Supermarket
Pre-Listening
How often do you go grocery shopping? What things do you usually buy?
Listen and Read
Listen to the recording about supermarkets, answer the questions, and then read along with the audio recording.
Listening Quiz
Select the best answer for each question, then press Check Answers.
Use arrow keys to choose between options within each question.
1. The man goes to the supermarket ______ a week to pick up items.
2. When the man doesn’t have time to cook, he ______.
3. How does the man pay for his goods?
I usually go to the supermarket about once or twice a week to buy groceries. Since I do a lot of shopping, I usually need a shopping cart to carry everything. I first stop by the deli counter to pick up some sliced cheese. Then, I look for some fruits and vegetables in the produce section, but I make sure they are fresh. My kids like milk, so I swing by the dairy section and grab a few gallons of milk. Also, there are times when I don’t have much time to cook, so I usually pick up some microwaveable meals in the frozen food section. If the store is out of stock of any of the items I need, then I drop by a different supermarket on my way home. I generally pay with cash at the checkout counter.
Vocabulary and Expressions From the Audio
- supermarket (noun): a large store that sells a wide variety of food and household items all in one place
- She stopped at the supermarket on her way home to pick up a few things for dinner.
- groceries (noun): food and household items bought at a store for everyday use
- He made a list of groceries before heading to the store so he wouldn’t forget anything.
- shopping cart (noun): a large basket on wheels provided by a store for customers to collect items while they shop
- She grabbed a shopping cart at the entrance and worked her way through each aisle.
- deli counter (noun): the section of a supermarket where sliced meats, cheeses, and prepared foods are sold by store staff
- He stopped at the deli counter to order a pound of turkey and some Swiss cheese.
- produce (noun): fresh fruits and vegetables sold in a store
- The produce section was full of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables.
- swing by (phrasal verb): to make a quick, informal stop somewhere on the way to or from another place
- Can you swing by the supermarket and pick up some milk on your way home?
- dairy (noun): the section of a supermarket that contains milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, and other milk-based products
- She headed to the dairy section to grab some butter and a carton of eggs.
- grab (verb): to quickly pick up or get something, often in a casual or informal way
- He ran into the store to grab a few things for lunch before heading back to the office.
- microwaveable meals (noun): pre-packaged food that is designed to be heated quickly in a microwave
- On busy nights, she kept a few microwaveable meals on hand for when she didn’t have time to cook.
- frozen food (noun): food that has been preserved by freezing and is stored in the freezer section of a store
- He stocked up on frozen food so he would always have something easy to make at home.
- out of stock (expression): when a store has no more of a particular item available to purchase
- The brand of cereal she wanted was out of stock, so she chose a different one.
- checkout counter (noun): the area in a store where customers pay for their items before leaving
- She waited in line at the checkout counter while the cashier finished with the customer ahead of her.
Discussion
How much grocery shopping do you do every week? How concerned are you about a healthy diet and is your concern reflected in what you buy? What tips can you think of to make sure you are getting the best buy at supermarkets (e.g., testing the products, using coupons for items, comparing prices at different stores, etc.)
Online Investigation
More and more websites advertise “free groceries” or “free food coupons”, but are these services really free? What’s the “catch”? Do you have to do something in order to qualify for these free products? Research a company that advertises free products and find out more about the service.