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English for Communication | Alvin Bersamin

5. Reading and Writing

A. Read this article.

Smart Shopping

Shopping at the supermarket can be a real chore. What do shoppers hate

most about it? Queues at the checkout. But now they wouldn’t need to queue
if supermarkets used this latest idea in shopping.

This idea is a Smart Store. The Smart Store would replace checkout

assistants with computer technology, and queues at the checkouts would

disappear. How would the Smart Store work? When you entered the smart
supermarket, you’d collect the small electronic pen from an assistant. Then

you’d run the pen over the bar code of the goods before you put them in your

trolley, and the pen would record your purchases. At the checkout, you
wouldn’t meet a checkout assistant, instead you’d find a checkout console.

You’d put the pen into the console and the computer in the console would

show the total cost. To pay, you’d pass a credit card through a slot on the
console. Then put your hand or finger on a scanner. This would identify you,

so couldn’t use someone else’s credit card. You’d leave the shop through a

security arch like the ones in airport. If you didn’t scan everything in your
trolley, an alarm would ring.

(Adapted from Lifelines: Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book, Tom Hutchinson, p.78)

VOCABULARY

- chore - queue - checkout - disappear

- assistant - bar code - purchases - console

- scanner - security arch

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