SHOPPING FOR FOOD

SHOP ASSISTANT: Good morning Sir/Madam. Can I help you?

CUSTOMER: Yes please. I’d like ________................._____________
SHOP ASSISTANT: Certainly. How many would you like?
CUSTOMER: How much do they cost?
SHOP ASSISTANT: .£________________a kilo
CUSTOMER: That’s fine.I’d like_________________please
SHOP ASSISTANT: Here you are. Would you like anything else?
CUSTOMER: Yes please, can I have _____________............_______________
SHOP ASSISTANT: I’m sorry I don’t have________................._______________
CUSTOMER: Oh you don’t have_____............________. Can I have________ ......__________then
SHOP ASSISTANT:Of course.
CUSTOMER: Thank you and I’d like a.................
SHOP ASSISTANT:What kind of pizza would you like?.
CUSTOMER: I’d like a________________________and before I forget I’d also like ___________
___________ I think that’s all. How much is all that?
SHOP ASSISTANT: .Let me see. . That’s_____________(SAY PRICES ALOUD)
CUSTOMER: Here’s £50.00. I’m sorry I don’t have_____________small change
SHOP ASSISTANT: Don’t worry I can change it for you. Here’s ________change.
CUSTOMER:Thanks for your help, goodbye
SHOP ASSISTANT: Thank you and please come again

SHOPPING FOR FOOD

SHOP ASSISTANT: Good morning Sir/Madam. Can I help you?
CUSTOMER: Yes please. I’d like __SOME.................APPLES_
SHOP ASSISTANT: Certainly. How many would you like?
CUSTOMER: How much do they cost?
SHOP ASSISTANT: £80p __a kilo
CUSTOMER: That’s fine.I’d like_____2 KILOS please
SHOP ASSISTANT: Here you are. Would you like anything else?
CUSTOMER: Yes please, I’d like___SOME ...........WINE
SHOP ASSISTANT: I’m sorry I don’t have _ANY.................WINE
CUSTOMER: Oh you don’t have__ANY............_WINE . Can I have__SOME_......WATER then
SHOP ASSISTANT:Of course.
CUSTOMER: Thank you and I’d like a....PIZZA
SHOP ASSISTANT:What kind of pizza would you like?.
CUSTOMER: I’d like a__PIZZA WITH HAM and before I forget I’d also like SOME
__BREAD . I think that’s all. How much is all that?
SHOP ASSISTANT: Let me see. There are _2 kilos of apples £1.60, a bottle of water 50p, a pizza with
ham £2.00 and a loaf of bread £1.45. That’s £5.55 please___(SAY PRICES ALOUD)
CUSTOMER: Here’s £50.00. I’m sorry I don’t have__ANY small change
SHOP ASSISTANT: Don’t worry I can change it for you. Here’s £44.45_change.
CUSTOMER:Thanks for your help, goodbye
SHOP ASSISTANT: Thank you and please come again

CUSTOMER 1
2 kilos of apples - wine/water - pizza with ham - bread
CUSTOMER 2
3 kilos of potatoes - milk/orange juice - pizza with sausages - chocolate
CUSTOMER 3
2 kilos of grapes - rice/meat - pizza with ham and mushrooms - tea
CUSTOMER 4
3 kilos of bananas - coffee/tea- pizza with artichokes- cheese
CUSTOMER 5
3 kilos of onions – beer/wine – pizza with olives – coffee
CUSTOMER 6
1kilo of apples – water/orange juice – pizza with artichokes – cheese
CUSTOMER 7
3 kilos of bananas – tea/coffee – pizza with ham – chocolate
CUSTOMER 8
2 kilos onions – wine/beer – pizza with ham and mushrooms - bread
PRICE LIST
APPLES 80p /kilo
POTATOES 75p/kilo
ONIONS 70p/kilo
GRAPES £1.50/kilo
BANANAS £1.30/kilo
WINE £4.50 a bottle
ORANGE JUICE £1.20 a bottle
WATER 50p a bottle
MILK 80p a carton
RICE £1.39/kilo
MEAT £8.50/kilo
CHEESE £3.50 / kilo
COFFEE £2.25 a packet
TEA £1.00 a packet
BEER £1.95 a bottle
BREAD £1.45 a loaf
CHOCOLATE £1.10 a bar
PIZZA: WITH HAM £2.00
PIZZA WITH SAUSAGES £2.50
PIZZA WITH HAM AND MUSHROOMS £3.75
PIZZA WITH ARTICHOKES £2.75
PIZZA WITH OLIVES £3.20

