55. Discuss the following in small groups.

• Why do you think shopping is more popular with women than with men?

• How has the way we shop changed over the last fifty years? What has allowed these changes to happen?

• We’ve already seen an explosion of shopping on the Internet. Do you think this trend is going to continue? Do you agree that this kind of shopping is convenient? Why?

56. Work in pairs. Ask a partner:

• how often they go shopping

• who is responsible for food and household shopping

• where they spend most of their money

• what their favourite shop is.

57. Discuss with a partner which of these shopping methods you regularly use:

• visiting shops

• ordering by telephone

• online shopping

• mail-order catalogues

• digital TV shopping channels

58. Give a talk on shopping. Remember to discuss:

• why people can’t do without shopping

• whether shopping is more popular with men or women, why

• who does most of the shopping in your family and where

• whether shopping over the Internet will become the main way of buying things in the future, why/why not

59. Work in pairs or small groups. Discuss the following questions. Sum up your partner’s answers.

1. How long does your weekend last? You always look forward to it, don’t you? Where do you and your family normally spend the weekends? Do you spend your weekends quietly at home or do you prefer to go away for the weekend? Do you think people who stay at home at the weekend manage to relax?

2. How often do you go out? Do you go out on weekdays as often as at the weekend? What is your idea of going out? Why do you prefer to go to parties (to the movies, etc.)?

3. Do you manage to relax at the weekend? Your weekends are very busy sometimes, aren’t they? Do you try to help your family with the housework at the weekend? What odd jobs do you do about the house? Do you manage to catch up with all the jobs you were too busy to do during the week? Do you at least try?

4. Who does the shopping in your family? How often do you go shopping? What is the busiest time for shopping? Do you prefer to go shopping on weekdays or at the weekend? Which do you think is the most convenient time for shopping?

5. Imagine that you’ve got a lot of money. What sort of thing would you like to buy or where would you like to go?

Self-study materials

Verb to be (the Present Simple Tense) Positive and Negative Forms

I	am	from Russia	I’m = I am
He/She/It	is		He’s/She’s/It’s = He/She/It is
We You They	are		We’re = We are You’re = You are They’re = They are

I	am	not	from Russia	I’m not = I am not
He/She/It	is			He/She/It isn’t = He/She/It is not
We You They	are			We aren’t = We are not You aren’t = You are not They aren’t = They are not

NOTE: Look at the negative forms: She isn’t married. You aren’t British.

BUT: I’m not a schoolboy.

Exercise 1. Write the short form (she’s/ we aren’t, etc.).

1. He is	4. I am not
2. They are	5. It is
3. She is not	6. You are not

Exercise 2. Write the full form (she is/ we are not, etc.).

1. We aren’t	4. They aren’t
2. I’m	5. It isn’t
3. You’re	6. She’s

Exercise 3. Put in am/am not/is/isn’t/are/aren’t.

1. I ___ from Russia.

2. Debbie and Mark ___ British. They ___ German.

3. My friends ___ interested in computers.

4. His parents ___ around 40.

5. How old ___ you? I ___ 18.

6. London ___ situated on the river Evans. It ___ situated on the river Thames.

7. I ___ keen on sports. But I ___ rather good at basketball.

8. Her name ___ Jane. It ___ Helen.

Exercise 4. Write true sentences, positive or negative. Use am/am not/is/isn’t/are/aren’t.

1. I/keen on Biology.

2. Rome/in Spain.

3. We/Russian.

4. Football/a popular sport in Britain.

5. The “Beatles” and “Deep Purple” famous British groups.

6. American English/different from British English.

7. My hobbies/art and music.