My family and I

SHOPPING

Shopping centres and supermarkets have become very popular all over the world. They have various departments under one roof. The shopping centres are very convenient for customers and save them a lot of time. They are well-stocked with a lot of goods. The goods are ready packed and displayed on the shelves. Here you can buy almost everything from caviar to furniture.

Besides there are small specialist shops that deal only in certain goods. At the grocer’s you can buy flour, biscuits, jams, sugar, spice, tinned and frozen foods. The greengrocer’s deals in fruit and vegetables. If you go to the fruiterer’s, you can buy there apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, lemons and so on. The florist’s sells flowers and plants. We go to the fishmongers for fish, and to the poulterer’s if we want to buy poultry – chickens, ducks, geese or turkey. At a milkshop (dairy) we buy dairy products: milk, butter, cheese, cream and eggs. When we run out of bread we go to the baker’s. The confectioner’s always has a good choice of sweets – chocolates, toffees and many other tempting things.
Those who need paper, rubbers, rulers, notebooks, clips and glue can get them at the stationer’s. The bookseller’s sells books and magazines. The jeweller’s sells jewellery. The furniture shop deals in furniture. A chemist’s sells many things besides medicines – perfume, toilet articles: soap, toothpaste, sponges and tooth-brushes.
As for me I don’t often go shopping. I prefer to do it on Saturday. I try to buy all necessary things for the whole week as I am very busy on week days.


THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN

The UK is a constitutional monarchy. The constitution has three branches: Parliament, which makes laws, the government, which puts laws into effect and the law courts, which interpret laws. In law, the Head of the State is the Queen. In practice, the Queen reigns, but does not rule. The country is ruled by the elected government with the Prime Minister at the head. (Today the Prime Minister is Gordon Brown).

The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
Members of the House of Commons are elected by the voters of 650 constituencies. They are known as MPs, or Members of Parliament. They have been paid salaries since 1911. The Prime Minister, the leader of the Government, is also an MP. The Prime Minister is advised by a Cabinet of about twenty other ministers. The House of Lords consists of the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual. The Lords Spiritual are Archbishops of York and Canterbury. The Lords Temporal consist of hereditary peers, life peers and the Lords of Appeal.
The British government is elected for up to five years. The Prime Minister chooses the date of the next general elections. He does not have to wait until the end of five years. A time is chosen which will give as much advantage as possible to the political party in power. Voting takes place on Polling Day (usually a Thursday).
There are three main parties in Great Britain: the Labour, the Conservative and the Liberal parties. There are other political parties within the UK e.g. the Green party, the Scottish Nationalist party, which wants independence for Scotland within the European Community.