Test 5 (Variant c)

1. Read the text:

MONEY

Money is used for buying or selling goods, for measuring value and for storing wealth. Almost every society now has a money economy based on coins and paper notes of one kind or another.

However, this has not always been true. In primitive societies a system of barter was used. Barter was a system of direct exchange of goods. Barter, however, was a very unsatisfactory system because people’s precise needs seldom coincided. People needed a more practical system of exchange, and various money systems developed, based on goods which the members of a society recognised as having value. Cattle, grain, teeth, shells, feathers, skulls, salt, elephant tusks and tobacco have all been used. Precious metals gradually took over because, when made into coins, they were portable, durable, recognisable and divisible into larger and smaller units of value.

A coin is a piece of metal, usually disc-shaped, which bears lettering, designs or numbers showing its value. Until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries coins were given monetary worth based on the exact amount of metal contained in them, but most modern coins are based on face value, the value that government choose to give them, irrespective of the actual metal content. Coins have been made of gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), plastic, and in China even from pressed tealeaves. Most governments now issue paper money in the form of notes, which are really ‘promises to pay’. Paper money is obviously easier to handle and much more convenient in the modern world, but it also has its weak points. You may be robbed of it while carrying your monthly salary home; you may loose it or just wash it with your dirty overalls. Today more and more people in the world prefer to use so-called ‘plastic money’ instead of cash. This kind of money helps to avoid accidental lost of your savings. Cheques, bankers’ cards, and credit cards are being used increasingly and it is possible to imagine a world where ‘money’ in the form of coins and paper currency will no longer be used. Even today, in the United States, many places - especially filling stations - will not accept cash at night for security reasons.

2. Answer the questions to the text:

1. What are the main functions of money? 2. Why did money as exchange means take over barter? 3. What is ‘face value’ of coins and banknotes? 4. Why are so-called ‘plastic money’ being used increasingly now? 5. Why is barter a very unsatisfactory system?

3. Report the sentences:

1. “Miss Welch is the worst typist I have ever employed,”complained Mr Dobson. “But I just can’t kick her out, some guy from the top is backing her up.” 2. Mary Rodway lit another cigarette and said, “You don’t believe it was suicide.” 3. “Lewis! We won’t want another suspect, we know who killed McFerson,”- Morse said. 4. “Twelve men are searching the yards for the knife,”- Philotson said with a note of childish optimism. 5. “There are no more corpses under the floorboards as yet,” Lewis reported. 6. “Tell her I’ll be there, even if they have to wheel me in,” continued Morse. 7. “It is great, you know, pretending to be somebody else,” said Julia Stevens, her laughing eyes over the glass of Budlight.

4. Report the questions:

1. “Aren’t you being a bit unfair, inspector?” asked Lewis. 2. “Do you call stomach contents interesting?” Dr Laura Hobson, the police pathologist, asked. 3. “What do you normally have on Fridays? Fish?” Inspector Morse asked. 4. “Shall I tell you about the regular procedure of taking fingerprints from the scene - including the corpse’s?” Morse wondered. 5. “Why have you applied for only two search warrants?” Lewis inquired. 6. “Can you explain me in the English language what Dr Hobson has written in her report?” Morse asked angrily.

5. Change the questions into indirect ones using the following beginnings: I want to know ..., I’d like to know ..., I’m interested ..., I wonder ..., etc.:

1. Where is the link between the two murders? 2. Can he suggest anything really worth his salary? 3. Is this turning into a bleeding interview or what? 4. When will the traffic police be able to tell us about that stolen red BMW?

6. Put questions to the following sentences:

1. The quantity of counterfeit 100$ bills circulating in West Europe is increasing these days. ( Where? General )

2. The public relations officer of the local police HQ has been asked numerous questions about the investigation. ( Who? What ... about?

3. Mr Grant had a certain problem with his car: his car had been stolen. ( What kind ...? Disjunctive )

4. The pathologist’s report will be ready tomorrow afternoon at the latest. ( When? Alternative )

7. Use both, either, neither:

1. ... Mr Cole ... Mr Hole can substitute for you, they ... have day-off on Wednesday, though I guess ... one ... the other will be happy to do so, they have already made their plans for the day-off. 2. ... his sons took much after him and they draw much attention of the police. 3. Excuse me! May I see Mr Jasper or Mr Ashley? - You can see ... of them. Mr Jasper has just left, Mr Ashley hasn’t arrived yet. 4. We have two suspects: Mr X and Mrs Y: ... matches your scheme of the crime and ... has an alibi. 5. Excuse me! I can’t understand your boss. Is he speaking French or German? - ... . He is speaking Russian slang.

8. Translate into English:

1. Если я получу уведомление до выходных, я организую доставку в среду. 2. Если бы мы были уверены в Вашей платежеспособности, мы бы смогли отгрузить Вам товар без предоплаты. 3. Жаль что я не президент нашей фирмы. 4. Я бы не попал в такую глупую ситуацию, если бы я знал его лучше. 5. На твоем месте я бы дважды подумал о последствиях. 6. Жаль что я не уехал, я бы смог избежать этих неприятностей.