Shopping

When we want to buy something, we go to a shop. There are many kinds of shops in every town or city: food supermarkets, department stores, men's and women's clothing stores, a grocery, a bakery and a butchery.

I like to do shopping at big supermarkets, because you can buy a lot of goods there more cheaply than at a small local shop. There are several department stores under one roof at every supermarket. In Britain they often belong to different firms which run them individually. Prices vary from department to department. They sell a wide assortment of confectionary and bakery, wines, fruits and vegetables, smoked meat and sausage, dairy products, butchery's meat, a lot of jewellery, electrical appliances, perfumery, household goods, sport goods and foot wear, knitted and leather goods, textiles, stationary and others.

Supermarkets are brightly lit and well laid out. The goods are tidily arranged on trays and long shelves on which the prices are clearly marked. There is plenty of room for the customers to walk about.

In the supermarkets most of the goods are sold ready-weighed, ready-packed and wrapped. You can find wide selection of everything here from shoe polish to eggs. In the women's clothing department, for example, you can buy dresses, costumes, blouses, skirts, coats, beautiful underwear and so on.

In the men's clothing department you can choose suits, trousers, overcoats, shirts, ties. In the knitwear department one can buy sweaters, cardigans, short-sleeved and long-sleeved pullovers, woolen jackets. In the perfumery face cream and powder, lipstick, lotions and shampoos are sold.

Another shop we frequently go to is a green-grocery which is stocked with cabbage, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, beets, green peas and so on. I like to buy fruits and vegetables there. They smell good and you feel as if you are in an exotic country.

Customers go round the supermarket with a basket or trolley getting the products from the shelves. Having filled you basket you go to a cash desk,

where there is a short queue. When there is your turn the prices of your purchases are added up by a cashier. You pay money and the cashier gives you back the change.

There are departments, known as "bargain sales", where goods which are out of season are sold at reduced prices. It is important for housewives because the prices are going up constantly.