Ex. 2 Match the words and word combinations with their translation.

Text B Belarusian Supermarkets

When you come to a city supermarket, you see the following picture.

A huge sales floor with pretty pyramids of goods, a lavish assortment of groceries, bakery and confectionery goods, canned vegetables, fruit and dairy products; wines, spirits, mineral water, juices and syrups. Perishables – cold meats, meat, fish, milk and all dairy products – are kept in special reach-in refrigerator units. Fresh vegetables, fruit and citrus fruits are displayed in trolleys. There is a special stand with all sorts of household knick-knacks, where every housewife is bound to buy something. There is a large range of baby foods. The smallest customers, who are led by the hand or sit importantly on special benches or in the trolleys where mother or father deposit their purchases, have not been forgotten. Each item has a label which indicates the date, price, weight and cost. The automatic tills determine the cost of purchases and the amount of change in a flash.

A large number of items on sale, the open display of goods, the possibility to buy everything in one shop and the swift service draw customers to such shops from the day they opened. The equipment on the sales floor, the packaging departments and in the storage premises is of the latest design. The optical and electronic scales have stepped up immeasurably the process of weighing a purchase, and determining the cost of a given weight. The special vacuum packaging ensures that foods retain their quality and look, up to 5 days, unimpaired. All the goods are prepared for sale in the packaging departments which are separated from the sales floor by windows, i.e., the customers can see the process. The population of the district is very pleased with such new shops.

Exercises on the text

Ex. 3 Translate into English.

Мне не нравится делать покупки, для меня это скучная необходимость. Но, если мне приходится покупать продукты, я предпочитаю супермаркет. Там можно купить все, что касается еды, в одном здании. И это не единственное его преимущество. Супермаркеты всегда ярко освещены, товары разложены на стеллажах и в тележках, многие товары расфасованы и снабжены этикетками, на которых указаны вес, стоимость товара и дата расфасовки. Там можно купить все, что вам необходимо: бакалейные товары, мясо, колбасы, молочная продукция, напитки и чего только там нет. На фоне приятной музыки вы расслабляетесь и накладываете в свою тележку больше, чем вы можете себе позволить. Умерьте свой энтузиазм, иначе вы будете шокированы суммой, которую увидите на кассовом аппарате. Благодаря большому количеству кассиров вам не приходится стоять в очереди. Одним словом супермаркет – это фантастический, яркий "город " различных товаров.

Ex. 4 Describe your visit to a supermarket. Use the following words and phrases:

to go to a supermarket to buy …; to be back soon; not to have been there for more than 30 minutes; it's one of the best things about them; had I gone to half a dozen different shops I would have taken much longer; not to be overcrowded; brightly lit; well laid out; there is plenty of room for the customers to walk about; to move along the aisles of goods; to push one's little cart (or to carry a basket in one's hand); to fill it with packets; a few assistants; there is no need for many assistants; ready-packed; the goods are tidily arranged on trays and long shelves; the shelves are well stocked with a very wide selection of attractively packed goods; the goods are within easy reach; the price is printed on every packet; the prices are clearly marked; the assistants fill up (the) shelves and cases that become empty; they see that everything has a price stamped on it.

Ex. 5 Compare the American supermarket with the one you have recently visited.

Unit 7 Marketing

Ex.1 Read the dialogue and retell it on the part of a) Nina; b) Vera.

Vera: Good morning, Nina!

Nina: Oh, that’s you, Vera! How nice that you have come.

V. I haven’t seen you of late so I thought I’d –

N. I say, Vera, have you time to go with me to the market? Ma feels unwell and she wants me to do the shopping.

V. Why, yes! I am quite free.

N. Just wait a minute while I get ready the bag. Where can it be, I wonder? I’ll go and ask –

V. It cannot be in the larder, Nina, can it?

N. Of course, it must be there. (Comes back with the bag). Well, let’s go.

V. Have you taken the money?

N. Oh! What a silly I am! Going to the market without a kopeck in my pocket. Nice, indeed! (Goes out and shortly comes back). Well, seems to be all. Come on.

(At the market)

V. What do you want to buy?

N. Some meat, eggs, vegetables and some berries.

V. Are berries in season now?

N. They are. Now, what shall we buy first, vegetables?

V. I think so. Where do they deal in vegetables?

N. I don’t know. This is the first time I’m out marketing. Over there, it seems.

V. Say, Nina, let’s go over to that woman over there. See what a wealth of vegetables she has.

N. (To the saleswoman). How do you sell the cabbage, by the head or by the kilogramme?

Saleswoman: By the head. Here is a nice head, young lady.

N. Show me that one over there, please.

S. Here you are. See how firm it is.

N. Yes, I shall take it.

S. What else would you like?

N. A bunch of carrots, please. No, those are overgrown. Give me the bunch next to it. Yes, that one.

S. What else, young lady?

N. Now pick out ten cucumbers, please.

S. Here, please. Right from the garden. Some onions?

N. Yes. How do you sell them?

S. These – by the tens, and these of the smaller size – by the kilogramme.

N. I’ll take ten of these.

S. Here you are.

N. Thank you.

Ex. 2 Share your ideas on the following:

a) how to bargain;

b) how not to buy a pig in a poke at the market.

Ex. 3 Write an essay "My last visit to the market".

Unit 8 Buying from home

Pretext exercises