.