MAKE
or EARN?Which word?
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f
the subject is the money itself use earn:
Your
money would earn
(make) more in a high-interest account.
Task 11. Practice reading the following words.
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Task 12. Read the text.
What is Money?
Money, like fire and the wheel, has been around for a very long time.
No one knows for sure how long or what the origins of money are. The first instances of money were objects with intrinsic value. This is called commodity money and includes any commonly-available commodity that has intrinsic value.
An incredible array of items have served as money – wampum (beads made from shells) were used by North American Indians; cowries (brightly coloured shells) were used in India; whales’ teeth were used in Fiji; large stone disks were used in the Pacific island of Yap; cigarettes and liquor have been used in more modern times; tobacco was used by early American colonists; throughout the colonies, gunpowder and bullets were frequently used for small change; the first paper money issued by the federal government consisted of $10 million worth of “greenbacks,” printed in 1861 to finance the Civil War; even cakes of salt have served as money in Ethiopia, Africa, and Tibet. The Roman army was paid in salt – an allowance called salarium (which is the origin of the word salary). The first known example of paper money occurred in China during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1399 A.D.). This form of money was also used extensively throughout Europe in the Middle Ages.
Sophocles [`sOfəkli:z], the ancient Greek playwright, had very strong opinions about the role of money. As he saw it, “Of evils upon earth, the worst is money.” It is money that sacks cities, and drives men forth from hearth and home; warps and seduces native intelligence, and breeds a habit of dishonesty.”
In modern times, people may still be seduced by the lure of money and fashion their lives around its pursuit. Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine an economy functioning without money. Money affects not only morals and ideals, but also the way an economy works.
What is money? Money isn’t exactly what we think it is. Much confusion exits about money and currency. This confusion makes some experts claim that there is no money at all.
People do distinguish between “cash” and “money,” and for good reason. There are really three types of money: hard money, soft money and no-money.
Hard money, if there were any, would be gold, silver, or platinum. These are the noble metals and are called hard money because they are hard assets with real universal value.
Soft money would be paper money backed by hard money. This would include silver or gold certificates which were backed by silver or gold. We do not use hard or soft money anymore.
The third type of money is no-money. That is paper money backed by nothing of value. This is also called fiat money. Really it is not money at all, it is currency. Currency can take many forms. It is anything accepted as a medium of exchange. The currency of the United States, for example, is the Federal Reserve Note which is backed by nothing of value.
Fiat money is an intrinsically worthless (or almost worthless) commodity that serves the functions of money. The term fiat means by government order. People are willing to accept fiat money in exchange for the goods and services they sell only because they know it will be honoured when they go to buy goods and services. The bills and coins that we use today – collectively known as currency – are examples of fiat money. Because of the creation of fiat money, people are willing to accept a piece of paper with a special watermark, printed in ink, and worth not more than a few cents as a commodity, in exchange for expensive goods and services.