Part 2
Questions 9-18
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Read the following article and answer questions 9-18 on the next page.Shopping Pattern
1. Napoleon once described Britain as "a nation of shopkeepers", but since the 1960s the traditional corner shop has been slowly disappearing. The neighbourhood comer shop used to sell everything a housewife needed and the shopkeeper was an important person in the local community. The shop itself was a focus of community life, a place to chat as well as shop, in the days when Britons knew their local baker, local grocer and local butcher personally. So what happened to the comer shop
2. Shopping patterns changed dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s and the customers changed too. Shops began to get bigger and the owners opened more branches in different towns, each branch selling the same goods and offering cheaper prices than the local comer shop. The smaller shops closed as these large "chains" of shops took over. Customers liked the chains as they were self-service, offered a wider range of goods and introduced credit cards for customers. People in Britain now like shopping at a "name" they know, because they can be sure of the quality.
3. The very large retailers have such an enormous number of stores that they are called multiple retailers. During the "economic boom" of the 1980s the multiples developed superstores, offering an even wider choice of goods at even cheaper prices, on the edge of towns where giant shopping complexes often grew up around them.
4. Now that most Britons are car-owners they are prepared to travel further to shop, and like the choice offered by big stores. Most people are now paid monthly and prefer to buy in bulk once a month. The self-service and late-night shopping at superstores is convenient for the many women who work during the week. The corner shop is now empty during the day and people tend to use their local shops only in emergencies, if they have "forgotten" to buy something.
5. Corner shops are no longer profitable in the face of competition from the "giants". Britain could now be described as a nation of multiple retailers. Who could hope to survive and compete against their enormous choice and cheap prices Supporters of the corner shop say they prefer to pay higher prices because they get a friendlier and more personal service. Others shop there because they have no choice—the elderly or disabled, people without cars and young mothers with small children for whom a trip to a superstore would take a lot of planning and effort—but they are in the minority. Unfortunately for small shopkeepers, the majority of customers prefer speed and choice to the personal service of their local shops.
Questions 9-13
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For questions 9-13, choose from the list A-G which best summarizes each part of the article.·
For each numberedparagraph (1-5), mark one letter (A-G) on the Answer Sheet.·
Do not mark any letter twice.- A. Possibilities of traveling far to shop
- B. Emergence of multiple retailers
- C. Disappearing of corner shops
- D. Economic boom
- E. Anew shopping pattern
- F. Discovery of shopping centers
- G. Roles of corner shops
Paragraph 2 ______