NA DZIS PILNEE
2
0.03 Read and listen to the article. What did the first
high streets look like? What do they look like now?
Before 1870, people rarely went shopping, because
they grew their own food. Then they got jobs in the new
factories, and work took up everybody's time. Shops
opened in town centres, and the high street was born.
There was always a baker's and there was usually a
butcher's in the high street.
A few years later, there were department stores on
the high street too. These had polite and helpful
shop assistants. Customers bought all kinds of items
there, from clothing to things for the house.
In the 1960s, the first supermarkets appeared, and there
were lots of cheaper products to buy. The small shops
made their shop windows bigger so that customers
continued shopping there. All the shops were full of people
spending money. At first, they paid in cash. Later, they
used credit cards and spent more money.
Now, many shops have closed, and there are more
restaurants and cafés than shops. People prefer
online shopping or shopping centres out of town. In the
UK, one in ten shops is empty, and the high street looks
very different today than it looked in the past.