Writing

Translate the text into Russian in written form.

Find extra information to the topic and add it to the text (5-7 sentences).

Exchange rate is price of one country’s money in relation to another’s. Exchange rates may be fixed or flexible. An exchange rate is fixed when two countries agree to maintain a fixed rate through the use of monetary policy. Historically, the most famous fixed exchange-rate system was the gold standard; in the late 1850s, one ounce of gold was defined as being worth 20 U.S dollars and 4 pounds sterling, resulting in an exchange rate of 5 dollars per pound. An exchange rate is flexible, or “floating”, when two countries agree to let international market forces determine the rate through supply and demand. The rate will fluctuate with a country’s exports and imports. Most world trade currently takes place with flexible exchange rates that fluctuate within relatively fixed limits.

(from Britannica Concise Encyclopedia)

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

Discuss the following quotations.

1. “Money may not buy happiness, but I’d better cry in a Jaguar than on a bus”. Francoise Sagan.

2. “Every day is a bank account and time is our currency. No one is rich, no one is poor. We have got 24 hours each”. Christofer Rice.

3. “One must be poor to know the luxury of giving”. George Eliot.

UNIT 18

Issuing Euro Banknotes and Coins

LEAD-IN

Exercise 1. Before reading the text think about the following questions.

1. Do you have a foreign currency account?

2. Do you usually check foreign currency exchange rates?

Exercise 2. Find the equivalents.

exclusive unrecorded to mint responsible to withdraw circulation issuance to stipulate to approve

незафиксированный изымать ответственный утверждать обращение эксклюзивный определять чеканить (монету) выпуск обуславливать означать

Exercise 3.

a) Remember the meaning of the following official names of the organizations.

• The European Union – is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe.

• The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance – is a government ministry of a country, it manages the overall revenue, expenditure and financing of the Government and provides with advice on the broad financial affairs in support of the Government’s economic and social objectives.

• The International Organization for Standardization – widely known as ISO, is an international-standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations.

• The European Central Bank (ECB) – is the institution of the European Union (EU) which administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states.

• The National central banks (NCBs) – is a public institution that usually issues the currency, regulates the money supply, and controls the interest rates in a country.

• The European Commission in Brussels – is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union’s treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union.

b) Give the English equivalents of the following Russian organizations.

• Департамент развития малого и среднего предпринимательства;

• Министерство экономического развития Российской Федерации;

• Центральный банк Российской Федерации;

• Открытое акционерное общество “Сбербанк России”.