Shopping (1) (Поход по магазинам)

   Shopping means going to some place to buy things. For some people this is a hobby. They go shopping in their free time. Some people go shopping on weekdays to buy food.

   My family and I do the shopping at weekends. My family is not very big, but my parents work hard and they have no time to go to buy things during a week. On Sunday we usually go to a large supermarket and buy food for the whole week. I don't like going there, because there are usually many people. This supermarket has a lot of departments: a food department, a grocer's, a butcher's, a fishmonger's and even a chemist's department. Sometimes my mother goes to the cosmetics department while my father and my brother go to the pet shop, which is situated there.

   There are a lot of shops in Moscow, Some of them are expensive, others are cheap and you have a choice. I don't understand those people who go to some specialized shops to buy things of a certain brand. Such things are rather expensive. I prefer going to a market and buy clothes there.

   I prefer doing the shopping alone when I need clothes or books. My favourite bookshop is in the centre of Moscow. I can spend hours there looking at different books and choosing the most interesting ones to read. My brother hates shopping. Our parents buy clothes for him and he is not against it. I also like to go shopping when I need to buy presents for my family or friends. Sometimes my friend helps me choose presents. She is a very nice girl with a good taste and she knows what things are good. Sometimes I have to go to the baker's to buy bread and to a dairy shop to buy milk or sour cream.

   In my childhood I liked to do the shopping because I felt grown-up, but now I see that this process is quite boring. And I don't like shopping without any need.

Shops and Shopping (2)

   Shopping is a part of everyday life and is a chore that needs to be done. So it's not very inter¬esting or a pleasure. As my par¬ents are very busy I do my best to help them about the house. One of my duties is to do shopping. When our family runs out of food products, I'm asked to buy what is necessary. Most shops specialize in certain goods. It should be noted that most of them in our city are pretty well stocked, often with imported and domestic food. Bread (brown and white) is sold at the bakery where we can also buy rusks and roll. Usually I can't miss the confectionary where I buy candies or chocolate bar, biscuits or cakes etc. I'm a regular customer of the greengrocery, which offer a wide choice of vegetables and fruits: potatoes, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, radish and onions, green pea, etc. But it is much cheaper to buy all these things at a market where people from nearby villages or those who have dachas sell potatoes and carrots, apples and pears and other things. You'll often and dried fruit, cheese, nuts, honey, meat and other food in markets too. It's better to go to the market in the morning for me liveliness scene and best selection. You can usual bargain a bit over prices. My mother usually goes there on Sundays. At the fruit counter I buy apples and pears, oranges and grapes, dried, bottled and tined fruits, bananas and so on. I'm also a great lover of fruit juices. At the butcher's (meat shop) they sell meat such as beef, pork, mutton, veal, mixed meat and poultry. Supermarkets are brightly lit and well laid out. The goods are tidy arranged on trays and long shelves on which the prices are clear marked. There's plenty of room for the customers to walk. In the supermarket most of the goods are sold ready, ready packed and wrapped. You can find wide selection of everything there from shoe polish to eggs. Customers go round the supermarket with baskets or trolleys. They get the food from the shelves. Having filled your basket you go to the cash desk, pay money to the cashier and she gives you back the change. There are departments, known as «bargain sales», where they sell goods at the reduced prices. It is important for housewife because the prices are going up constantly.