Match the words with the definition:
1. consumer ..... The activities involved in buying and selling.
2. commerce ..... A group of products made by one particular company.
3. retail ..... Move to another place.
4. target group ..... Easy to use or to get to and simplifies life.
5. tax ..... When products are sold to customers in shops.
6. brand ..... Similar shops, restaurants, etc. owned by the same company
7. chain ..... To pay money to live in a building that belongs to someone else.
8. convenient ..... A person who buys goods or services for their own use.
9. rent ..... The group of people you want to interest in your product.
10. relocate ..... Money that you have to pay to the government from what you earn or when you buy things.
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Decide if the two sentences mean the SAME or DIFFERENT:
1/A Online shops are open around the clock.
1/B Internet shops are available 24 hours a day.
2/A Towns started running out of parking space.
2/B More and more parking lots were built in towns.
3/A Recent decades saw highhigh streets becoming uniform.
3/B High streets have been losing their individual character.
4/A Nowadays, bookshops are making a comeback.
4/B Books have recently become more popular again.
5/A Shop owners complain about taxes being too high.
5/B Local businesses demand that taxes be lowered.
6/A The number of stores on the high street that are not being used has risen.
6/B There is a decrease in the amount of empty shop space in town centres.
In fact, the time period, which has seen the most significant rise in purchases made is the Sunday evening This is when people can shop from the comfort of their homes, unhurried but other commitments.
3 Nevertheless, all these changes may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Recent decades saw high street becoming uniform. For years and years rental prices in the city centres had been increasing. Small family-owned bakeries, butcher shops or private book shops that had operated in the high street for years could no longer afford their premises there. As they disappeared, their place was usually taken by yet another branch of a successful global company. As a result, every high street ended up with the same big names from fashion brands to mobile phone operator, from banks to supermarkets all across Europe. It is now these chain stores that are losing out to online shopping.
4 What seems to be the most successful approach to bringing life to the high street is bringing back the social experience that was once a vital part of shopping. Shopping street in town centers didn't only develop for us to obtain the goods we needed. They were also the places where we could run into friends or simply speak to other members of the community. High streets that have retained their popularity are those that brought in coffee bars, hairdressers and beauty salons,second-hand shops and charity shops, and social spaces where people can simply hang out and socialize.
5 Book shops once seemed to be among the businesses most threatened by internet dealers. For years, they were closing down at an alarming rate. But nowadays, they are making a comeback. Bookshops no longer just sell books - many of them have also introduced cafes or comfortable seating areas where people can sit and read the books they are interested in, before they decide whether to buy them. Bookshops organize fun events that go beyond book signing or authors reading their books aloud. Such things as creative workshops for kids, reading groups for grown-ups, and literary festivals have attracted many customers.They are turning shopping for books into a leisure activity.
6 The shops which will survive are those that have the skill to recognize and provide quality and attention to customers' needs. Faceless, uniform shops that sell the same thing in the same way to everyone all over the globe will disappear and end up being replaced by online traders who perform this service more efficiently and at a lower cost. And that may not necessarily be a bad thing for us at all!
Now, pick the best ending to each sentence:
1 Online shopping is more affordable than high street shopping because
a: online companies spend lots of shops and staff
b: people can do their shopping comfortably from home
c: they have more flexible opening hours
2 Customers were attracted to out-of-town shopping centers
a: because this offered a wider range of products
b: by reduced taxes on goods sold there
c: when motorways were built to have them get there
3 Family-owned shops disappeared from the high street
a: and they moves further away from the city centers
b: as global companies bought them one by one
c: when the cost of renting the space wind up
4 The author believes what is important about the high street is that
a: it also functions as a center for social activities
b: people can find all the essential things they need
c: shops there are run by people in the community
5 One disadvantage mentioned about online bookshops is that
a: people cannot read books before they buy them
b: shopping online is never done for pleasure
c: they never organize enjoyable events for customers
(source: TELC EXAM TRAINING B2, PART 2 - Commerce and the consumer (pp 13-18)
LETTER OF COMPLAINT:
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