10. Translate the following extract in written form:

A check is a written order on a bank to pay a previously deposited money to a third party on demand. The person who writes the check is the drawer. The person to whom the check is payable is the payee. The bank that is ordered to pay the check is the drawee.

The drawer of a check or the maker of a note is unconditionally required to pay the amount specified. This obligation assumes, of course, that the transaction represented by the instrument has been proper and legal. The drawer of a check is required to pay the amount of the check if the drawee (the bank) does not pay it. There are, however, certain limitations on this rule in many states.

10. Read the text and answer the questions.

1. Why may a bad check not be paid?

2. What is stopping payment on checks?

Bad checks

A bad check is one that is not honoured (paid) when it is presented to a bank for payment. It may not be paid because there are insufficient funds in the account on which it is drawn, or because it was written by a dishonest person who did not have an account in the bank on which it was drawn. In either case it is possible in every state to prosecute the person who has written the check.

Ordinarily banks and business people are courteous and considerate whenever a person unknowingly writes a check on an account in which there are insufficient funds. Both the person who apparent intention of fraud, the person to whom the check was issued is usually responsible for starting any legal action.

When any check or any other negotiable instrument is presented to a bank for payment but is not paid, it is returned, along with a protest form, to the one who submitted it. The bank makes a charge for protesting the non­payment of a negotiable instrument. Thus, it is advisable to avoid submitting to a bank any item that probably cannot be collected. It should be borne in mind that, when a bank accepts a check for deposit, it is acting only as the collecting agent until the check has been collected. If the bank cannot collect the check, it deducts the amount from the account of the depositor.

After you have drawn or issued a check to someone, you may direct your bank to refuse to pay it when it is presented. This procedure is called stooping payment on a check. In most states when a bank has been properly ordered to stop payment on a check, it is the bank's responsibility to do so, and the bank is liable if it fails to stop payment. This procedure should be used only as a protection and should not be abused. For instance, a businessman may discover after issuing a check that fraud or deception has been involved and may want to stop payment on the check before it is cashed.

XIII. Read and remember some English idioms useful for businessmen:

1. Penny wise and pound foolish - by trying to save a little one can lose a large sum; економний у дрібницях і марнотратний у великому.

2. Pie in the sky - a desirable but unrealistic idea or plan; бажана, але нереальна річ, ідея, план; те, що не можна здійснити.

3. Pigs in clover - people with more money than manners; "вискочки'": люди, що займають високе положення, не маючи на це підстав.