5. Listen to the monologue “Tough Negotiations” and commentaries coming after it. Give English definitions to the words and expressions in bold print. Answer the questions. Tough Negotiations

I'm not what you would call the world's best negotiator, but sometimes it's necessary to engage in a tough negotiation. Take, for instance, the time I had to renew the lease on my apartment. This was back in college, when I was renting a small studio in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles. When my lease was up, the landlord and I sat down to hammer out the terms of a new lease.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do," he said. "I'm going to give you a break on rent if you sign a two-year lease instead of just a one-year lease."

"Well," I said, "I don't know. What sort of break are we talking about here?‚"

"I'll give you a 5% rent increase instead of a 10% increase in exchange for you signing a two-year lease. It's win-win situation: you get a cut in rent, and I get the security of a two-year lease."

At this point, I decided to make a counter-proposal . "How about this," I said, "You give me a one year lease with a six percent increase.‚"

"No, I can't make that sort of deal," he said. "But here's what I can do, and it's my final offer: I'll pay for your electricity for the first 6 months of the lease, along with the other terms I mentioned before.‚"

"You drive a hard bargain okay, it's a deal," I said. I guess I could have tried to bargain him down a bit more, but I was happy with our agreement. Now all I had to do was sign on the dotted line.

(From ESL Podcast 41.)

• When did the action take place?

• Where did the man study?

• Why did a landlord bargain for a longer term of the lease?

• Why could a student bargain for a shorter term of the lease?

• What economic situation in the country favours long term leases?

• Who normally pays for the electricity?

• What did the student gain as a result of negotiations and what did he loose?

6. Fill in the gaps in the text with the following words.

installments loan deposit bank (2) checking standing savings trustworthy debit income job mortgage transactions interest overdraft real credit automated teller machines

How banks work

A ¹ is a financial institution which deals with money ² . In a bank, you can borrow money in the form of a bank ³ , or you can put your money in a bank, in other words, ⁴ money. In both cases, you need to open a ⁵ account. There are two main types of bank accounts. They are a checking account and a savings account. You can use the ⁶ account to pay your everyday bills. The ⁷ account is used for depositing your extra money to a bank. The percentage that the bank pays you for using your money is called ⁸ .

Once you have opened an account, the bank can issue a ⁹ card – a personal plastic card with an individual number and your signature on it – with which you can pay for goods and services. You can also use your debit card to withdraw cash from ¹⁰ (ATMs) as well as make online purchases and money transfers. Sometimes banks allow you to withdraw more money than what is available in your account. This is called ¹¹ .

If you decide to take a loan from a bank, you will have to show the bank your good financial ¹² . That is you need to prove that you have a regular ¹³ or some other reliable source of ¹⁴ . If the bank considers you a ¹⁵ borrower, it will issue a ¹⁶ card which you can use to buy things such as a car. If you decide to buy ¹⁷ estate, such as a house, you can take a mortgage loan from a bank. ¹⁸ means that you pledge your property to the bank as a security for the loan. If you fail to pay the ¹⁹ the bank may confiscate your real estate in compensation for damages.