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Text: Shopping the clothes. Proper Names. Vocabulary Notes
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Text: Shopping the clothes
(Extract from the book by Sue Townsend " The Queen and I". Abridged)
Sayako came out of the changing room in Sloane Street* wearing this season's suit, as featured on the cover of English Vogue*. Last season's suit lay on the changing room floor in an untidy heap. She surveyed herself in the full-length mirror. The manageress, svelte in black, stood behind her.
“That colour's very good on you”, she said, smiling professionally.
Sayako said, “I take it and also I take it in strawberry and navy and primrose*”.
The manageress inwardly rejoiced. She would now reach this week's target*. Her job would be safe for at least another month. God bless the Japanese!
Sayako walked over on stockinged feet* to a display of suede loafers.
“And these shoes to match all suits in size four”, she said. Her role model was the fiberglass mannequin* which lolled convincingly against the shop counter, wearing the same cream suit that Sayako was wearing, the loafers that Sayako had just ordered and a bag that Sayako was about to order in navy, strawberry, cream and primrose. The mannequin's blonde nylon wig shone under the spotlights. Her blue eyes were half closed as though she were captured by her own beauty.
She is so beautiful, thought Sayako. She took the wig from the mannequin's head and placed it on her own. It fitted perfectly.
“And I take this”, she said.
She then handed over a platinum card which bore the name of her father, the Emperor of Japan.
As the manageress tapped in the magic numbers from the card*, Sayako tried on a soft green-coloured suede coat which was also being worn by a red-haired mannequin. The suede coat cost one penny less than a thousand pounds.
“What other colours do you have this in? ” asked Sayako of the assistants, who were packing her suits, loafers, bags and wig.
“Just one other colour”, said an assistant (who thought, Jesus, we'll have a drink after work tonight).
She hurried to the back of the shop and quickly returned with a toffee-brown version of the sumptuous coat*.
“Yes”, said Sayako. “I take both and, of course, boots to match, size four”. She pointed to the boots worn by the red-haired mannequin.
The pile on the counter grew. Her bodyguard standing inside the shop door shifted impatiently.
When the Princess and her purchases had been driven away, the manageress and her assistants screamed and yelled and hugged each other for joy.
Sayako sat in the back of the limousine and looked at London and its people. How funny English people are, she thought, with their wobbly faces and big noses and their skin! She laughed behind her hand. So white and pink and red. What bodies they had! So tall. It wasn't necessary to have so much height, was it. Her father was a small man and he was an Emperor.
As the car set off on its journey towards Windsor, where she was staying at the newly opened Royal Castle Hotel, Sayako's eyes closed. Shopping was so tiring. She had started at 10. 30 in Harrod's lingerie department* and now it was 6. 15 and she had only taken an hour off for lunch. And when she got home she had that puzzling book to read, Three Men in a Boat. She had promised her father she would read at least five pages a day. It would improve her English, he said, and help her to understand the English psyche.
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She had already ploughed through The Wind in the Willows*, Alice in Wonderland and most of Jemima Puddleduck* but she had found these books very difficult, full of talking animals dressed in the clothes of human beings.
At Hyde Park Comer the car stopped suddenly, the driver swore and Sayako opened her eyes. The bodyguard turned around to face her.
“A demonstration”, he said. “Nothing to fear”.
She looked out of the window and saw a long line of middle-aged people crossing the road in front of the car. Many of them were wearing beige anoraks that Sayako, a devoted shopper, identified as coming from Marks and Spencer*. A few were carrying signs on sticks.
Nobody appeared to take any notice of them, apart from a few impatient motorists.
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Proper Names
Sue Townsend – Сью Таунсенд
Sayako – Саяко
Sloane Street – Слоун Стрит
Windsor – Виндзор
Harrod's – Хэрродз
Jemima Puddleduck – Джемайма Падлдак
Hyde Park – Гайд Парк
Marks and Spencer – Маркс и Спенсер
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Vocabulary Notes
1. Sayako came out of the changing room in Sloane Street... – Саяко вышла из примерочной магазина на Слоун Стрит... (Прим.: Слоун стрит – улица Лондона, получившая известность благодаря расположенным на ней в изобилии изысканным магазинам).
2. ... as featured on the cover of English Vogue –... точно таком же, как был на обложке английского издания «Воуг» (прим.: Vogue – журнал мод)
3. ... I take it in strawberry and navy and primrose –... я беру такой же цвета клубники, темно-синий и бледно-жёлтый.
4. She would now reach this week's target – Теперь она непременно выполнит недельный план.
5. ... stockinged feet... –... в одних чулках...
6. Her role model was the fibreglass mannequin... – Образцом для нее служил синтетический манекен...
7. As the manageress tapped in the magic numbers from the card... – Пока заведующая секцией пробивала в кассе магические цифры, перенося их с пластиковой карты...