£1.00 = 100 pennies (pence)

1. A kilo of fruit, vegetables (apples, tomatoes)

2. A litre of juice, wine, milk

3. A pint of milk, beer

4. A loaf of bread

5. A packet of biscuits
6. A carton of milk, juice, yoghurt

7. A tub of margarine

8. A tin of tomatoes, peas, beans

9. A bottle of milk, juice, wine, beer, coca cola, lemonade

10. A bar of chocolate

11. A bag of sugar

12. A jar of jam

13. A can of coca cola, lemonade

14. A piece of cheese, cake

1. A kilo of a. wine

b. peas
2. A litre of
c. yoghurt

d. biscuits
3. A pint of
e. juice

4. A loaf of f. chocolate

g. tomatoes
5. A packet of
h. milk

6. A carton of i. bread
 j. fruit
7. A tub of
k. beans

l. jam
8. A tin of

m. vegetables

9. A bottle of
n. cake

o. sugar
10. A bar of
p. coca cola

11. A bag of q. lemonade

r. beer
12. A jar of
s. cheese

t. margarine
13. A can of

14. A piece of

1. A kilo of fruit, vegetables, tomatoes

2. A litre of milk, juice, wine,

3. A pint of milk, beer

4. A loaf of bread

5. A packet of biscuits

6. A carton of milk, juice, yoghurt

7. A tub of margarine

8. A tin of tomatoes, peas, beans

9. A bottle of milk, juice, wine, beer, coca cola, lemonade

10. A bar of chocolate

11. A bag of sugar

12. A jar of jam

13. A can of coca cola, lemonade

14. A piece of cheese, cake

A spoonful of sugar

Teacher’s Notes

Level: Pre-intermediate
Aim: To raise students’ awareness of stressed and unstressed words in English, through
structured semi-controlled practice of set phrases.
Subsidiary For students to identify appropriate expressions of quantity which are used with
Aims: different types of food and drink
For students to develop speaking fluency skills
For students to develop skills in reading a text for general understanding
Time: 40-60 minutes
Materials: 1 copy of the worksheet per student
1 copy per student of the reading text ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’
Role cards cut up, 1 per student
Rationale: The context of sweets in the article is used as the basis of a personalised
discussion about childhood and sweet. The language of the text is extended
to provide pronunciation and spoken fluency practice in the context of
quantities of food, and a shopping role-play.

Stage 1 – Lead-in

Write the following on the board;

floral gum rhubarb and custard jelly teeth flying saucer

cherry lips sherbet lemons cola bottle chocolate mice
Explain that these words have something in common, and ask students if they can guess what it is.
If they can’t guess, tell them that they are all names of sweets which are popular in Britain. Ask
students what they think the sweets taste like, and if they would like to try any of them.

Now direct students to the pre-reading task on the worksheet, they should discuss the questions
together in pairs.

Methodology note: these two activities help to orientate students to the text, by providing them
with some of the vocabulary and ideas they will meet in the text, and raise students’ interest in the
text. The discussion questions also personalise the topic, making it more relevant to them.

Stage 2 – Reading the text

Distribute copies of the ‘Spoonful of Sugar’ reading text, one per student, and ask students
to read through the text quite quickly to find the answers to the questions.
Answers;

1. People buy sweets from old-fashioned sweet shops, and on the internet
2. Men buy more sweets than women
3. No, ‘people rarely buy the same sweet twice in succession’
Now direct students to the post-reading task on the worksheet. Again, they should discuss the
questions together in pairs, then get feedback from the whole class.

