Лекция: Shopping in New York

During the first couple of weeks I didn't buy anything except some groceries. Shopping in a supermarket is easy. You just put the things you want in a basket and bring them to a cashier. He will ring them up on the register, take your money and put the items in a bag. But be careful! The sum may be more than appears on the price tags. This is because there's a sales tax on everything except basic foods.

I didn't have too much money to spend. So I had to plan carefully. You see, I wanted to bring home some presents for my family and friends. I also wanted to buy a VCR (video cassette recorder) and a PC (personal computer) for myself.

People in the office gave me some advice. If I didn't want to spend a lot of money, they said, I should watch newspaper ads for sales. If I got to the store early on a sale day I would have a wider choice. There were different kinds of sales: semiannual and annual sales, one day sales, half price sales, closeout sales, clearance sales, warehouse sales and many others. At first I just watched people shopping. Later I got a few good buys there and a couple of real bargains!