Comprehension check
A. Comment on the following:
1 Why did people first start trading?
2 How much do we know about the early traders?
3 Why were luxuries, not necessities, the earliest goods to be traded?
4 What were the Phoenicians the first to do? What did they import?
5 Athens had two 'firsts'. What were they? Why was grain imported by the Greeks?
6 Did Rome manufacture a lot? Why didn't the Romans pay for their imported goods?
7 Why was the bezant important?
8 What did the big companies of northern Europe do?
9 Name the key trade centres in the following periods. Why did they become important?
| 1000 ВС 8th century AD 13th century AD 17th centuryAD |
10 What did imports use to bring to people's lives?
11 What is ironic about the international markets today?
B. Explain the meaning of the uderlined phrases. Give the Ukrainian equivalents to these phrases. Use them in sentences of your own.
C. Discuss it in your group.
Do you agree that people’s tastes today are more homogeneous? Why? Which products do you know of that are found in most parts of the world today?
Prices and Goods
| · reasonable · fair · right · high/low · sky high · steep · exorbitant · fancy · half/full price · to be reduced in price · a rise/a drop in the price · to cut the price · to sell two items for the price of one · to buy cheap at/in the sales/a sale · to buy for a song · to buy next to nothing · to buy at a good price · to pay through the nose · to buy a real pig in a poke · a real rip-off | · expensive/inexpensive · dear · costly · valuable/valueless · precious · priceless · pricey/pricy · high-/low-priced · overpriced · superior · high/low quality · genuine · cheap · shoddy/pirate/fake/counterfeit · inferior (to) · sub-standard · faulty · flawless · first-class lines · articles of the newest kind · to be good value for the money |
Departments and Shops
| · department store · supermarket · boutique · self-service · stall · booth · kiosk · newsagent’s · chemist’s (BrE)/pharmacy/drugstore (AmE) · bookshop · antique shop · florist’s · furrier’s · millinery shop/hatter’s · mobile shop · music shop · furniture shop · jeweller’s shop · household goods shop · ironmonger’s · lace shop · optician’s · pet shop · shoe shop · second-hand shop · shopping precinct · shopping arcade · stationer’s · tobacconist’s · toy shop | · haberdashery · hardware · hosiery · drapery · fancy goods · footwear · leather goods · perfumery · textiles · electric appliances · glassware · china · crockery/earthenware · souvenir · ready-made clothes · children’s clothes · ladies’ wear · men’s wear · underwear · sportswear · knitted goods · counter for gloves · the ribbon counter |