Answers;

1. They remind people of their childhood

2. People feel odd going into a sweet shop and buying children’s sweets, so they like the
anonymity of buying them on the internet
3. They are so happy when they find sweets from their childhood
4. Students’ own answers
5. A quarter of a pound – an amount of sweets.

Methodology note: Asking students to discuss questions together in pairs enables them to
prepare their answers before speaking in front of the whole class. Many students feel more
confident talking to a classmate than talking in front of a whole class.
Stage 3 – Language work

Direct students’ attention to the language work task on the worksheet, in which they have to match
the expressions of quantity with the food and drink. You may need to pre-teach some of the items.
When getting feedback from the class, you should check again for correct pronunciation of ‘of’,
drilling these expressions if necessary.

Answers;

1. A kilo of fruit, vegetables, tomatoes

2. A litre of milk, juice, wine,

3. A pint of milk, beer

4. A loaf of bread

5. A packet of biscuits

6. A carton of milk, juice, yoghurt

7. A tub of margarine

8. A tin of tomatoes, peas, beans

9. A bottle of milk, juice, wine, beer, coca cola, lemonade

10. A bar of chocolate

11. A bag of sugar

 12. A jar of jam

13. A can of coca cola, lemonade

14. A piece of cheese, cake

Methodology note: Many students find natural spoken English very difficult to understand, and
think it’s because English people speak very quickly. The difficulty often stems from the fact that
English is a ‘stress-timed’ language, i.e. we stress the important words in a sentence, and smaller,
less important words, like ‘of’, are unstressed, and often not even heard. Developing students
awareness of these language features will help them to understand spoken English better, and also
speak English with more natural pronunciation.

Stage 4 – Role-play

Students now practice the expressions from the language work activity with a shopping role-play.
Divide the class into an equal number of ‘customers’ and ‘shopkeepers’, if possible. There are
enough role cards for 16 students. The customers have a shopping list each, and the shopkeepers
have a price list. Explain that the customers have £5 each to spend, and they have to try and buy
everything on their shopping lists. To do this they must go to each shopkeeper and find out how
much the required items cost, and decide who they are going to buy each item from. Provide/elicit
useful phrases for shopping, e.g. ‘How much is _____ / How much does ________ cost?’ ‘I’ll have
a kilo of _________, please / Can I have a kilo of _____________, please?’, ‘Sorry, we haven’t got
any’ and write them on the board for students to refer to as they do the role-play.

To make the role-play slightly more challenging, you could tell the shopkeepers they only have
limited amounts of some of their items, so customers may not always be able to buy the cheapest
items.

Give them a time limit to do the role-play, e.g. 10 minutes, after which time get feedback from the
groups, asking if the customers managed to buy everything on their lists. To enable all students to
get practice of the ‘of’ phrases, you could now do the role-play again, getting the students to change
roles.
Methodology note: A role-play provides valuable free speaking practice for students, and this
situation is one in which they may find themselves one day. Giving students support by providing
key phrases gives them more confidence in performing the task effectively.

Worksheet 1

Pre-reading task

Discuss these questions with your partner;

1. Which smells remind you of your childhood?

2. Which tastes remind you of your childhood?
3. What sweets did you eat when you were a child?
4. Do you still eat the same sweets now?
5. What kinds of sweets and chocolate do you like to eat?

Post-reading task 1

Now read the article ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’, and find the answers to the following
questions;

1. Where do people usually buy sweets from?

2. Who buy more sweets, men or women?
3. Do people usually buy the same sweet again and again?

Post-reading task 2

Discuss these questions with your partner;

1. Why are sweets which were popular in the 1970s becoming popular again?
2. Why are internet businesses selling sweets so successful?
3. Why do people bulk buy sweets (buy large amounts of sweets)?
4. Which sweets would you like to try?
5. What does ‘a quarter of’ mean?
Worksheet 2

Match the expressions of quantity on the right with the food and drink on the left. There can
be more than one correct answer.

