英语博客(A cup of English):021 Crazy sales.

　　Beginners.

Do you enjoy shopping? Do you do it very often? Are there many shops where you live? Here in Wenatchee, a small town, we have a few shopping areas. Some stores are well known; others are privately 1 owned, small businesses. I like shopping when I have plenty of time. Sometimes, though, it is stressful. One of the most stressful days to shop is the day after Thanksgiving. Most stores have big sales. The word is BARGAIN. On every shop door you can see numbers: fifty percent off, seventy five percent off, even ninety percent off! Because the sales are so good, most people do their Christmas shopping. They can save a lot of money. The main problem is that there are too many people. Crowds, noise, traffic, pushing, tired children crying, oh it's a crazy day. It is a part of this culture, the way people live here, but, I must say, it can be quite stressful.

Grammar notes.

Questions: reverse 2 verb and subject, exs: Do you enjoy/hate/go....?

Are there trees/ books/ people/ many (s.t.)...?  Is there a person/ toy/ telephone/ bus etc?

Related 3 vocabulary: bargain, sale, price, cost, expensive, cheap, change, dollars, percent, percentage.

Advanced.

Have you ever been around so many people that you felt trapped? It's a feeling called claustrophobia. It is unpleasant to say the least. You want to run away into an open place where there is quiet and fresh air. You could get this feeling in lots of places: airplanes, boats, trains, hospitals. But, what about shopping? Last year, in an effort to get my Christmas shopping out of the way early, I tried, for the first time, shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I regretted it. It's not that it is a bad idea, it's just that I didn't have the correct system. You really need to know what you are doing. Veteran 4 shoppers get up early, about five o'clock, dress themselves in several layers of warm clothes, so they are never too hot or too cold, - they can always peel off a few layers if they need to. They have the car full of gas, and equipped with tissues 5, hand sanitizer, a charged cell phone, cds of tranquil 6 music, and vitamin C snacks. And, last but not least, they have the all-necessary list of coupons 7. This year, I did all of that,....well, okay, apart from the getting up at five o'clock. I also discovered a secret weapon that defended me against the onslaught of noise and stress. My iPod. Thanks to the iPod, I sailed smoothly 8 through the chaos 9, taking my time, selecting items calmly, and totally distracted 10 by my wonderful downloaded programs. Do you think I should let the secret out?

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: claustrophobia, trapped, anxious, nervous, escape, system, to regret, to peel off (skin of fruit and clothes), tissues, coupons, weapon, secret, onslaught, stress, chaos.

Verbs and phrases: Have you ever....? Exs: Have you ever been to St. Petersburg? Has he ever tried smoked salmon 11? Has it ever snowed here?Did they ever return your call? Did she ever repay 12 you?