Text: At the grocery. Shopping for one




Контрольные задания по английскому языку для студентов 3 курса

специальности 38.02.05 "Товароведение и экспертиза качества потребительских товаров"

Text: At the grocery. Shopping for one

 

(A story by Anne Cassidy. Abridged)

 

Groceries are much the same the world over – especially the queues at check-out points. What extraordinary things other people are buying! There are odd snatches of overheard conversa­tion too. But what if one is living alone, “Shopping for one?”

“So what did you say?” Jean heard the blonde woman in front of her talking to her friend.

“Well,” the darker woman began, “I said I'm not having that woman there. I don't see why I should. I mean I'm not being old-fashioned but I don't see why I should have to put up with her at family occasions*. After all...”

Jean noticed the other woman giving an accompaniment of nods and headshaking at the appropriate parts*. They fell into si­lence and the queue moved forward a couple of steps.

“After all”, the dark woman resumed her conversation, “how would it look if she was there when I turned up?”* Her friend shook her head slowly from side to side and ended with a quick nod.

Should she have got such a small size salad cream? Jean wasn't sure. She was sick of throwing away half-used bottles of stuff.

“He came back to you after all”, the blonde woman suddenly said. Jean looked up quickly and immediately felt her cheeks flush. She bent over and began to rearrange the items in her shopping basket.

“On his hands and knees”, the dark woman spoke in a trium­phant voice. “Begged me take him back”.

She gritted her teeth together. Should she go and change it for a larger size? Jean looked behind and saw that she was hemmed in by three large trollies. She'd lose her place in the queue. There was something so pitiful about buying small sizes of everything. It was as though everyone knew.

“You can always tell a person by their shopping*”. She looked into her shopping basket: individual fruit pies, small salad cream, yoghurt, tomatoes, cat food and a chicken quarter.

The cashier suddenly said, “Make it out to J. Sainsbury PLC”. She was addressing a man who had been poised and waiting to write out a cheque for a few moments. His wife was loading what looked like a gross offish fingers* into a cardboard box marked "Whiskas". It was called a division of labour.

Jean looked again at her basket and began to feel the familiar feeling of regret that visited her from time to time. Hemmed in be­tween family-size cartons of cornflakes and giant packets of wash­ing-powder, her individual yoghurt seemed to say it all*. She looked up towards a plastic bookstand which stood beside the till. A slim glossy hardback caught her eye. The words Cooking for One screamed out from the front cover. Think of all the oriental foods you can get into*, her friend had said. He was so traditional after all. Nodding in agreement with her thoughts Jean found herself eye to eye with the blonde woman, who gave her a blank, hard look and handed her what looked like a black plastic ruler with the words "Next customer please" printed on it in bold letters. She turned back to her friend. Jean put the ruler down on the conveyor belt.

“Of course, we've had our ups and downs*”, the dark woman continued, lazily passing a few items down to her friend.

Jean began to load her food on to the conveyor belt. She picked up the cookery book and felt the frustrations of indecision. It was only ninety pence but it seemed to define everything, to pinpoint her aloneness, to prescribe an empty future. She put it back in its place.

“So that's why I couldn't have her there you see”, the dark woman was summing up. The friends exchanged knowing expres­sions and the blonde woman got her purse out of a neat leather bag. She peeled off three ten pound notes and handed them to the cashier.

Jean opened her carrier bag ready for her shopping. She turned to watch the two women as they walked off, the blonde pushing the trolley and the other seemingly carrying on with her story.

The cashier was looking expectantly at her and Jean realized that she had totalled up. It was four pounds and eighty-seven pence. She had the right money, it just meant sorting her change out. She had an inclination that the people behind her were becoming impa­tient. She noticed their stack of items all lined and waiting, it seemed, for starters orders*. Brown bread and peppers, olive oil and, in the centre, a packet of beefburgers.

She gave over her money and picked up her carrier bag. She felt a sense of relief to be away from the mass of people. She felt out of place*.

Walking out of the door she wondered what she might have for tea. Possibly chicken, she thought, with salad. Walking towards her car she thought that she should have bought the cookery book after all. She suddenly felt much better in the fresh air. She'd buy it next week. And in future she'd buy a large salad cream. After all, what if people came round unexpectedly?

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Proper Names

J. Sainsbury PLC – компания Джей Сэйнсбери (прим.: PLCPrivately Licensed Companyчаст­ная лицензированная компания)

__________________________________________________________

Vocabulary Notes

1.... why I should have to put up with her at family occasions. –... с какой стати я должна мириться с её присутствием на се­мейных праздниках.

2.... giving an accompaniment of nods and headshaking at the ap­propriate parts. –... в такт словам то кивала, то качала го­ловой.

6.... when I turned up?... когда я бы вдруг пришла?

7. You can always tell a person by their shopping. – Всегда можно определить, что за человек перед тобой, по его покупкам.

8.... a gross of fish fingers... –... оптовая закупка рыбных па­лочек...

9.... her individual yoghurt seemed to say it all. –... казалось, что её единственная упаковка йогурта говорит сама за себя.

10. Think of all the oriental foods you can get into... – Как по­думаешь, каких только ни бывает восточных продуктов...

11. Of course, we've had our ups and downs... – Конечно, у нас бывало то лучше, то хуже...

12.... for starters orders. –... сигналов стартеров.

13. She felt out of place. – Ей было не по себе.

 

 

Exercise 1: Give the Russian equivalents for the words below:

Queue, extraordinary, accompaniment, appropriate, cou­ple, to itch, wire, elephantine, giant, carton, casualty, stuff, re­arrange, triumphant, trolley, maxim, yoghurt, quarter, cashier, to poise, cheque, gross, oriental, conveyor, dejectedly, salmon, processed, purse, leather, to total.

Exercise 2: Answer the questions:

1. Whom did Jean hear talking in the queue?

2. Why was Jean's patience beginning to itch?

3. Why couldn't Jean go through the quick till?

4. When did Jean begin to rearrange the items in her shopping basket?

5. Was Jean the last in the queue or not?

6. What did Jean see in her own shopping basket?

7. Whom did the cashier suddenly address?

8. What caught Jean's eye suddenly? Why?

9. What did Jean remember about the shopping trips with her friend?

10. Why did Jean put the book back in its place?

11. How much did the blonde woman pay?

12. Did Jean see the two women leave the shop or not?

13. How much did Jean pay?

14. Why did Jean think that people behind her were becoming impatient?

15. What did Jean feel after she had left the grocery?

 

 

Exercise 3: Find the English equivalents to the following words or expressions:

a) Снять с полки; лента конвейера; поменять на что-либо большего размера; заплатить; продвинуться на пару ша­гов; перекладывать покупки; большие упаковки; походы по магазинам; найти мелочь; беготня; потерять свою оче­редь; выкладывать продукты на конвейер; пройти через экспресс-кассу; насчитать десять покупок; определить, что за человек, судя по его покупкам; передавать ко­му-либо покупки; отсчитать три банкноты; подсчитать общую сумму; оптовая закупка; выписать чек (два вари­анта); отдать деньги кассиру; груда покупок.

b) Мириться с чьим-либо присутствием; семейные праз­дники; замолчать; на дне (корзины); качать головой; в конце концов; сжать зубы; любимая поговорка; разделе­ние труда; время от времени; попасться на глаза; мыльная опера; бывало то лучше, то хуже; продолжить рассказ; смотреть выжидающе; почувствовать облегчение; ей было не по себе; почувствовать себя намного лучше на свежем воздухе; в будущем.

 

 



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