Listening, страница 59 - гдз по английскому языку 11 класс рабочая тетрадь Комарова, Ларионова

Unit five. listening. Exercises two, three, and four.

Reporter: Hello Mary, and thank you for appearing on our program.

Mary: It's a pleasure.

Reporter: So, how will new technologies affect the way we shop in the future?

Mary: In many ways. It's hard to say exactly how fast technology will develop, but I predict that in ten or fifteen years' time, many more shops will have virtual stores on the internet, in which customers will be able to see the products they want to buy. A few virtual stores will have even more sophisticated technology, which will make it possible to download products directly from the internet, but this will still be quite rare. We won't do all of our shopping on the internet, but by twenty twenty-five, the proportion of shopping done online is generally expected to increase to at least twenty-five percent from today's figure of five or six percent.

Reporter: What about direct sales from the producer to the customer?

Mary: This will increase in two ways. Firstly, many farmers will sell their produce directly to the customer. This is already happening in some areas. For example, some orange producers in Valencia sell their produce directly on the internet. Secondly, there will be more direct trading between groups of individuals using schemes like 'Let's'.

Reporter: What's going to happen to shopping malls and precincts?

Mary: Well, malls won't all disappear, but it will be harder for the smaller ones to survive. There will be a tendency towards bigger malls called megamalls, and towards open-air shopping precincts. There will also be virtual malls, where you can navigate around a shopping area like Oxford Street in London. You'll be able to buy things from all the shops you find on the real Oxford Street and chat online with your friends at the same time. So even if you're not in the same country as your friend, you'll still be able to chat and look at things together while you're browsing around the virtual shopping center.

Reporter: Aha. And how will supermarket shopping change?

Mary: Well, firstly, many people will have computerized fridges and cupboards that will order their food products directly, as soon as supplies of essentials are low. So nobody will run out of bread or milk anymore. And there will be more technology in the supermarkets themselves. For example, there will be intelligent trolleys with screens that tell you where to find products. If you put your loyalty card into the trolley, the screen will show your favorite products and recommend special offers.

Reporter: Hmm. Will there be a greater variety of products than before?

Mary: Well, there will be fewer specialized shops, and the big department stores or hypermarkets won't offer the same variety of products that you can find in specialized shops today. For example, many music and bookshops will sell mainly bestsellers. If you want to buy less commercial artists, you will have to look on the internet. But on the other hand, there will be an increase in customized products, meaning products that are adapted to the need of the individual customer. For example, in many computer shops, it will be possible to buy computer software packages that contain only the software that you need.

Reporter: Hmm. And will consumer rights be as well protected as they are now?

Mary: I think they will be better protected. There will be more consumer rights groups, and they will force companies to respect customers more in order to protect their own reputation. These groups will be more effective than now at making governments introduce new laws to protect consumers.