1. A kilo of a. wine

b. peas
2. A litre of
c. yoghurt

d. biscuits
3. A pint of
e. juice

4. A loaf of f. chocolate

g. tomatoes
5. A packet of
h. milk

6. A carton of i. bread
 j. fruit
7. A tub of
k. beans

l. jam
8. A tin of

m. vegetables

9. A bottle of
n. cake

o. sugar
10. A bar of
p. coca cola

11. A bag of q. lemonade

r. beer
12. A jar of
s. cheese

t. margarine
13. A can of

14. A piece of

Role-play cards - customers

 Shopping List Shopping List
Shopping List Shopping List
2 kilos potatoes 1 bag sugar
1 litre orange juice 1 loaf bread 1 tin tomatoes 1 tin peas
3 cartons yoghurt 2 cans coca cola 1 pint milk 1 litre apple juice
2 loaves bread 1 tub margarine 1 bottle wine 2 bars chocolate
2 packets biscuits 2 bars chocolate 2 tins beans 1 tub margarine
1 jar jam ½ kilo tomatoes 2 cans lemonade 1 loaf bread
½ kilo carrots 2 bottles beer ¼ flying saucers ¼ sweets
¼ sweets ¼ chocolate mice

Shopping List Shopping List Shopping List Shopping List

1 pint milk 3 kilos oranges 1 piece cheese 1 kilo carrots

1 loaf bread 2 bottles beer 1 bottle wine 1 bar chocolate
1 jar jam 1 tin beans 2 tins tomatoes 1 piece cake
4 kilos apples 1 carton yoghurt 1 kilo apples 2 pints milk
2 bags sugar 1 piece cake 1 packet biscuits 1 jar jam
1 litre orange juice 1 bag sugar 1 pint milk 1 can coca cola
¼ sherbet lemons ¼ jelly teeth ¼ parma violets ¼ cherry lips

Role-play cards - shopkeepers

Shop Price List Shop Price List

Tomatoes – £1 per kilo Milk – 35p per pint

Potatoes – 80p per kilo Bread – 90p per loaf
Carrots – 50p per kilo Wine – £3.00 per bottle
Apples – £1 per kilo
Oranges – £1.20 per kilo
Coca cola – 40p per can
Sweets - £1 per quarter
Shop Price List
Yoghurt – 40p per carton
Sugar – 70p per bag
Chocolate – £1.10 per bar
Biscuits – 55p per packet
Jam – £1.10 per jar
Milk – 35p per pint
Sweets – 90p per quarter
Shop Price List
Chocolate – 1£ per bar
Cake – 80p per piece
Biscuits – 50p per packet
Apple juice – £1.10 per litre
Orange juice – £1.10 per litre
Margarine – 80p per tub
Sweets - £1.10 per quarter
Shop Price List
Tomatoes – 60p per kilo
Carrots – 60p per kilo
Jam – £1.10 per jar
Biscuits – 50p per packet
Coca cola – 35p per can
Lemonade – 35p per can
Sweets – 80p per quarter
Beer – £1.20 per bottle
Biscuits – 60p per packet
Cake – 70p per piece
Lemonade – 40p per can
Shop Price List
Potatoes – £1 per kilo
Beans – 30p per tin
Peas – 30p per tin
Apple juice – £1 per litre
Orange juice – £1 per litre
Yoghurt – 35p per carton
Apples – 80p per kilo
Shop Price List
Bread – 80p per loaf
Milk – 30p per pint
Jam – £1 per jar
Tomatoes – 40p per tin
Beans – 40p per tin
Peas – 40p per tin
Oranges – £1.10 per kilo
Shop Price List
Margarine – 90p per tub
Apples – 70p per kilo
Oranges – £1 per kilo
Tomatoes – 50p per tin
Wine – £3.50 per bottle
Beer – £1.30 per bottle
Bread – 90p per loaf