Supermarkets 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.1 After all...'
Jean noticed the other woman giving an accompaniment of nods and headshaking at the appropriate parts.2 They fell into silence and the queue moved forward a couple of steps.
Jean felt her patience beginning to itch.3 Looking into her wire basket she counted ten items. That meant she couldn't go through the quick till4 but simply had to wait behind elephantine shopping loads; giant bottles of coke crammed in beside twenty-pound bags of potatoes and 'special offer' drums of bleach. Somewhere at the bottom, Jean thought, there was always a plastic carton of eggs or a see-through tray of tomatoes which fell casualty to the rest.5 There was nothing else for it — she'd just have to wait.
'After all,' the dark woman resumed her conversation, 'how would it look if she was there when I turned up?'6 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,'7 was one of her mother's favourite maxims. 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 fingers8 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.9 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,10 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.11
She thought about their shopping trips, before, when they were together. All that rushing round, he pushing the trolley dejectedly, she firing questions at him. Salmon? Toilet rolls? Coffee? Peas? She remembered he only liked the processed kind.12 It was all such a performance. Standing there holding her wire basket, embarrassed by its very emptiness, was like something out of a soap opera.
'Of course, we've had our ups and downs,13' 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.14 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.15
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?
Proper Names
Anne Cassidy ['{n 'k{sIdI] — Энн Кэссиди
Jean [³i:n] — Джин
J. Sainsbury PLC ['³eI 'seInsb@rI 'pi: 'el 'si:] — компания Джей Сэйнсбери (прим.: PLC — Privately Licensed Company — частная лицензированная компания)
Whiskas ['wIsk@s] — Вискас (Прим.: корм для кошек)
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.
3. Jean felt her patience beginning to itch. — Джин чувствовала, что её терпение заканчивается.
4. ... the quick till ... — ... касса-экспресс ...
5. ... a see-through tray of tomatoes which fell casualty to the rest. — ... прозрачный лоток с помидорами, придавленный другими покупками.
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. Jean put the ruler down on the conveyor belt. — Джин положила линейку на конвейер. (Прим.: В западных супермаркетах для экономии времени несколько покупателей выгружают продукты на конвейер одновременно. Для того, чтобы кассир видела, где граница, покупатели кладут пластиковую линейку яркого цвета между своими и чужими покупками.)
12. ... processed kind. — ... консервированный.
13. Of course, we've had our ups and downs ... — Конечно, у нас бывало то лучше, то хуже ...
14. ... for starters orders. — ... сигналов стартеров.
15. She felt out of place. — Ей было не по себе.
Phonetic Text Drills
○ Exercise 1
Transcribe and pronounce correctly the words from the text.
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
Pronounce the words and phrases where the following clusters occur.
1. Plosive + 1
Couple, simply, plastic, immediately, what looked, glossy, blank, hard look, dejectedly, expectantly, possibly.
2. Plosive + w
Blonde woman, that woman, put up with her, quick, twenty, dark woman, ended with a quick nod, between, agreement with her thoughts, questions, and waiting.
○ Exercise 3
Pronounce after the announcer. Say what kind of false assimilation one should avoid in the following cases.
1. Of her, of steps, of tomatoes, of throwing, of stuff, of course, we've had, of people, out of place.
2. Was there, size salad, was sick, was something, as though, was so, with salad.
3. Noticed the-other, at the bottom, put the ruler, about their shopping, liked the processed kind, felt the frustration, that the people, noticed their stack, bought the book.
○ Exercise 4
Consult the dictionary and put stresses in the following compound nouns.
Half-used, cardboard, twenty-pound, family-size, cornflakes, washing-powder, hardback, pinpoint, eighty-seven, beefburgers.
○ Exercise 5
I. Intone the following general questions.
'Should she have 'got such a ↑small 'size 'salad /cream? ||
'Should she 'go and 'change it for a 'larger /size? ||
II. Explain why the following special question is pronounced with a rising intonation.
So 'what did you /say?
Comprehension Check
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 supermarket?
16.What did Jean think about while she was going towards her car?
17. What did she suddenly decide?
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
I. Find in the text words or phrases similar in meaning to the following.
A cash desk, a purchase, coca-cola, a plastic bag, big size cartons, to calculate, goods, a heap, half-empty.
II. Give your own words or expressions similar in meaning to the ones from the text.
To pinpoint, to fire questions, to rearrange, to give a blank look, to catch one's eye, a snatch of conversation, to flush, to grit one's teeth together, to beg.
Exercise 2
Below see the list of the words from the text. Think of words opposite in meaning to them.
extraordinary oriental
appropriate traditional
triumphant empty
familiar to push
individual indecision
impatient to buy
Exercise 3
The author herself uses synonymous words and expressions in the text. Say how otherwise the author puts the following.
to count — to continue —
to give over money — small salad cream—
elephantine — write out a check —
wire basket —cram in —
Exercise 4
When postpositions are added to verbs, the meanings of the latter can utterly change. Choose the right one from the two given in brackets. Explain the difference in meanings.
1. (put; put up)
a) The dark woman ... all the stuff into her carrier bag.
b) Jean thought that she had to ... with a loss of time.
2. (turn; turn up)
a) Jean ... her head and saw a queue behind her.
b) Jean remembered the time when he suddenly ... and they went on their shopping trips.
3. (pick; pick up)
a) The customers ... goods from the racks while walking along the aisles.
b) Last summer there were a lot of blueberries in the forest. We often went there to ... them.
4. (make; make out)
a) The gentleman at the till asked the cashier to ... a bill for him.
b) Jean thought that she would ... a salad in the evening, probably with chicken.
5. (write; write out)
a) When Jean and he were together they sometimes ... letters to each other.
b) He always paid in cash and never ... cheques.
6. (carry; carry on)
a) A lot of women never ... heavy bags, as they think it to be not ladylike.
b) The people in the queue were interested in the end of the story and she ... with it.
7. (pass; pass down)
a) The woman at the till... the cardboard box to her husband and they both left.
b) Jean ... the rack with family-size cartons of cornflakes indifferently.
8. (come; come round)
a) Parting with her friend Jean tried to seem careless and said casually, '... some time'.
b) '...to see me', the blonde woman said to her friend.
9. (cram; cram in)
a) Though the box was already full the woman managed to ... the last pack offish fingers among the rest.
b) The supermarket was ... with customers on that day.
10. (walk, walk off)
a) Jean never ... to the supermarket as the way was far too long; she went there by car.
b) Slowly Jean ... from the supermarket deep in her thoughts.
Exercise 5
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.
В.
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.
Exercise 6
I. Pick out from the text the terms used to denote:
a) objects we use to put our purchases in,
b) amounts or quantities of some stuff,
c) certain details of the interior in a supermarket,
d) names of foodstuffs and drinks.
II. Make up a list of products which Jean saw
a) in her own wire basket,
b) in other people's baskets or trollies.
III. Find and read aloud sentences saying
a) what Jean thought of herself and her purchases,
b) what Jean thought of other people and their purchases.