Unit 13

Buying Foodstuffs

1. Circle the word in each line with a different sound in the stressed syllable. Then listen and check.


refund queue consumer
bucket butcher’s customer
grocery bowl dairy
exchange delicatessen confectionery
deliver receipt precinct

2. Put the following words in the correct column according to the pronunciation of the underlined letter. Listen and check.
  • bakery
  • cashier
  • basin
  • reasonable
  • value
  • carton
  • saleswoman
  • shop assistant
  • advertisement
  • purchase
  • tobacconist
  • barrel
  • bargain
  • supermarket
  • various
[ə] [æ] [eI] [Fә] [R]

3. Underline the stressed syllable/syllables in each word or word combination. Then listen and check. Comment on the sound phenomena under study.
green gro cer’s (greengrocer’s)
shop - keep er (shop-keeper)
check - out (check-out)
cash re gist er (cash register)
sal es clerk (salesclerk)
li quor sto re (liquor store)
self - ser vice shop (self-service shop)
car rier bag (carrier bag)
wi re bask et (wire basket)
street ven dor (street vendor)
con ve nien ce sto re (convenience store)
re tail pri ce (retail price)
hy per mar ket (hypermarket)
win dow - shop ping (window-shopping)
shop lif ter (shoplifter)

4. Listen and fill in the missing words. Transcribe these words.
I think are interesting places. They are thousands of different kinds of goods and products. There is an army of workers making sure the are and everything looks nice. And the are usually . The only thing I don’t like about supermarkets is when I have to pay. I hate waiting in at the . Another thing I hate is when I get with a wobbly . I really like going to supermarkets in different countries. Each country has very different things. In England, you’ll see a huge ; in Japan, you’ll see a whole seaweed; in the Middle East, you’ll see shelves and shelves of and ; and my favourite is India and the hundreds of .

5. Listen to the text and compare shopaholism and other addictions. Fill in the table.

SIMILARITIES DIFFERENCES

Listen again and transcribe the missing functional words.
What Makes Compulsive Shopping and Spending Addictive?
There many social and cultural factors tend increase the addictive potential shopping and spending. The easy availability of credit and material focus of society in general encourage people to accumulate possessions now worry about financial responsibility later.
Society places a strong emphasis one’s outer appearance and many media personalities promote spending money achieve a certain look will bring happiness. In addition, the accessibility of purchasing made easier with arrival of online shopping and television programs devoted buying goods 24 hours a day. Items purchased and ordered by express delivery to arrive quickly without the buyer having to leave home personally interact anyone else.
The shopping spending activity itself is associated with a feeling happiness power which is immediately gratifying. The after effects remorse and guilt drive the spender back to purchase again able to achieve brief but intense emotional high. Research shown many compulsive shoppers and spenders also suffer mood disorders, substance abuse, or eating disorders. with any addiction, the person becomes dependent behaviour to relieve negative feelings cause distress and discomfort.