8. ... with a toffee-brown version of the sumptuous coat –... с таким же роскошным пальто цвета кофе с молоком (Прим.: буквально – коричневый, как сливочная тянучка)
9. She had started at 10. 30 in Harrod's lingerie department... – Она начала в половине одиннадцатого с отдела женского белья в Хэрродз... (Прим.: Хэрродз – крупнейший универмаг Лондона).
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10. She had already ploughed through The Wind in the Willows... – Она уже осилила «Ветер в Ивах» (Прим.: книга детского писателя К. Грэма).
11. Jemima Puddleduck – Джемайма Падлдак (Прим.: имя утенка из сказки Б. Поттер)
12. ... identified as coming from Marts and Spencer –... определила, что они куплены в Маркс и Спенсер (Прим.: Маркс и Спенсер – известная сеть магазинов в Великобритании)
Exercise 1: Transcribe and pronounce correctly the words from the text:
Suit, to survey, manageress, inwardly, to rejoice, target, suede, loafer, fibreglass, mannequin, to loll, nylon, to encapture, platinum, toffee, version, sumptuous, bodyguard, to yell, limousine, wobbly, lingerie, psyche, to plough, anorak, to identify.
Exercise 2: Find the English equivalents for the following words and expressions:
Примерочная, костюм шестого размера, костюм прошлого сезона, зеркало в полный рост, цвет Вам идёт, я это беру, туфли в тон, манекен, прилавок магазина, недельный план продажи, заведующая, упаковывать, отдел дамского белья, стоить, покупки, отлично подходить, показать на что-либо, любительница покупок, собираться заказать.
Exercise 3: Reproduce the sentences in which the following words and phrases are used in the text:
To survey oneself in a full-length mirror, to be very good on somebody, to rejoice, to match, to be encaptured by something, to fit perfectly, to try on, to shift impatiently, to set off, tiring, to plough through, to be a devoted shopper, not to take any notice of something.
Exercise 4: Answer the questions:
What was Sayako trying on in the changing room?
Why did the manageress inwardly rejoice?
What attracted Sayako's attention in the shop?
How was the mannequin dressed?
What else did Sayako buy in the shop? In what colours?
How did the manageress and her assistants react when Sayako had left?
What did Sayako think about English people?
Was Sayako tired of shopping? Why?
What was Sayako reading? Was she reading for pleasure or not?
Exercise 5: Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
1. to loll A. correspond in quality, colour, design, etc.;
2. to rejoice B. change or move from one position to another;
3. to survey C. associate inseparably or very closely with smth.;
4. to hug D. show signs of great happiness;
5. to identify E. be of right measure, shape and size;
6. to match F. take a general view of smth.;
7. to order G. stand, sit or recline in a lazy attitude;
8. to fit H. squeeze tightly in one's arms, usually with affection;
9. to shift I. make a loud sharp cry (as of pain, excitement, etc. )
10. to yell J. command or direct.
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Exercise 6: Speak about Sayako's shopping tour:
1. in the third person;
2. in the person of the manageress;
3. in the person of Sayako;
4. in the person of her bodyguard
Exercise 7: Agree or disagree with the following statements. Give your reasons:
Use for disagreement: Use for agreement:
That's not quite right. That's right.
Oh no, quite on the contrary. Exactly.
It says in the text... I agree entirely.
1. Sayako was trying on the last season's suit.
2. The manageress felt irritated by the obtrusive customer.
3. Sayako admired the beauty of the mannequin.
4. Sayako was a devoted shopper, ready to buy clothes in bulk.
5. She didn't care how much money she spent on clothes.
6. The princess found English people funny.
7. Shopping didn't take her much time.
8. Sayako found English books entertaining.
Exercise 8: Find the English equivalents for the following words and expressions:
a) Примерочная; костюм шестого размера; костюм прошлого сезона; помещённый на обложке журнала; зеркало в человеческий рост; цвет Вам идёт; я это беру; полка, где выставлены уличные туфли; туфли в тон; манекен; прилавок магазина; недельный план продажи; заведующая; прожектор; собираться заказать; отлично подходить; быть в упоении; протянуть кредитную карточку; стоить; показать на что-либо; покупки; утомительный; отдел дамского белья; из магазина Маркс и Спенсер; любительница покупок; стоить без одного пенса тысячу фунтов; упаковывать.
b) Быть в упоении; прожектор; показать на что- либо; не обращать внимание; валяться на полу; внутренне возликовать; переминаться нетерпеливо с ноги на ногу; обниматься от счастья; отдохнуть часок за ланчем; психология англичан.
Pair work. Pick out 5 items your groupmate has that you admire. Make up dialogues in which you should compliment your groupmate. You can use the following phases:
That's a beautiful / pretty / nice / fantastic / great... dress / coat … etc.
Those are really nice / pretty / good-looking...
I really like your... Where did you get it / them?
I like the colour / style / material... You look good in... (colour).
... is good on / suits / matches / goes well with you.
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