Copyright 2006 Sally Jennings at Speak-Read-Write.com

It's Sale Time

Vocabulary for Shopping

by Sally Jennings

1. Robert walked away from the counter too soon, and the clerk at the cash register called after him, "Just a minute sir, you forgot your change."



2. Sheila like using her credit card to make purchases, since she did not have to pay until the statement came in the mail. Having a charge card was more convenient than paying cash.



3. Jane always shopped at the same department store for her clothes because the store had a customer loyalty card, which gave her cash back on her purchases. Other stores had cards which gave points, but Jane liked the rewards plan at her favorite store.



4. When they bought their computer, the Wilsons mailed in the rebate voucher and received $40.00.



5. When Julie shops for groceries, she almost always uses the coupons she clips from magazines to get money off.



6. During the holiday season, there were many sales. Jim found a very nice knapsack marked down from $49.95 to $29.99, a lower price than the advertised price at a competing store. It was always nice to find a reduced price.



7. A toddler was crying in the check-out line-up behind Sarah, but she didn't mind. She had two pairs of pants in her shopping cart. They were a great bargain at this two-for-one price. She planned to give the second pair to her sister. After, all they were basically free.



8. Billy was shopping for refrigerators. He asked the sales person in the appliance department for more money off the sale price of a large floor model. The salesman told him that he could not give him any more money off, because the fridge was already priced at half off and this was a deep discount.



9. The new self-service check-out counter had no clerk. The customers were expected to scan the items themselves, and then pay for them with a charge card or a debit card.



10. The Automated Teller Machine (ATM) had not been working for three hours, but there was no sign posted to warn customers it was broken. Person after person walked up to it, inserted a bank card and did not get any bills in return.



11. Mary always looked over the flyers that came folded in the morning newspaper very carefully, since she liked to get a bargain when she shopped.



12. In Canada, a credit card is a charge card, and a debit card is a bank card. In the U.S., a some bank cards may be used as either credit cards or debit cards. So in the U.S., a cashier may ask "Will that be debit or credit?" when you present your bank card to pay for your purchases.



13. After Christmas, there are usually long line-ups at the customer service counter. Barbara wanted a refund for the purchase price of the sweater her brother had given her, which was too small. She knew she could get cash, because he had given her the receipt. She was glad he had not bought the sweater at a smaller store, since smaller stores usually gave credit for returns, not cash, and she did not want to exchange the sweater.



14. The newspaper advertised the wrong price for the saucepan. It was actually higher priced in the store. However, when customers mentioned the advertisement, the store had to sell the saucepan for the advertised price until a correction with the higher price was printed in the newspaper.



15. When the clerk opened the till after the sale, Randy asked for change for a five dollar bill for the bus. He did not have enough coins to pay the fare, since it was $2.75 to ride all the way home through two fare zones, and the bus fare box only took exact change.

To return to the exercise: It's Sale Time.

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